"and then you have a shock like this that can change everything"

"many business practices, such as remote work and the online medical visits of tele-health, were slow to win widespread adoption because of behavioral inertia. But the outbreak — and its indefinite period of upended life — could speed adoption of such unfamiliar ways of doing business.
Any traditional face-to-face encounter — going to an accountant’s office, sending children to class, traveling for a business meeting — could some day seem less necessary as more remote options become publicly acceptable and widespread.
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“It’s amazing how slowly habits change, where people get stuck in the ruts of doing things, and then you have a shock like this that can change everything,” said Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the mIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. “It forces people to overcome the switching costs, figure out something new and say, ‘Hey, this is way better.’ ”
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When few people opted for home delivery, the scale of the enterprise ensured the costs were high and availability was low. But as crowds of people opt for delivery, the routes drivers use will grow denser, and customers will expect everything can be dropped off at home. Deliveries of items that were generally in-store purchases — fresh foods, prescription drugs — could usher in new economies of scale."

Trechos retirados de "Many changes in how we work and live expected to be lasting" publicado no The Washinton Post de hoje