MDF Magazine Issue 63 December 2020. 8 December

cial media”. Applications such as Twitter, Instagram, and
WhatsApp, to name but a few, have fundamentally altered
the way we communicate, not always for the better but
undeniably and permanently, and are changing the way we
live and work each day.
Most things in life are zero-sum games. That is to say,
for one to win another must lose. The adoption of new
communication technologies has seen an explosive
increase in messaging, calling, uploading and downloading
of information. It has also seen a rapid decline in the use
of landline communication. The fax machine is dead; so
is the traditional telephone. Just a few weeks ago I put my
trusty fax machine out to pasture. The last receipt, still
hanging from the paper roll, read 2013! It had also
functioned as my landline answering machine. Following a
recent holiday we returned home after three weeks’ absence
to find not a single message on the machine. No one leaves
those messages anymore; if you can’t reach someone you
send them a text message. I terminated my landline contract
some time ago after I had determined that only two people
ever phoned me on the landline. Everyone else,
including my 86-year-old mother, uses a cellular phone.
Even traditional cellular communication has become a
victim of its own
success and is on the decline, as more and more of us
make use of “on the top” applications such as WhatsApp,
Skype and Facebook to make voice calls, send messages, and
exchange photographs and video.
This is all very interesting but, I hear you ask, why are you
discussing it in the MDF Magazine? The reason is that this
ongoing evolution in communication, perhaps more of a
revolution, holds tremendous opportunities for disabled
individuals.
Firstly, the physical devices are becoming easier to manage
for those of us with limited dexterity. I am able to operate a
range of communication applications, including my mobile
phone, directly with my computer mouse. At the click of a
button I can make and receive voice and video calls, send and
receive text messages, and access the internet.
Secondly, the ability to reach out to many people with the
single press of a button is hugely advantageous. Zoom,
Skype and Microsoft Groups can place us into a meeting
room anywhere in the world, interacting with one or more
people seamlessly.
Thirdly, the technology is rapidly becoming more affordable,
and in fact most everyday applications are available free of
charge. Mobile calls and SMSs used to cost money; now
WhatsApp and Skype calls are free.
Fourthly, we are seeing online learning and home schooling
merging into a cohesive probability for the future, enabled
by these new communication technologies and propelled by
the realities of lockdown. This evolution in learning is likely
to increase and offers unlimited opportunities for disabled
individuals seeking to gain much-needed skills in a world
where education facilities are often inaccessible.
Fifthly, the technology has opened the way for increased
work from home, which is ideally suited to many of us who
have found traditional workplaces to be unreachable and
inaccessible. This process has been accelerated by
COVID-19, which has seen working from home shift from
being unusual to becoming the norm.
We are living in a time of rapid change. The events described
above refer to technologies; however events of the last eight
months are pointing towards tremendous societal changes
as well. It is intimidating, but like it or not we are all along
for the ride. COVID-19 has given rise to a new buzzword,
“pivot”. It asks the question whether you can “pivot” (or
turn) from the old normal to the new normal. Much of this
adaptation will be achieved through communication
technologies in both the form that we currently understand
and see around us and in new developments yet to come. It
is important that we as disabled individuals remain on top
of matters, leveraging these developments to our maximum
advantage.
MDF Quiz Nights
Thank you to everyone who participated in the MDF
WhatsApp quiz nights over the past few months.
We deeply appreciate your support and for joining us for a
few quizzes which turned out to be a whole lot of fun!
41