Tech Can Only Do So Much To Address Coronavirus

The line between the physical and virtual world may be shrinking, but it hasnt disappeared - nor is it likely to do so. JL

Dan Gallagher and Jacky Wong report in the Wall Street Journal:

Until robots and self-driving cars are running everything in our lives, disruptions in the physical world will still ripple through the virtual one. Many changes lessen the need for in-person interactions. E-commerce and online takeout companies are trying out delivery robots and autonomous vehicles to avoid human contact. Mobile payment systems reduce physical cash transactions. (But) technology can’t fully replace the need for in-human contact, whether personal or for business. Nor should we want it to. Lockdowns may glue more people to their screens, but it doesn’t mean they like it.

Technology has changed the world since the last major global virus scare, for better and for worse.

Consider the state of things when SARS rocked the global economy in 2003. Cellphones were candy-bar-shaped devices with actual buttons. Most Americans were stuck with dial-up internet speeds at home, which means they watched movies via tape or disc (DVD sales tipped VHS sales in the U.S. just the year before). Computers were heavy towers confined to a desk. And social networking? That was the year Myspace started while Facebook was simply known as “Facemash”—a tool for Harvard students to rate each other’s hotness.

Fast-forward to now, when nearly a third of the world’s population uses Facebook or one of its family of apps every day. Most of those are doing so through a full-fledged computing device that fits in their pocket. Powerful, portable devices streaming data at high speeds means information—and disinformation—spreads fast. It also means other big changes in how people work and live, which in turn has made the world a much smaller and more interconnected place.

Many of those changes involve lessening the need for in-person interactions. Amazon.com, the world’s pre-eminent seller of things over the internet, unveiled a new grocery store in its hometown of Seattle this week that spares patrons the inconvenience of dealing with cashiers. In China, e-commerce and online takeout companies are trying out delivery robots and autonomous vehicles to avoid human contact. China’s prevalent mobile payment systems also reduced physical cash transactions.

Movie fans and gamers can now skip stores entirely. A raft of streaming services allows users to watch practically any movie and TV show at home on demand. And videogame consoles and home internet connections have become robust enough that gamers needn’t venture to their local GameStop anymore, either. The latest “Call of Duty” game sold about half of its new units as digital downloads, according to publisher Activision Blizzard. Short-video app Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, saw a 76% jump in daily active users in early February, compared with a month earlier, according to data firm QuestMobile.

Even hitting the gym may get passe. Peloton Interactive shares jumped earlier this week after a Needham analyst told clients that the coronavirus outbreak will make U.S. consumers “less comfortable over time going to their gym” and thus more likely to buy one of the company’s pricey stationary bikes or treadmills to work out at home.

And then there is Zoom Video Communications. The fairly new public company has seen its share price surge 38% this month alone on the notion that the spreading coronavirus will spike corporate demand for its snappy new videoconferencing technology. The recent cancellation of the Mobile World Congress trade show that was set to take place in Barcelona this week seemed to drive that point home. Qualcomm livestreamed the press conference it had planned for the show from its headquarters in San Diego on Tuesday. Students in China have also used videoconferencing apps like Alibaba’s DingTalk for online learning as schools remain shut.

But until robots and self-driving cars are running everything in our lives, disruptions in the physical world will still ripple through the virtual one. China’s Alibaba, for example, said earlier this month its e-commerce business was feeling an impact as many delivery workers weren’t back to work. Its takeout business, which theoretically could get a boost from more people staying at home, also was hurt as many restaurants closed.

Technology also can’t fully replace the need for in-human contact, whether personal or for business. Nor should we want it to. Not all tech-driven changes have been good ones. Social networks and mobile devices feed the spread of misinformation, and even convenience-driven innovations like ride-hailing and food delivery can displace vulnerable smaller businesses while ushering in the growth of less desirable “gig economy” jobs. A recent survey by public-relations firm Edelman found that trust in technology has fallen 4% across the globe in just the past year. Lockdowns may glue more people to their screens, but it doesn’t mean they have to like it.