Post Covid-19 predictions (1 Viewer)

AGinAg (38)

AGinAg (38)

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How do you think the world will have changed as a result of Covid once it's all over. Anything from social to economic to entertainment, even the little day to day things.

I know I'll certainly wear a mask out and about in future if I have a cold.

Also I predict a rapid decline in the use of office space as working from home has now become a practical feature of every day working life for many.
 
Obviously many pubs and restaurants will have closed, but I wonder there'll be a post Covid boom in such entertainment venue attendance as people start going out again. I've seen a preduction of a new roaring 20s which certainly holds weight.
 
Just want to start with a disclaimer that I don't think there'll ever be a 'post-Covid' world to be honest. The virus is here to stay. It's not going anywhere. It took decades to eradicate smallbox and we haven't eradicated any other virus since, so we'll just have to live with it. Of course mass vaccination will help but it will take years if not even decades to vaccinate the majority of the world's population (if that is the 'game plan'). So it'll be like the flu virus - we live with that as well and we have a vaccine each year.

All that being said, I think flexible working / working from home will really take off. IT/digital media etc. will take off as well. Online teaching/instruction etc. will also boom. Universities will have to adapt/change.

The service industry is truly fucked. The high street's death has been hastened.


This is all very stream of consciousness but just thought I'd throw my 2p in.
 
This might go some way to saving local high streets, and a reduction of the prevalence of the Cities. If everyone starts working from home more often, then businesses, especially the coffee shops, will need to move to get them, and those that are still around should see a boost.

Living in Glasgow and looking to buy a house this year, I'm not entirely against looking further into the suburbs now than I had initially planned.
 
Suedey Baby said:
I agree 100%.
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It's reliant on so many elements working. The sheer dynamics of taking the physical classroom, corridor, library, cafe, bar, work spaces etc away was a nightmare for the last 9 months of my Masters. I am very much a social worker, when it comes to academia. Uni for me was a social experience as much as it was an educational one. Bouncing around ideas and post class chats just don't happen on a Zoom screen.
 
I think its certainly fast forwarded the slow sad decline of many High Streets. As soon as people accept the town centre is for eating and drinking and shopping is an out of town/ online experience the better.
 
Ag said:
It's reliant on so many elements working. The sheer dynamics of taking the physical classroom, corridor, library, cafe, bar, work spaces etc away was a nightmare for the last 9 months of my Masters. I am very much a social worker, when it comes to academia. Uni for me was a social experience as much as it was an educational one. Bouncing around ideas and post class chats just don't happen on a Zoom screen.
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Absolutely and I think universities really shafted students by sending them all back to halls (so they could charge them in addition to the massive tuition fees!) only for them to be Zooming or MS Teaming their lectures when they could have been doing that at their family home in a much nicer environment with more money to spare. There'll be more of this in 2020-2021 but sooner or later they'll have to reform and change their policies. Separate discussion I realise but I've become really disillusioned with academia as an institution in my older days..
 
Suedey Baby said:
Absolutely and I think universities really shafted students by sending them all back to halls (so they could charge them in addition to the massive tuition fees!) only for them to be Zooming or MS Teaming their lectures when they could have been doing that at their family home in a much nicer environment with more money to spare. There'll be more of this in 2020-2021 but sooner or later they'll have to reform and change their policies. Separate discussion I realise but I've become really disillusioned with academia as an institution in my older days..
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There are lot of issues with how academia is developing mainly around their slow assent into becoming reliant on commerce. But as regretful as the students locked in halls was, they really do need the money. I saw a private email at my Uni stating their financial difficulties due to Covid. Losing international students in particular hit them hard and this is a Uni that has expanded considerably over the last 20 years. It was lose/ lose for everyone. No one wants Universities to lose their independence except the Tories. And that will happen if they run out of money.
 
That said, my refunds last year amounted to less than £200 and that was due to strikes rather than Covid. I really felt like I'd borrowed 7k for a few reading lists and awful group Zooms.
 
Suedey Baby said:
More shops/retailers need to urgently change their online footprint as well.

Amazon also needs to have a credible rival at least - it'll be better for everyone.
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There's been several rapid changes particularly for food delivery in the last 12 months.

Despite being a keen user, I find the sight of the delivery bags on every road quite depressing.
 
Ag said:
There's been several rapid changes particularly for food delivery in the last 12 months.

Despite being a keen user, I find the sight of the delivery bags on every road quite depressing.
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I think there'll be more of that with other goods as well and a lot of shops/retailers will need major facelifts for their websites/apps to adapt with changing consumer behaviour.

Oh and we need 5G or whatever. I know Hawwieieie is evil and stuff but if more people are WFH and there's more online everything then the state of the internet connection in this country really needs to get a grip.
 
