Yep, I initially loved the show, but I stopped watching when I realized I didn’t care enough to try and keep up with the new clones they were constantly throwing at us.
For sure, there were other issues, which were amplified by the distance and the lack of communication. Point is you can come up with the best technical solution to a problem, but at the end of the day if the people aren’t able or willing to adapt, there’s not much you can do except fire them (which I couldn’t) or move on (which I did).
So am I :) The “older people” in my comment refer to my former boss and colleagues, and their reluctance to adapt to a remote working environment was a major reason for my departure towards more remote-friendly pastures.
IIRC failing the speech check is the “normal” outcome. If you convince him he gives you info you would have come across later, allowing you to bypass the next main story quest.
Sure, the technology is available and it works well (mostly). But people are not machines, and in my experience quite a lot of them are not as comfortable communicating through chat and webcams as they are in person. Older people in particular don’t really get that they can be used for quick, informal conversations, and only use them for preplanned meetings.
I really liked Lower Decks, and I had never watched a single Star Trek episode before. It works very well on its own, though there are times where I could tell I was missing the reference obviously.