The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected lots and lots of people around the world. Primary schoolers who were excited to meet new friends had to cry in front of the monitor; college freshmen who have awaited for their beginning of campus life had to sit in their room 24/7 with endless assignments and WhatsApp messages; office workers who could spend quality time with their kids and pets after coming back from work had to suffer as separating their work and personal life became tremendously difficult. However, there was one company who could grin from ear to ear thanks to the unexpected pandemic: Zoom Video Communications.
Zoom: The Sleeping Bear of Our Time
Check this graph above to vividly witness the relationship between Zoom and COVID-19 pandemic. In the beginning of 2020, it was an adjustment period for all of us—some companies and schools switched to Work From Home, some did not, some were using Google Meets and Adobe Connect, some were using Skype and FaceTime, et cetera, et cetera. Because the entire world was so shocked with the unexpected virus situation, Zoom’s stock value graph does not show any exponential growth until the midst of 2020. To put it simply, Zoom still needed some time to be recognized by its potential customers.
However, as more people realized that social distancing must last longer and it is technically impossible to abandon Work From Home, Zoom’s value skyrocketed. Compared to its competitors, Zoom’s stable network and user-friendly services along with the institution license program attracted the majority of customers and thereby literally making Zoom one of the most frequently used proper noun on Earth.
My university initiated the online learning platform in March 2020 with Adobe Connect and switched to Zoom in September as so many students requested to do so. I had never used Zoom before, so I was wondering if there is any reason that people prefer Zoom over Adobe Connect since I wasn’t frustrated at all when listening to classes with Adobe Connect. However, immediately after the first session of class using Zoom, my mind was full of complaints and rage against Adobe Connect because Zoom was inarguably, absolutely, and unquestionably better: professors could actually see their students on Zoom while Adobe Connect simply showed the professor’s screen only; participants could exchange files in the chatroom and even put little emojis like clapping sign or thumbs-up on Zoom while Adobe Connect showed nothing but our dully typed messages. But most importantly, Adobe Connect required great internet connection—and by great, I mean GREAT. When I was in government quarantine facility for two weeks as I came back to South Korea, I could not listen to any of my classes because Adobe Connect only worked when a user is using a wifi network almost exclusively without anyone else sharing the network at the same time. For a student staying in a building with more than twenty other people using the same network, Adobe Connect was a mirage.
Zoom's Future: Make A Guess
So what will happen to Zoom in the future? Will it fall as the pandemic cools down? Or will it be able to maintain its epic journey even after this era of social distancing? Well, though it is impossible to accurately predict the future, I personally feel like Zoom will continue to grow regardless of the pandemic but with much slower pace compared to the second half of 2020.
This pandemic heralded to the world the idea of Work From Home. It showed that offices and schools perhaps are the greatest waste of money and time. It also showed that remote working/learning can be a great option when a person cannot, for some reason, be physically present. Furthermore, as people were craving for work-life balance even before the pandemic, Zoom’s ability to allow people leave offices and classrooms whenever they want while continue fulfilling their obligations will definitely attract so many people. In other words, although unintended, COVID-19 literally poked the sleeping bear called Zoom.
What is your expectation of Zoom’s future? Is it grim, or bright?