The current pandemic has completely changed the way we interact with each other and the world as a whole. This lockdown and social distancing cultures have pushed us all inside our homes. We have started living more and more through and by our tablet’s, laptop’s phones, the same TV, and other such interconnected internet devices.
Just look at an average day for a blogger like me. I wake up by a call from my grandmother at 8:30 in the morning after chatting with her I switch my laptop on and play my latest mediation music to which I mediate. Then I order breakfast from MacDonald’s through my phone on the delivery app and pay online through the Paytm app. I check my email and Facebook messages and respond. I organize a meeting with my blog team on FaceTime and do a video conference with the prospective buyer of my book. I use an app to sign the contact and wire the money through internet backing. I write my blog posts with the help of Srini who answers all my questions through a quick search. At the same time, I give directions to the delivery boy through my live location. This is just the morning. Session. As can be seen apart from the time I spend in the toilet brushing and washing up, I am constantly wired into my gadgets and devices sending or receiving information through the wifi. Making payments, receiving orders, doing business, or just getting entertained there is no running away from the Tablet life an existence that has become more apparent now than ever before.
I spend my afternoon listening to audiobooks and motivational videos, engaging with friends as far off in the US and UK on live video chats, sharing my holiday pictures and cousins’ wedding videos. The evenings are to close loop tasks and sign out for the day, but as I get rid of my laptop, bang I am on the seat phone making video’s on Tik Tok or sending links and pictures to my friends.
The nights are the busiest as I spend money on OTT platforms binge-watching my web-series and best of the world documentaries on my smart TV. Before I go to bed I watch the camera feed from my house in Delhi on my mobile to check everything is secure as I pay my electricity, phone, and utility bills online through my internet banking. I have access to Data and information from anywhere in the world at my fingertips and I can buy sell and transact online with anyone building business and gaining customers. The Pandemic has pushed tech giants further to take advantage of the new paradigm companies like amazon.com hulu.com, netflix.com, and zoom.com have ramped up the workforce and have promised more efficiency and data privacy to capture the new users who have been now forced to work from home and adapt to this new lifestyle. Collaborative apps that facilitate workflow and connectivity from home have seen a surge in downloads, apps like zoom, WhatsApp, Skype have seen a huge upsurge in downloads post-COVID- 19, and binge-watching has increased subscription of OTT platforms as people are viewing content from multiple devices, we are spoiled for choice.
Slowly we have gotten used to living by the tablet, even ordering groceries and food online, this virtual world that we inherit where all we do is travel form out the bedroom to our fridge then to our study table is a new reality as humanity remains locked indoors, and people stay a safe distance for each other. The only way to interact is through our good old Tablets. Digital India did not do what the Pandemic has done for us in India it has really pushed us to look at innovative ways to interact and continue business as usual in this new paradigm which looks to stay for some time now.
It’s the kids and the menials who are hooked to technology and gadgets more than anything else and their world is defined by it, the tablet is here to stay.