Telephone slavery

I remember phone calls. Dial the number and speak. Simple.

The advent of the smartphone, email, video-chat and text messages should have made things easier.

But no. I spoke to a press officer today who explained that making a phone call without due warning was, in in some circles, considered an act of “microaggression”.

Can you imagine anything ruder and more selfish than trying to speak to somebody?

We all used phones in the 20th century. There was no alternative.

Communication should be so straightforward today. But there’s now a whole rigmarole, a flirtation almost, from WhatsApp (informal) to email (more formal) and (fanfare) the call itself.

It’s puzzling. We now take a much more relaxed attitude to work, wherever and whenever we do it.

But we’ve become a bit bloody precious about an unscheduled phone call disrupting our routine.

And while I’m at it, a bit picky as well about time-keeping.

I’ve got a Zoom at 4pm. To do it earlier or later would be unthinkable. It’s set in stone on my calendar.

The tech that’s supposed to set us free is doing the exact opposite.?

Welcome to smartphone slavery.

?

?