Soul Blossom

As a Business student attending UH, I am taking a Marketing course that requires me to read The Wall Street Journal.

Well, I am not a fan of newspapers. In fact, I hate them. I would rather check the news on TV or online. It sure does feel good to be living in 2006! I have never thought I would someday be reading WSJ, but I am. To be honest, it is quite interesting. There are different articles addressing many issues all around the world.

There was an article the other day titled “Better Virtual Meetings” that talked about how we are becoming more and more affected by technology on many levels. Some companies are actually beginning to use high-end video conference systems, which allows them to meet ‘virtually’ on a screen to discuss whatever needs to be discussed.

I have read an article by Iman about the Online vs. Real Life, and I have connected what she said to what I read. Could virtual ever replace real? Are we willing to give up the real interaction with real people to save time, effort, and money? Is it worth losing our human touch? Virtual meetings could extend from business and work meetings to family and friends meetings. We would be living a life where planes do not exist anymore. We simply would not need them to bring us closer -physically- to people we know. According to a person who has been into a virtual meeting, “They (People) were almost life-size. It was perfect vision, perfect voice. You almost wanted to reach out and shake their hands.” Such high-end systems though costly ensure a good quality, but lead us into being less socialized with what is actually taking place on streets.

Technology is useful without doubt, but I think we need to stop and think of its advantages and disadvantages before we find ourselves living in a robotic world.