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Would the lockdowns have happened without Zoom?
- jleyank 3y agoI'm sure there was some kind of tool to share screens, maybe back to X11? IRC was used in the 90's to let people chat in 10+ groups. I can't remember all the unix-y things that floated about to network, nor all that Sun helped create. Nor can I remember whether IBM (Lotus Notes) or DEC had tools in the 80's. And I'm too lazy to google for it. Here's one: https://thoughtsofanidlemind.com/2012/12/14/vax-notes/ https://thoughtsofanidlemind.com/2012/12/14/vax-notes/ Our field has no memory of its past: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system) And people got bored back then, or wanted to hack new things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Room_coffee_pot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Room_coffee_pot NSFW, Jennicam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Ringley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Ringley Given the clever nature of the HN community and the desire for VC money to make more money, there would have been a lashup in 3-6 months and a product in less than a year to scratch the itch. Y Combinator, of course, would have funded it.
- haltingproblem 3y agoI remember IRC and other Athena tools (Zephyr?) but not anything for screen sharing. I still suspect you are right though the widespread adoption of Zoom was much easier due to its almost decade long usage and enterprise features like SSO, etc.