Texas lawyer Rod Ponton's transformation into a cat at virtual court hearing shows technology can have a humanising effect – Scotsman comment

Video conference calls on Zoom, Teams and similar services have become part of everyday life for many people all over the world during the Covid pandemic.

Texas lawyer Rod Ponton appears as a cat during a virtual hearing of the 394th District Court of Texas (Picture: 394th District Court of Texas/AFP via Getty Images)

So it was probably only a matter of time before it started throwing up some unexpectedly comical incidents.

But surely Texas lawyer Rod Ponton would never, even in his wildest nightmares about appearing in court, have expected to find himself addressing a judge as a cat after being transformed by a Zoom filter.

“I don't know how to remove it,” he told the court, before adding stoically, “but I'm prepared to go forward with it. I’m here live. I’m not a cat.”

Other such mishaps have seen a US company executive address a virtual meeting as a potato; a Conservative peer seem to be a floating, disembodied head after she wore black clothes against a black background; and a host of actual cats, who appear to have taken to video conferencing almost as much as their owners, interrupt proceedings on a regular basis.

All of this may be disconcerting to those involved, given the usually serious purposes of such meetings.

But it is also a reminder that – however grand someone may seem – we are all, first and foremost, human beings much like any other, who may have children who enjoy fun Zoom filters or cats who are quite devoted to us.

It may sometimes seem like technology is mocking us, but that is no bad thing when such unanticipated personal insights come with a humanising effect.

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