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Corona Virus: Will it change the way we live?

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CoronaVirus: Changing The Way We Live?


We have had a public email system since 1969 courtesy of Compuserve, but hardly anybody used it. I only joined the fun in the early eighties, and it was very creaky. It gained momentum with the improvements that came with the world wide web, and image based browsers, but it is only in the last twenty years that it has really caught on.
It is also only in this century that we have had an explosion of web based facilities.
The world changes sometimes when there is new technology that captures the imagination of a generation, or it changes due to the force of catastrophe.
There were so many new technologies that were germinating during the latter half of the nineteenth century, but most of them didn't take off until after the first world war amongst the ruins. Obviously the latest catastrophe is not anywhere near on that scale, but things are beginning to change right now.
We have had the ability to network without leaving home for some time, but people are social animals and they seem to like getting on the bus or the train and struggling to work so they can carry on in a social atmosphere. I have never bought into that way of living, except very briefly when I was the director of a company that operated from Central London. Even then, I could journey in mid morning, and go home after the rush hour, so it wasn't the madness that most Londoners put up with.
However, working from home using online technology is going to become the norm for the next couple of months. Will that change the way we operate from then on?
I note that property auctioneers are keeping the auctions running, but instead of hiring rooms in hotels, they are turning to online bidding.
I have been working online since the eighties when I used to do my trading through bulletin boards using the Public Data Network, which was the UK's answer to virtual networking. I wonder if that way of working is about to take a surge in popularity. If it does, real estate values are going to start changing drastically.
I have wondered for some time why office blocks are filled with people. Those folks are usually working on computers, so why are they working in offices? They could all work from home. Why not? So long as the internet is fully functioning they are connected. They don't have to use public transport at vast expense just to get to use the office computer when they could quite easily use their own to access the company network. Think of the massive costs saved in travel and office space.
Might I suggest that investing in office space is not going to be a great investment in the future. Public transport and hotels might take a hit as well.
Something else is maybe about to hit the hotel business, and that is the next generation of Apple's I-Phone, which will feature augmented reality facilities. Travel companies might well find they can make rather a lot of money through travel 3-D simulations rather than selling plane tickets and hotel beds.
The world she is changing, and this wretched Covid-19 virus thing may well be about to force us into new directions.
Next week I will try and rough out a calendar for this new-look world. Where will we be in six months time? In a years time? Two years time? Five years time?
I must be mad. So many people try to foretell the future. They usually end up looking silly. But I'm going to have a go.

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