Here at ARK we are always talking about disruption and now we are faced with huge disruption. The coronavirus outbreak has massive implications on many levels for the whole world, not least of which is the need for many people to work remote where possible. This episode is a discussion about what that looks like during a time of mass quarantine. We are focusing our discussion on the realms of communication and entertainment. First of all, we discuss video conferencing and naturally, our eyes are on Zoom. Having grown rapidly in the last few years, Zoom will probably prove to be even more important as social distancing is enforced. From there we turn to messaging and texting in a professional context, looking at Slack in particular. We consider some of the other concerns in this period of remote work, particularly security and how the cloud has helped businesses alleviate security concerns. The conversation then turns to entertainment, as we first look at professional sports events, almost all of which have been postponed or canceled, and what might take their place in people’s lives. We can already see E-sports growing, even before the outbreak. We finish off talking about television and movies, arguing that on-demand services will probably strengthen under current conditions with traditional cable suffering due to the absence of sports. Listen in to get it all! “I think with the absence of live sports what we are really starting to see is online gaming taking off.” “There will obviously be a fall off when we do resume normal life but I think it is demonstrating this idea that watching virtual sporting events and virtual games is actually very entertaining.” Key Points From This Episode: The new outlook on working from home in a time of crisis Eric Yuan, the beginnings of Zoom and the rise of video conferencing software. How Zoom has managed to gain market share. Possible problems and roadblocks for Zoom as more people need more time on video. Zoom’s hardware, in-house data centers and excess capacity for scaling. Reasons for Zoom’s hyper-competitiveness in today’s market. Real-time, quick communication through text messaging; Teams versus Slack. Security concerns in the remote work realm and the benefits of cloud applications. The outlook for these high-value companies in the context of coronavirus. Looking at entertainment right now and the rise of gaming in lieu of live sports. Twitch-streamed virtual sports events and the possibility of celebrity partnerships. Regular, amateur gaming numbers in the US with new big event games. On-demand television and movie entertainment.