Everyone talks about the weather. Not us, the ice and snow disappear quickly anyway. And what’s more, the weather will soon no longer matter at all because we won’t be leaving the house anymore. At least once we get our hands on a copy of the Google Starliner unveiled at the World Economic Forum. The similarity of the name with Boeing’s broken-down spaceship is unintentionally apt, after all, the point is that planned trips in space do not take place in the first place. Google promises a replacement with a video conferencing system that comes very close to the holodeck dreams of our youth. The other person sees us in three dimensions, looks us in the eyes, and if we move our head just a little, we see the other person from the side, just like in real life without a helmet or computer glasses. No more gibberish announcements on drafty train platforms, no airport restaurants with overpriced coffee and free hypothermia, no traffic jams on overloaded highways, no grumpy taxi drivers, that sounds really promising.
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The employer’s controllers appear satisfied, almost at least, because where there is nothing, nothing can be checked and deleted. The same applies to the transport minister, who is now achieving his climate goals with ease, and a cabinet colleague is probably helping with a generous funding program for installation in small and medium-sized companies. On the other hand, it’s just more exciting to ceremoniously open a previously collapsed and newly built bridge, an occasion that would be more common in the future given the dilapidated transport infrastructure if the minister didn’t bring the Mountain View company into the parade.
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The one hand cannot be separated from the other; that is called life or, if necessary, dialectics. So we look forward to a firm handshake or a hug at the destination of the trip. And on vacation, the smell of the sea, the taste of freshly caught fish. Even though the Internet companies’ laboratories are probably working on breaking down everything sensible into bytes: for now, despite all odds, we continue to travel. And if the weather ruins our plans, at least we have something to say.