Meatspace is still important

Exactly five years ago, on September 20, 2011, I wrote the following:

Even if you have the best videoconferencing equipment - and most of us don't - a virtual presence cannot substitute for a physical one.

This was borne out for me recently as I was taking my morning walk at work. I spotted a guy walking in a neighboring parking lot. One of his hands was holding a phone to his ear. As he talked, the other hand was pointing and making other gestures.

And in this case, the other people on the call literally did not know what the caller's other hand was doing.

You may object and say that the guy should have been on a video call rather than an audio call. But if he did that, he wouldn't be able to walk around the parking lot.

And forget about walking around the parking lot if you're wearing VR goggles.