Adversity strikes people differently. While COVID19 has been a great leveler – infecting the affluent and the disadvantaged alike – many companies (and people) have fared worse than others, depending on their vulnerabilities and the nature of their businesses.
But, like any story of destruction, the Novel Coronavirus crisis too has created new opportunities and allowed some to come out stronger than they were going in.
One man’s meat..
Debacles are often two sided, and ruthless as COVID19 has been, it has benefitted some handsomely. One man’s meat, as they say, is another man’s poison.
We take an in-depth look at one of the biggest beneficiaries of this devastation – Zoom.
Video conferencing is the new black
Before COVID, video conferencing was just a good-to-have option. People used it off and on. It was primarily used by organizations and a distributed workforce – online trainers, start-ups, handful of educators and the odd tech-savvy grandma who used it to connect with her grandchildren.
But, even those who used it saw it as an appendage of sorts, not really as a must-have. Within companies, video conferencing had not really replaced travel – executives still traversed across states and countries to train teams, meet with business partners and make presentations. Many believed that the human-touch could never be replaced, that it was just not the same as meeting face-to-face.
Then the virus hit.
Businesses went into a spiral and the gears changed to survival mode. All reservations had to be overcome – from technological to human – and within a month videoconferencing went from good-to-have to will-sink-without-it. From multinationals and smaller businesses to one-man-armies and educators, everyone got on it. It proved to be the Noah’s Ark that would keep them afloat. And it did.
Today it’s common for people to start their workday (at home) with a yoga video call before they get on a Zoom call in the afternoon with their office teams – while their kids log into their school portals to take online classes. That’s the new digital home (for those who can afford it that is– the digital divide has deepened, but that’s for another post).
We’re living in a virtual world
But here’s the interesting thing – video conferencing is not only being used in the professional space, but in deeply personal ones too. People are virtually connecting for everything, from weddings, parties, dates, birthdays and, believe it or not, even funerals. So popular is the platform that event the Queen, who is in quarantine, is connecting with other Royals via Zoom on her birthday!
But wait it gets better.
Nightlife has moved online too – the most famous example being that of Club Quarantine, where people dress up according to a dress code and pay a cover charge to enter and party. Just like in real life, here too there are exclusive (Zoom) rooms that come for a price. This is where you can hobnob with famous DJs, celebrities and models.
What we’re seeing is a, you-can’t-defeat-us attitude that’s driving people to carry on with their lives in as normal a way as they possibly can, despite the virus. They don’t want to wait for the flattening of the curve to reclaim their lives. They want some semblance of normalcy, and connecting with people gives them reassurance.
Zoom to the top
It’s little surprise then that Zoom, the video conferencing platform founded by the old team of WebEx, is now worth more than American Airlines, Expedia and Hilton combined. This may, of course, seem like an unfair comparison at the moment– because while teleconferencing is seeing a massive surge in demand, the fortunes of airlines and travel companies are plummeting. Still, Zoom’s meteoric rise is a sign of the times, and an indicator of life in a post-COVID world.
Just to get a sense of exactly how meteoric the rise (and fall) has been, here are some numbers.
Zoom now has a market cap of $31.73 billion. Hilton, on the other hand, has seen its value go to half from $31 billion in January. Similarly American Airlines and Expedia have lost a whopping $4 billion and $7 billion in market cap respectively.
Needless to say, Zoom is not riding this current gravy train alone. Other video conferencing platforms are also seeing a huge spike – Microsoft’s Skype saw a 70% rise in users from a month ago. It now has more than 50 million daily active users, which are more than Zoom’s.
Here’s a look at some global downloads that give a fair idea of the current scenario
Trouble in paradise
Zoom’s steep rise to the top has, unfortunately, come with a huge cost. The very functionality that made the platform easy to use has also left it vulnerable to security and privacy issues. There have been innumerable cases of hackers getting into meetings uninvited – the most infamous one being that of a naked man gate crashing into an online school class. And that wasn’t an isolated incident of someone barging into another meeting – the incidents have been frequent enough for Zoom-Bombing to have become a verb.
Not surprisingly, the company is now facing a severe backlash from privacy advocates, educators and parents and lawmakers. The serious security breaches have led to advisories being issued against the platform. Many institutions have also taken Zoom off their schedules and switched to Microsoft Teams instead.
Some high profile organizations like Space X and NASA have also declared that they’re not using the platform anymore.
The company also stated that, in light of the incidents, they would be temporarily stopping the development of any new features in order to focus on safety and privacy issues. The company’s founder and CEO, Eric Yuan also apologized to Zoom’s users on a blog post saying that they recognized that they had “fallen short of the community’s — and our own — privacy and security expectations”
Will that be too little too later for the company. Unlikely. There’s no real completion out there yet that makes the experience so seamless. Looks like Zoom will weather this storm for now.
