Today it was announced that the SIGGRAPH conference — the large yearly gathering of people in my field of computer graphics at the end of July — is going to be canceled. It will be replaced by something virtual, details to be determined.
The announcement was not a surprise. At this point it would be been much more surprising had it not been canceled.
Still, it is a big deal. This conference has been going on uninterrupted since 1974, which is significantly longer than most attendees have been alive.
When even the iconic gathering about all things virtual is forced to go virtual, attention must be paid. One more sign that the world may be changing in a fundamental way.