Agreed about university just not being the same online. I’ve been thinking about going back to get my masters but I am not until it can safely be in person. I just don’t think it would be the same (for me. I’m sure it’s better for others as well, so both options can be viable)

I hope, after covid, stores and restaurants continue the heightened cleaning measures
 
A friend of mine who works in commercial law has said the biggest boom she's seen is in warehouses- people investing in them or buying them, because the likelihood is everything is going to move online.
 
I don’t think online teaching has worked so I expect schools and universities to be back.

A good chunk of businesses will allow more flexible working from home but I don’t think it will be immediate. Even during the lockdown there are people being forced to go into offices.

I don’t think movie theaters will die despite what everyone is saying. Releasing the blockbusters on streaming services has been a bust. We might lose some locations but studios are eager to get their movies back in theaters.
 
On an unrelated note, I expect paid streaming concerts to grow. The reach an artist can get and the easy money will be very appealing I'm sure.
 
On a positive note, the likes of zoom have really allowed me to keep in touch with people. As I'm not able to get out much in the evenings sometimes you feel socially distant from people, but being able to find another way to catch up has been lovely.
 
WeihnachZenGiraffe said:
This might go some way to saving local high streets, and a reduction of the prevalence of the Cities. If everyone starts working from home more often, then businesses, especially the coffee shops, will need to move to get them, and those that are still around should see a boost.
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I agree with this, and while the death of city centers is such a sad thing, the revival of local centres around the centre, and the mixing of residential and recreational/commerical areas would be a very welcome boost to urban life.

I still think/hope that many businesses would still need big office space in the city. Working from home (as nice as it is) is really not the same as in office.
 
Star said:
On a positive note, the likes of zoom have really allowed me to keep in touch with people. As I'm not able to get out much in the evenings sometimes you feel socially distant from people, but being able to find another way to catch up has been lovely.
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Yup. My Friday night drinks have been amazing and have kept me in touch with several friends.
 
Phoenix said:
I don’t think movie theaters will die despite what everyone is saying. Releasing the blockbusters on streaming services has been a bust. We might lose some locations but studios are eager to get their movies back in theaters.
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Disagree.
I think they'll definitely die. Cinema was on its last legs before Covid19. It is a fairly recent human invention anyway, so I don't really see it lasting beyond the next few decades.
 
Another expected change (and this has already started in a smaller scale) is the exodus from big cities and the revival of small towns and the countryside.
 
Hopefully the EU will invest in better, more connected cities by railroad and faster trains, and with an easier, more accessible system for bookings. Travelling by train will have to increase. :disco:

:greta:
 
RaspberrySwirl said:
Hopefully the EU will invest in better, more connected cities by railroad and faster trains, and with an easier, more accessible system for bookings. Travelling by train will have to increase. :disco:

:greta:
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Hmmm. Not sure about that but electric cars will boom! They already have.. Tesla shares are through the roof.
 
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How was cinema on its last legs prior to COVID?

I guess I've heard the death knell for cinema announced a few times over the years and it never came to pass.
 
Oddly Although high streets are closing down, it seems little local shops, especially on the island, are pretty much booming. There's new ones opening up all over the place, all doing well (when allowed to open). Local craft shops, local clothes shops, coffee and food shops etc.
 
Ag said:
It's reliant on so many elements working. The sheer dynamics of taking the physical classroom, corridor, library, cafe, bar, work spaces etc away was a nightmare for the last 9 months of my Masters. I am very much a social worker, when it comes to academia. Uni for me was a social experience as much as it was an educational one. Bouncing around ideas and post class chats just don't happen on a Zoom screen.
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The big revelation for me has been that despite the fact that we all knew online activity was moving away from desktop PCs and onto tablet/laptop/mobile browsing, how many platforms like MS Teams, Zoom, etc. have been designed firmly with PC use in mind. That's proving hugely exclusionary to a lot of students who haven't invested - with good reason - in that hardware, only to find that the technology isn't optimised for the platforms most people are likely to access it through.
 
From my own perspective, I think we will become a bit more appreciative of our personal space and less willing to cram into small spaces.

I also feel that when we now ask: "How are you doing?", we actually mean it as a question, rather than a polite utterance. I hope in the future that we will remain a bit more mindful.
 
I expect UK tourism will have one of its biggest years ever in 2021 (and probably 2022 as well)
 
MARY said:
I expect UK tourism will have one of its biggest years ever in 2021 (and probably 2022 as well)
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Oh I hope travel restrictions/quarantine have FUCKED OFF by the summer. My current plan is to work all summer then book a last minute break in September for a few days after schools have reopened.
 
It's already been massive pre-covid but all products / digital products related to "well-being", home fitness, and mental health will obviously come out of this at an all time high - and on the whole, I guess this is a good thing and proper awareness is important but it feels like there was so much SCAMMING going on, especially in the "well-being" and mental health sector of things.
 
If I was thinking about what kind of job would keep me going for the next 20 years, I'd train in counselling.
 
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