Coronavirus lockdown: Is it time for dementia clocks for all? – Bill Jamieson

If you’re struggling to know what day it is, this clock can help, while video-conferencing has never been so informal, writes Bill Jamieson.
A supermoon, or pink moon, have proved a lockdown talking point (Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty)A supermoon, or pink moon, have proved a lockdown talking point (Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty)
A supermoon, or pink moon, have proved a lockdown talking point (Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty)

Week three (I think) of the great coronavirus lockdown and new gizmos and gadgets have come to the fore. Since I struggle on waking each morning to figure out what day it is, never mind the date, I am increasingly reliant on my large bookcase digital clock.

With its bright clear typeface and white on black lettering, it tells me at a glance not only the name of the day I have woken to but the date, the month, the year – and the time (am or pm). Brilliant.

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It is sold on Amazon under the rather unflattering category of “dementia clock”. I have now ordered one for my son to arrive on his 42nd birthday. For someone whose working day at home is punctuated with on-the-hour video conference calls, I suspect that after the guffaws have subsided, he will find it most useful. Then there is the surge in popularity of Zoom – the iPad and mobile phone app that enables people to see each other while talking. This gizmo is really intended for business use to facilitate video conferencing involving people in different locations – this to make us more connected and productive as home workers.

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Alas, Mrs J has discovered it is a far more important utility as a social chit chat enabler. She has encouraged her pals to sign up, with the result that phone calls that would normally take a few minutes can extend for 40 minutes or more as gossip and chatter is exchanged. This involves various strategies for dealing with online shopping websites and the latest news on the availability of food and other products – such as garden compost, left-handed secateurs, drill bits, items of clothing and, crucially, cases of wine. The conversations go on and on, punctuated with frequent breakdowns and dropped connections. Heaven help the serious corporate user queuing to get on.

Last night there were lengthy conversations about the sighting of the huge pink supermoon. Was it pink or lavender, rose pink or Farrow and Ball pale pink tinge? When such exchanges can range for 20 minutes, little wonder there are fears for our mental well-being in the age of coronavirus.

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