Bytes: What’s new in tech
Schools turn to digital plans
Remote learning is testing families’ ability to get their homes tech-ready, said Julie Jargon in The Wall Street Journal. As schools close around the country, the “unprecedented remote-learning situation” is exposing a “tech gap between affluent and lower-income families” or those in rural areas where high-speed internet isn’t available. Approximately 17 percent of U.S. students don’t have a computer at home; many others have to share access with siblings or parents. “Districts scrambling to come up with contingency plans are turning for tech support to Minnesota,” where many schools created remote-learning plans “after heavier-than-usual snowstorms.” The Sauk Rapids–Rice Public Schools district, for instance, uses “a web-based platform called Schoology that allows teachers to perform video lessons, assign and assess work, and chat with students over any kind of device.”
Not the same as a real town hall
Joe Biden’s virtual town hall last week was a “complete technical nightmare,” said Makena Kelly in TheVerge.com. Instead of a campaign rally, Biden’s team tried to host a public Zoom call “for supporters to join and ask questions.” But it was “plagued with technical problems from the beginning.” When I first logged in, “I was greeted with one Illinois senator adjusting the angle of her webcam and another showing off an adorable (but screaming) baby in an oddly intimate video call before the former vice president even appeared on screen.” When he finally did, “his staff had to restart his entire speech because there was no audio.” After more audio trouble, Biden finally got to answer questions. But at one point “his staff had to cut off the camera feed entirely” because he kept walking out of the frame.
Bill Gates’ empty chair
Bill Gates is stepping down from Microsoft’s board, said Jay Greene in The Washington Post, severing his last official tie with the juggernaut he co-founded in 1975. Gates, the world’s second-richest person, said he will still remain a “technology adviser” to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella but wrote in a LinkedIn post that he wants to “spend more time on his philanthropic work.” Gates gave up his CEO post in 2000 and stepped down as chairman in 2014. He will also “step away from his one other board position, at Berkshire Hathaway, the company run by his longtime friend Warren Buffett.” Microsoft plans to keep Gates’ board seat unfilled.