On the cyclic nature of... well, almost everything

Invented in the early 1970s, it kept a relatively low profile for two decades. Then, following the wider adoption of the internet in the mid 1990s, it started spreading globally like a bushfire. Eventually, almost no business on the planet could function without using it as a communication channel - internally and externally.

The email.

Fast-forward around ten years, strong voices started raising: we were sending and receiving too many emails; it took too much time for everyone to write and read them; worse, no one was actually reading most of these emails; other methods of communication were more effective. Why don't you pick up the phone and talk to someone instead? Can't you walk over to that person's desk and chat with them for a few minutes?

Stop sending all those emails!!!

Fast-forward to present day: May 2020. For a few months, hundreds of millions worldwide have been working from home (a.k.a. 'remotely'). ‘Video calling' and 'virtual meetings' are not a new fad: the technology and numerous services have been widely available for two decades. Still, in the past few months, the number of daily users has been growing exponentially. Everywhere on the planet, businesses started using video conferencing as a communication channel - internally and externally.

Already, strong voices are raising: we are having too many virtual meetings; it takes too much time for everyone to participate; it is challenging to engage with the participants; worse, people don't actually pay attention to what is being said in these virtual meetings; other methods of communication are more effective.

Can't they just send an email instead?