I understand what you're saying, but the point of this particular article is (1) this particular technology is likely to bring about profound (once in a lifetime?) changes in work practices, and (2) the consequences of such are likely to lead to millions/billions of people losing their jobs and indeed entire careers. That seems something worth worrying about, both for those people and everyone else.
The original post and the comments here are interesting and intriguing, but many points raised here (a) assume that the initial proposition is in fact true, and (b) don't ask as to what evidence is available in support of the proposition (or indeed whether there is evidence that might appear to contradict it) beyond our own individual experience:
'Why is video-conferencing so exhausting?'
This is not to say that Zoom (etc.) isn't tiring to use, simply that it's sensible first to ask questions such as:
- is it particularly tiring to use? How do we know?
- if Zoom etc. is particularly tiring, for what proportion of users is this the case?
- are some types of users more affected than others? Why?
- is fatigue related specifically to video (as opposed to audio) use?
- is fatigue related to the number of concurrent users in a given call?
- is all video-conferencing similarly tiring, or are some platforms more so than others, and if so, why? UI? Latency? Some other reason?
- are Zoom meetings any more tiring than traditional face-to-face meetings?
- etc.
I think these are great points. I came to here to understand what people's feelings were on the matter. I don't particularly find 'Zoom' tiring any more so than a regular meeting. Is the problem these days just more meetings than there used to be? Because people are still trying to figure out the whole remote work thing?
And in fact I kinda like them better than regular meetings, because I can walk around the house and do whatever. But I also don't have a webcam requirement either, so maybe that's the difference for me.
