Archive: Opinions

When I was in junior high school in the 1960s I read a science fiction story.  I don't remember much about it except the concept that people never left their homes.  I think it was a forlorn love story about lovers who could never touch each other, but I don't remember it that clearly.  The image that has stuck with me through several decades, however, is that the main character of the story had a wall that turned into a communications screen on which he could meet with other people.  Kind of like Apple Facetime, but a whole wall, and not just the little phone screen.

On Wednesday our governor recommended that businesses in New York City switch from actual commuting to work to telecommuting -- working from home, using the Internet.  Tuesday Cornell University announced students should go home for spring break and not come back -- instead they should finish their courses over the Internet.  Syracuse University and campuses across the United States are doing the same thing.

And touching people is now considered dangerous.  I said hello to Tompkins County Community Preparedness Coordinator Geoff Dunn at Monday's Health Department press conference, and in keeping with department recommendations we tried an elbow bump instead of shaking hands.  We failed miserably, probably because I don't have the moves -- I've never been much for high fives or fist bumps.  Coordinating elbows is just not in my wheelhouse.  I ended up waving and smiling, and that seemed to work.

I actually telecommuted for about eight years when I worked for AOL.  It was fun in a way, attending meetings over the phone or in online chat rooms, filled out with email and instant messages.  But it was more fun when we met at the company's Virginia headquarters from time to time.  People in person are much better than virtual people, and I say that as a person who, in general, feels comfortable being a hermit.

I have been among the many people who have decried the dehumanizing effect of cell phones, with so many people preferring to text or picture-phone each other rather than simply talk to the person who is in the same room.  I remember a family visit at which I felt horribly alone because everyone -- three generations worth of people -- except me was engrossed by whatever they were doing on my phone.  I challenged my children, who were sitting on the sofa, tapping away on their phones.  They looked up long enough to explain to me that they were interacting with each other -- but over the Internet.  The game they were playing together online allowed them to text each other while they played.

I wish I could remember the name or author of that story I read almost six decades ago.  That one image of a person standing forlornly in front of a video wall has stuck with me all these years, but I never thought I would live to see it come true. Now with novel coronavirus as the motivator and businesses, educational institutions, and governments backing the idea, it looks like it is really coming true.

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