ON THE TECH THAT CONNECTED US
So how many video conferencing apps do you have installed now, eh? Who imagined there could be so many, jostling for screen space and disk space, desperately claiming to be Numero Uno at keeping you face to face with your office/your chums/your children’s virtual birthday party invitees…?
Skype we knew. And FaceTime too. But then came Zoom. Don’t forget Hangouts. Or Slack. Or Teams. Did you get round to GoToMeeting?
Will Houseparty, that blazing star of lockdown’s early days, downloaded 17million times in March, continue to soar across the virtual firmament now that measures are easing? I’m not sure.
But in general all those tools that allowed us effortlessly to toil and play remotely are staying, as the long-term impacts of the pandemic – smaller offices, genuine flexitime, distance learning and working – make themselves felt.
The limiting factor will not be desire but internet speeds. How many happy hipsters relocating from Hackney to Hampshire will find that the new virtual tools of their trade require more than piddling rural bandwidth? As for that mobile signal…
Social media, we know already, will go unreformed. How quickly the solidarity of those early days broke down into the usual political bickering and
point-scoring.
On Instagram, there were perhaps marginally fewer humblebrag pictures – “just relaxing in the amazing Highland landscape” – as urbanites hunkered down and realised that rubbing their lockdown escape in other people’s faces was not the done thing, indeed was potentially illegal. “We’re all in this together” is the very antithesis of the bitter spirit that fuels some social media envy-engines. But sadly, gentler ways have already faded online.
For some, of course, virtual meetings have actually been an improvement. GPs have whizzed through the appointments. The bias towards remote consultations will stay – so much cheaper, more efficient, allowing more time for those that really need the in-person treatment.
My parents-in-law rhapsodise about the app they use to play Bridge remotely, no driving to and fro, no tedious shuffling cards or tallying points. Plenty of chance to chat over an open phone line.
The pandemic has even breached that previously impervious legislative barrier: the Highway Act 1835, in combination with the Road Traffic Act 1988, which made electric scooters illegal wherever you took them: road, cycle lane or pavement.
This very week, a 12-month trial has begun, sanctioned by the Government, to see how electric scooters fit into the urban transport mix. Surely they are here to stay, especially as suspicion of enclosed and often crowded public transport endures.
Indeed, tech generally has been the big winner this pandemic, as you will know if you follow the share prices of Silicon Valley’s finest. Not only have the world’s biggest companies stepped in to ensure personal connectivity, they have been swiftly ushered into state-like business – just look at the NHS partnering with big tech, or the deployment by nations of the Apple/Google tracing app.
There is little that now seems beyond the reach of the biggest companies. So the most significant question post-lockdown will be this: will there be a backlash against their pervasiveness and power?
During lockdown, if anything, latitude was granted. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office announced that firms would have longer than usual to fix data breaches. Corona concerns saw Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo approved by the Competition and Markets Authority, which also shied away from a full investigation of the online advertising industry so dominated by Facebook and Google.
But now lockdown is easing, regulation may climb back up the political agenda. Too Big to Fail became a critical issue in the financial crisis. Too big to catch, to compete with, to scrutinise properly, to do without, may soon be the issue for big tech. If that is so, our corona love affair with technology may be heading for a big break-up.