You can download a free version of Zoom but if you want sessions to last longer than 40 minutes, you may want to pay for a higher level program that doesn't snap off after that much time. Quite a few friends have strong stands against online events but they can be a real lift. When friends have downloaded the program and manage to see each other live, hearing the real voices and seeing the live person, the yells and howls of delight show that meeting online can matter, lift spirits and be virus-safe at the same time.
My friend, a longtime audio-video educator with responsibility for teaching the use and ins and outs of audio-video equipment, used to say that modern Americans only respect a person if they see that person on television. Of course, that is an exaggeration but we are so used to seeing important and valuable sights on a television set or a monitor that a certain aura of respect and importance often rises up when we see someone live on a set.
It can matter just what equipment a person uses. Many people immediately go for their smartphone and it can be very helpful. I read a Google report recently that said that it has gotten to the point that about half the traffic on the internet is conducted by phone. It can be tiresome for me to always use the word "smartphone" but there are still cellphones and landlines that transmit voices but nothing else. There is still a large section of all humanity that cannot read or write but more people have a native spoken language and can use it. So, when the telephone was invented, it opened avenues of communication, contact and persuasion that were previously closed.
Lynn just hosted another Zoom meeting of friends that allowed older people to be in contact with each other. If a person downloads the free version of Zoom from the internet and receives an email that includes a link to the online meeting, they can join that meeting. I find that it is helpful to open the Zoom program and have the email invitation open at the same time on a computer. At the right time, I can click on the meeting link in the invitation and the software opens the program.
Many steps can go wrong or be misunderstood or both. There may be a "waiting room" into which I can enter but I may have to wait for the host to let me into the meeting. When I get in, I need to allow my computer mike and camera to transmit my voice and image. Still, it took me five or six years to learn to read, to write, to swim so, as usual, a little patience and perseverance may be demanded of me.
