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A rock musician and a chamber orchestra violinist discovered apps that allowed them to play music with others in the distance. A woman in Toronto says she has learned how to take classes and order groceries online, but she longs to be with her great-grandchildren.
I wrote about our pandemic-changed year of technology last week and asked On Tech readers to tell us what they loved or hated about living a more virtual life.
Some of you said you developed new habits that you think could persist, including meditating online and meeting friends weekly via Zoom. Some readers said they were grateful for virtual proxies but couldn’t wait to get back to the library and hug their family members. (Virtual hugs to all of you.)
Thank god technology helped us overcome a crisis. Even just ugh to everything.
Here’s a taste of what readers think about the technology that helped them master. The answers were easily edited. And say hello to our On Tech editor Hanna Ingber for choosing a selection of your new habits:
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My three and a half year old grandson lives in Portland, Maine. I was reading an online book as it follows along with a printout in front of it. This year, reading together has strengthened our bond at a distance. He calls me all the time and asks me to read him a different story. – Starker White, Rockford, Ill.
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Because I’ve watched so much Netflix that I got bored, I started drawing cartoons showing how our lives changed during the pandemic and sharing them on Instagram. – Irina Blok, San Francisco
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A new habit I’ve picked up is reading e-books on my iPad. When the libraries closed, I didn’t know how to solve my problems. To be honest, I miss holding a physical book in hand, turning a page, and the satisfying feeling of closing the book when you’re done. Cant wait to look for hidden gems on the shelves! – Elizabeth Price, Seattle
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My new technical habit is Zoom’s meditation course. I have never been able to meditate successfully (monkey mind to the extreme). But being at home in my most comfortable chair in front of the fireplace with a cup of coffee worked for me. Meditation was a great tool for dealing with the stress and anxiety of this terrible, bad year. – Julie Lindmark, Shoreview, Minn.
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I have been geographically distant from my old bandmates for over 20 years. During the lockdown, we discovered that we could use an app called JamKazam to play music together over the internet in real time. We have been doing this every Sunday for 10 months. Go on! – Gregg Butensky, San Francisco
Since May, I’ve played with Jamulus in about 100 chamber music sessions, virtually eliminating delays in audio communication between players hundreds of kilometers apart. I was able to maintain my social relationships with my musician friends and also make new musical friends. Finally, I am encouraged to keep practicing. (Nothing beats knowing you have a tricky role to play on first violin the next day.) – Tom Frenkel, Sunnyside, NY
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My new habit is to order groceries online and not pick up any contact! I love it. I am 68 years old, retired and have very poor eyesight. My “buyers” did an excellent job! It’s a real improvement that should last. – Patricia Cornett Farley, Bluefield, W.Va.
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I’m 86 years old and I haven’t hugged anyone in my family in a year. But I’ve learned to use Zoom and order my groceries online. Both of these have helped me to keep myself full, independent, and healthy. I’m doing a great course on rebellious Russian writers. I attended church services in my synagogue without having to put on my snowshoes. I’ve gone to art galleries and operas without getting dressed or worrying about where to park.
Still, I miss being out in the world. Will that ever be a matter of course for me again? Time is valuable. How am I ever going to make it up to you? Will my little great-grandchildren know me when we can finally be together after a year or more? – Sandra Atlin, Toronto
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My psychologist is now doing telemedicine visits and I love it. I hope this becomes a permanent option in the future. Not just for me, but for the multitude of people who need psychiatric care and are unable to access it personally. – Laurel Mollison, Jacksonville, Fla.
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I teach ballet to older women. When we had to stop dancing together in person, I was motivated to find a way to hold a class in some form. With an iPhone, my teen’s tripod, and the tech advice from my three adult kids and son-in-law, I was quickly able to learn how to record a ballet class, edit it on my laptop, create a YouTube channel, and upload and share the video.
The whole learning curve was fun as it included skills the kids were happy to show me. I am grateful for the chance to learn from my children and make the most of an otherwise isolating year. – Hallie Blanchard Rehwaldt, Evanston, Ill.
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I bought Duolingo and filled up French and learned Arabic and German. It was something I built into my schedule every day that I had to do for at least 20 minutes. It was my “thought exercise” and kept me connected to the world despite travel restrictions. I also believe that I inspired my son to include beginner French in his high school course registration! – Therese McCauley, St. Paul, Minn.
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I go on an annual girls weekend getaway at Lake Gaston with five other women. That had to be canceled last year. We initiated a weekly Zoom call Tuesday night after putting the kids to bed to meet, talk and laugh and sometimes cry. It brought us even closer together than the usual weekend once a year could. – Rebecca Antoszewski, City of Ellicott, Md.
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Before we go …
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Streaming isn’t the future of sport just yet: The National Football League and television networks need each other to ensure that audience numbers and their fortunes don’t go away overnight. Because of this, NFL games will mostly be televised for the next decade under a new contract worth around $ 110 billion (!?!?), Wrote my colleague Kevin Draper. In addition, Amazon will be producing its own soccer TV shows for the first time.
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Are Schools Paying Too Much for Internet Access? A former AT&T attorney told the Washington Post that the company had overburdened schools for years as part of a consumer-funded program to cover Internet costs for schools and libraries. (AT&T claims to have charged the lowest statutory prices.)
One question: is the government doing too little to oversee this fund, or is the program fatally flawed? Here is a 2003 article about cheating in the same internet fund.
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Humor does not calculate: As Facebook became more attuned to posts that glorified violence, its computers and human moderators sometimes mistook political satire for dangerous accusations, reported my colleague Mike Isaac. The problem has long been that Internet companies fail to understand the context of posts.
Hugs too
This is what a sleeping dormouse sounds like. Maybe it whistles and snores at the same time?
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