Remote presence increasing accessibility

[mtbc]

Last week, via Zoom, I got to see a presentation describing the cyclometer, a code-breaking device developed by Poles in the mid-1930s. Not only was it interesting and educational, it was yet another talk that, pre-pandemic, I would not have had the opportunity to attend.

I am now reminded of having commented at work how our working from home gives us more equal access to each other, rather than having some people being in one larger team room or another, others off in annexes in different buildings, etc.

Comments

[wpadmirer]

Although, couldn't you access Zoom from your work? Or do you think it would not have happened that way, because they would not have presented on Zoom?

If the second is true, maybe you're all learning a new way to share information, even when in the office.

[mtbc]

Ah, the paragraphs were maybe quite separate, the presentations I'm thinking of aren't from colleagues, typically from some other city altogether. Relatedly, one of my pet peeves with the British Computer Society was that almost all of the interesting talks happened in London.

[wpadmirer]

OH! That makes more sense. You know, you have to hope that some of the things that occurred during the pandemic would make people realize how they CAN continue sharing in the future.

[mtbc]

I really hope so. It's more environmentally friendly too!

[mellowtigger]

I've noted 2 other side effects of the Zoom era.

2) Upper management was familiar with speaking to the masses at physical meetings, commanding attention, looking out upon a sea of faces. Early on, they insisted that everyone turn on the cameras at home to prove everyone was paying proper attention/deference to their authority. The swift and powerful surge of angry refusal led to the quiet death of that corporate standard (at least, where I work). It amounted to the powerful insisting that they be granted permission to see into our homes, and many people appropriately refused to bend their metaphorical knee. Summarized, "Your authority ends at my front door."

3) Denied an excuse to gallivant around the globe to attend meetings in person, they now seem even more prepared to deny the CO2 costs of flying all over planet to stay in fancy hotels at corporate (and planetary) cost. Proven wrong during the Zoom era, they seem fully prepared to deny the reality of sustainability, even more than before. Rather than pay executives less in order to fund 2 positions on different continents, they will gladly consume whatever costs are necessary to restore their privilege.