Institute For The Future

Simply Being There: A Story of Caring

I contributed a story of caring to Ruby's Bequest and thought I'd share an excerpt here. Read the full story here.

According to a recent study published by Pew Research, mobile phones and the Internet may strengthen family ties. "In what was described as the first detailed survey of its kind, released yesterday, researchers reported that family life has not been weakened, as many had feared, by new technology. Rather, families have compensated for the stress and hurry of modern life with cellphone calls, e-mail and text messages and other new forms of communication.

 

"There had been some fears that the Internet had been taking people away from each other," said Barry Wellman, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto and one of the authors of the report, published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. "We found just the opposite."

 

There's another encouraging story this week in the Washington Post that shows that even homeless people are able to connect with mobile phones. According to the story, "Advocates who work with the District's homeless estimate that 30 percent to 45 percent of the people they help [In Washingto D.C.] have cellphones."

 

Low cost Internet video is turning out to be another way for families to stay in touch. Recently one executive described how he has sunday dinner with his elderly parents who live thousands of miles away, using Skype low costvideo conferencing and flat screen video panels in his and his parents dining rooms. They can see each prepare meals and even dine together despite the great distance.