Remote Meeting

This week I had a meeting online using the modern technology of video group chat.  My team used a google program to host our meeting.  It seems common place, but this technology is amazing.  I remember as I child I was in awe when I watched Pokemon and professor Oaks talked to Ash through a phone that showed the other person through video.  Today that technology not only exists but is also common place. 

Online interactivity is extremely useful for many reasons.  One time I found my roommate on a “date” with his girlfriend in Italy, they were watching a movie together through their tablets!  The greatest advantage of group video conference calls is convenience.  Because everyone in my group has different schedules, we couldn’t all be together until 9:45 p.m.  Trying to find and get to a physical location that late at night would have been such a pain, but we were able to do it from the comfort of our homes.

There are disadvantages however.  For instance, it can be really easy to have technological difficulties.  Case in point, I couldn’t get my side of the video chat to work for like 10 minutes, which was very frustrating to me and my team.  Many times things become laggy and it is hard to understand what people are saying.  I think video conferences should be used when the convenience is a very high priority. Through my experience I observed that quality is definitely better in the traditional face to face meeting.

I will definitely try to utilize today’s technologies more often.  I will still be mindful however, that technology brings new good ways to do things, but it maybe does not always bring the best ways.