The Wonders of Modern Tech: A Meditation on Cairo and Video Chat.

The Wonders of Modern Tech: A Meditation on Cairo and Video Chat.

Gone are the days when maintaining correspondence took real commitment. It is no longer necessary to keep a memory alive with a locket, or quiver with the anticipation at the sight of the post-man. The age-old tradition of writing letters and post cards is obsolete. The heartfelt words of love and friendship, so poetic in their endearment and thoughtfulness, conveyed by careful strokes of a pen on paper are no more. This era of poetic forget-me-nots and sweet-nothings has been replaced by tweets and likes. Blessed are we to live in a time of such technological innovation.

Staying connected across thousands of miles is as easy as clicking a button. The magic of modern technology has banished homesickness and made longing a thing of the past. Thanks to video chat, a computer screen is the window to an adjacent room through which it is possible to share smiles and laughs. Video chat is incredibly wonderful! Video chat is incredibly frustrating.

            The promise of instant face-to-face connection and a life undisturbed from across the globe is fantastic but misinformed. In theory the possibilities for video chat are boundless, in reality they are significant less so. A poor Internet connection severely cripples this technology, while time differences make instantaneous connection a logistical nightmare. Because these issues usually go unnoticed, no Skype or Facetime advertisements ever mention the inherent flaws that can render their products useless. While a videoconference between New York and California is amazing, a chat between California and Cairo is extremely disappointing.

When I said that a poor Internet connection cripples video chat, I meant to say Cairo’s Internet connection is the demise of video chat. It is hard for me to believe that Curiosity can picture message with NASA from Mars, but the Internet connection in Cairo cannot handle the stress of video chat. I am not a scientist, but I am pretty sure Mars is really far away. How is it possible that Mars has a better Internet connection than Cairo!

Cairo’s Internet transforms conversations from mundane, “Hi mom! I’m so glad to see you! I’m fine now! I yesterday felt really sick but the doctor says I’m not going to die,” to ominous, “hi mom! I… gla…ee…ou! I… n…! I…fe… really… ick… the doctor says I’m … die,” and joyful, “Hi love! It’s so nice to see you!” to frustrating, “Hi love! I…”[Call Failed].

Even when running smoothly, conversations over video chat are still are still highly ambiguous. After being digitalized, beamed into space, and rematerialized an instant later on the other side of the world, the conversation is a bit jetlag. Because computer cameras capture from shoulders up, only facial expressions are accurately conveyed, while the majority of body language, an integral part of communication, is completely lost. This distorts the mechanics and nuances of discourse, and warps the rhythms and flow of dialog. The result is a clumsy conversation punctuated by false starts and interjection, where being cut off mid sentence is…

Even though I do not understand how the Internet works, as far as I’m concerned its magic, I am grateful that I join my family for Sunday brunch from across the globe. This incredible sorcery allows me to connect to my life in California. No matter how choppy Cairo’s Internet connection, I am fairly certain that Hogwarts does not have many students from Cairo, it is infinitely better than letter writing.