Video conferencing provided a way out of the chaos sparked by the pandemic. Now it is threatening to take over life as we know it.
“I want you to come and see me.”
Vashti watched his face in the blue plate.
“But I can see you!” she exclaimed. “What more do you want?”
“I want to see you not through the Machine,” said Kuno. “I want to speak to you not through the wearisome Machine.”
Vashti and her son Kuno inhabit opposite ends of a dystopian world where humans live underground in beehive-shaped isolation pods. Direct contact is considered impolite and discouraged. The “clumsy system of public gatherings had been long since abandoned”, and all communication happens through a speaking apparatus, which is not much …
Pradip is a co-founder at The Morning Context and leads our newsletters vertical. He has previously worked at The Ken as a staff writer, at Mint as an assistant features editor and the Deccan Chronicle as a copy editor. He works with a slew of expert newsletter writers across subjects and domains. His own writing spans the gig economy, farmers caught in the crossfire of technology, global warming and parents trapped in the edtech wave. Some of his best stories have come at the intersection of technology and human endeavour.
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