For the past
thirty years we have been moving toward a time when technology would rule our
world. First computers, then the
internet, cell phones, robotics, social media…
Now comes a quantum
jump ushered in by Covid-19.
We see
that distance learning is now practical.
Elementary and high schools
will probably go back to some semblance of normal, for the short term, because
parents are use to the schools babysitting their broods. But, think how much money school districts
can save by not having to maintain facilities, bus schedules, school lunches,
libraries, and support staff. Teachers
can be trained to work from home and coordinate electronically. Parents that, in the future, will work from
home can then supervise their own children’s learning.
Now that we see it possible, distance learning
makes tremendous sense financially.
Universities
only need to maintain lab semesters.
Again, the overhead of not having to maintaining massive infrastructure,
dorms, support staff, cafeterias, office space… could bring down the cost of an education
within the reach of all Americans.
This lock down we are experiencing will move us faster toward that
realization.
The same
goes for businesses. Much of their
management could be accomplished through some platform similar to Zoom. Now that technology is moving us in that
direction, we can see most non-physical labor can be successfully and cheaply
conducted by home workers.
This
Coronavirus has shown us that moving toward a more technological and socially isolated
society is not only possible but doable.
People
resist change; but when there is an economical advantage driving the change, it
will come regardless.
There will
be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth; but the technology revolution has
just taken a massive jump forward.
the Ol’Buzzard
