"That's what's in the news these days," Yuuko replied. "Kids being stuck on their videogames, people who text people in the same room rather than talking to the person, employees being fired over video instead of in person... I could make a machine for my work but there's something clinical and impersonal about it that turns customers off. And it makes it harder to get just the right mixes.

"But technology also makes it easier to find and reach out to people, as you already know."