(preaching to the choir here, I know)

Do it

Oooooh I will gladly take some introductions!

The real beauty of Skype was how it was lightweight enough to run in the background and tell me whether my parents also happened to be available at any given time - an IM-like feature that appears to have been forgotten by newer servives?

Really is. Still looking for an "elderly parent friendly" Skype alternative that isn't an ordeal for them to operate

If anything, the sweet spot is a chill but lucrative email job + some fulfilling hobbies! If people want physical work, there's so many good activities to do off the clock - there should be no shame in being a weekend warrior and forming communities around it.

In practice, not being able to use my repairable laptop for my daily work almost has me running toward the nearest Apple Store to buy a computer that may be disposable tech, but for which parts and repair services are de facto more available.

(Background: as dated as Skype may be, I've used it for almost 1.5 decades for my weekly call with my parents, who aren't exactly the most tech-savvy and are very much creatures of habit...)