Video to the battlefield

In our everyday lives, how do we convey information to one another? We convey information by speaking with our voices, listening with our ears, seeing with our eyes, and expressing emotion with body language. Through sound and images we communicate with one another. Today, thanks to devices such as telephones, radios, computers, and fares, we have the ability to exchange information on a global scale; but, how this information is exchanged is a different story. Telephones and radios can convey sound, but not imagery. Computers and fares are great for sending data, but they do it without the human interaction that takes place during a conversation, which includes everything from tone of voice and body language to instant reactions and replies. When we communicate with one another over distance, we usually have to use more than one of the above tools in order to get our full message across. How many of us at the office talk to someone on the phone about a document that needs to be corrected. Then, as soon as we get off the phone, we either e-mail or fax a copy of the document out. After about a day or two, we contact the other party and arrange a meeting, face-to-face, to make sure that everyone has the same story. No matter how many calls we make or how many e-mails and fares we send, we usually wind up meeting face-to-face with one another in order to verify that the information has been received and accepted. This process is not only time consuming, it demonstrates how important face-to-face human interaction is.