World after COVID
When COVID finally recedes, it’ll leave behind a changed world. Question is, will it be a bordering-on-dystopian world, where connecting on video apps will become the norm, and relationships will move online, and hence lead to increasing loneliness? Or, will people be hit by the existentialist, you-never-know-how-long-we-have feeling and make an extra effort to meet their friends and relatives – that obscure cousin’s wedding that your parents force you to go to might not seem like that bad an idea then.
It’s hard to say what’ll happen in the personal space. In the professional world, however, it’s clear. Paying rent for offices and for people to travel when they can connect on Zoom may not seem that great an idea, especially when a post-Corona world will leave most businesses (the ones that survive that is) with hardly any reserves. Also, once people have seen that their jobs
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Terms of Service
Last revised date: January 1st, 2020
"TC Global", "we", "our" or "us" refers to the Company, The Chopras Global Holdings PTE Ltd. and its affiliates. "You" or "your" refers to the user or customer accessing our website and services.
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The Chopras Global Holdings PTE Ltd. and its affiliates (“TC Global”, “we”, “our” or “us”) care about your privacy. We are committed to maintaining your trust by protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy (‘Policy’) describes the information we gather on our website or through our website services, applications, or other services as well as any offline products, programs or courses, how we use such information, and the steps we take to protect such information. By visiting our website, using our online services, by downloading our mobile app, or by purchasing or using our services, you accept the privacy practices described in this Policy.
. The Information We Collect
We collect different information depending on our engagement with you and the requirements of applicable law as described below.
When you use our website, you provide us data through a variety of ways. This information includes your name, number, e-mail and service interest. We also collect information regarding your profile.
We collect the information: (a) that you provide to us directly; (b) that your parent, or guardian provides to us; (c) about your use of our services, and (d) If you opt in to certain features or depending on your device settings, we obtain geo-location data.
. Usage of the Information
We use the information we collect to operate our business and provide you with quality service. The extent of our usage is contingent on which services you use, how you use them, and any preferences you may have. Illustratively, we use your information to:
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Send emails and other communications: We may also send communications to notify you of new information and improvements in our services.
Comply with applicable law: We use the information to comply with our legal obligations and enforce our legal rights, such as, among other things, to exercise contractual rights, to comply with financial reporting obligations in accordance with applicable law.
. To Whom We Disclose Information
We disclose your information in limited circumstances to members of TC Global, our service providers, and other end users, in order to provide our services and to improve your experience. Where required by applicable law, we will only share your information with particular third parties with your consent.
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Whilst we will endeavor to maintain security, given the nature of communications and information processing technology, we cannot guarantee that information, during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our systems or otherwise in our care, will be absolutely safe from intrusion by others.
TC Global is not responsible for the content or accuracy of the personal data contained in the information provided by you and stored on its servers nor is TC Global responsible for the manner in which users collect, handle disclosure, distribute or otherwise process such information.
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. Third Parties
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. Transferring Your Data
TC Global is headquartered in India, and has operations, entities and service providers in India and other parts of the world. As such, we and our service providers may transfer your personal information to, or access it in, jurisdictions (including India) that may not provide equivalent levels of data protection as your home jurisdiction. We will take steps to ensure that your personal information receives an adequate level of protection in the jurisdictions in which we process it, including through compliance with applicable law.
. Changes to our Privacy Policy
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. Contact Us
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Policy, our practices, or are interested in excising your rights. You may email us at [feedback@thechoprasglobal.com] or contact us at our mailing address below:
[No. 3, Shenton Way #10-05, Shenton House Singapore - 068805]
. Country-Specific Terms for India
Indian law defines ‘ sensitive personal information’ to mean information relating to: (i) passwords; (ii) financial information such as bank account/credit card/debit card details; (iii) physical, physiological and mental health condition; (iv) sexual orientation; (v) medical records and history; (vi) biometric information; (vii) any details relating to the above clauses as required for providing you with access to TC Global’s platform; and (viii) any of the information received under above clauses for processing, stored or processed under lawful contract or otherwise. Unless otherwise specified in the Privacy Policy, ‘personal information’ will include ‘sensitive personal information’ as well. By using our platform and TC Global services, you will be deemed to have consented to TC Global’s collection, disclosure and transfer of your personal information. By way of illustration, you will have provided us such consent by your conduct if you choose to share your personal information while using the TC Global platform, such as by including sensitive personal information in your content or by providing sensitive personal information in your registration information.
While transferring personal information collected from individuals in India, we will ensure that it is transferred to entities that offer at least the same levels of data protection as adhered to by us.