video-conferencing
The hidden cost of free technology
Back in late 2019 I met someone from Zoom who was visiting London. The company, then as now, offered free…
Video calls are the new penny post
Dear Sir, I beg to introduce myself to you as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Port Trust…
The economics of learning languages
There is a kind of conversation which sounds intelligent, and which makes sense at first hearing, but which deeper thought…
Will video-calling kill bureaucracy?
Having grown up in a family business, my earliest exposure to corporate life was often baffling. I remember the first…
The ludicrousness of stemmed wine glasses
In 1989 I answered my first mobile phone call on Oxford Street using a brick-sized Motorola borrowed from work. Several…
NHS workers deserve our applause – but so does the telecoms industry
Next time there is a highly deserved round of public applause for NHS workers, do add one additional clap for…
We don’t need more technology, we need better technology
I’d like to propose a new scientific institution: the IUT, or Institute of Underrated Technology. Rather than trying to invent…
Could an Owl make video conferencing take off?
When I was ten, the two things we all expected to enjoy by 2020 were flying cars and videotelephony. What…
What do you get if you cross a suitcase with rollerblades?
A 14-year-old at an American school recently caused a stir when he claimed that the US government could save over…