Remember way back when, when phone calls didn’t include video? I miss these days.

Unbeknownst to my clients — sans the occasional siren or Harley Davidson motorcyclist, there were many, many times where I would jump on a call with them and walk, and walk and walk while strategizing. I loved it. Not only was I outside as well as getting some exercise but, walking outside is inspiring, meditative and relaxing.

Don’t get me wrong here. As everyone knows, I am tech-geek. I love tech and everything about it. I am not just an early adopter, per Geoffrey Moore’s famous branding inside the best business book ever written, “Crossing the Chasm,” but, I think I may even be, in some cases, an innovator. If something doesn’t exist, I try to make it myself. I also love fixing old tech — for example, a good friend of mine in the industry, Melody Craigmyle, gave me her late 1970s remote control R2D2 that I WILL get working again — so far, all I get is this chirping noise; but, that’s progress as when I unwrapped it, it said nothing. More on that in a later blog …

Back to the phone.

All of a sudden, post-COVID, I find myself yearning for a simple, uncomplicated, spur-of-the-moment phone call. One where I can’t see anyone, just for a while. And, truth be told, I kind of don’t want them to see me. I liked wearing my semi-controversial T-shirts to spark discussions around the office. My once-coveted Star Wars collection is becoming hackneyed to everyone on Zoom — although my current fave is one that was custom-made by rAVe’s managing editor, Steph Beckett, that declares “I was there on May 25, 1977” for the opening of the original; as I was — at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood!

Back to the phone.

Does anyone else have the “left ear feels no love” issue? It’s my phone ear. But, now it’s sharing time and space with the right one — not happy. Headphones all day, every day.

So, I went a few days sans video — aka audio-only. And, as expected, every single call I joined someone asked about my camera, “was it broken” did I “want to reconnect” or ”go to settings and …”

“Can you hear me now” has taken on a whole new meaning. The ad campaign made famous by the “Verizon guy” is now being used for Teams, Zoom, Meet and Pexip calls, too. By everyone who’s having a mic problem — is it muted, is it selected correctly in settings or is it even plugged in?

Am I alone here? Does anyone else miss POT (plain old telephone) calls?

Share your memories of the, apparently bygone, era. What do you miss since we entered Zoom World?