Stylized line drawing of mark playing the flute

My kids prefer video chats to phone calls

I remember having a rotary phone and, despite growing up with all sorts of nifty technology, video chat still seems like wizardry to me.

I use it all the time but it its like magic. Its a mystical treat.

But its everyday life for my kids.

My youngest will fire up FaceTime to two or three of his friends, put it in the background, and then they can talk while they play on the same Minecraft server.

I'm out of town right now. When they want to talk to me, they don't pick up the cordless phone in the basement or use my oldests cell phone. They kick off a Google Hangout from the iPad. I got one of those calls when I was running this morning and it was wonderful.

Their video wasnt on but I could still hear the three of them and they could see me, huffing and puffing along.

don't assuming itll be direct-thought communication by the time they're old and I'm gone. Their kids will laugh at how old fashioned video chats are and theyll reminisce about Hangouts with me.