terça-feira, 4 de dezembro de 2007

HOT NEWS in technology of mobility and communication


Everybody knows that tourism industry is growing all over the world (it is now the largest one by far) as long as there is a permanent increase of plane travel and cell phone communication.

Quoting British sociologist John Urry ("Mobilities", Polity, 2007, p.3):
"(...) at any one time 360,000 passengers are at any time in flight above the United States, the equivalent to a substantial city (...)"
_________

But this is just the beginning.
The paradigm of the common citizen is now being at a terminal of a "low cost" waiting for his/her turn to check-in and phoning to somebody. Destination is not important. The important is to circulate, mainly in the air, because it is cheaper and nobody bothers us there. Escape!
Virilio talked of an aesthetics of disappearance. He was right.


People extract cell phones from their pockets to answer to calls with the rapidity and dexterity that we used to see in the old "westerns", in the face to face fights by "heroes" with guns in solitary sunny streets.
A new chapter in the history of human hand needs to be written, because probably since the australopithecines we did not see such a revolution in the a dexterity of using hands as in sendind fast sms (cell phone messages coded in compact ways) at the last minute before coming on board, or the first minute after landing.

A new sms language and writing is emerging.
OK, but that everybody knows well.

The new important point is:
- it seems that low cost companies are considering the hypothesis of becoming permanent free cost companies as long as passengers buy new generation mobile phones at arrival or at departure, in airports, and other products related to fast circulation;
- the same is true for mobile phone companies: they offer mobile phones as long as they provide a technology that allows you to phone and to receive messages from and to 3 people at least simultaneously.
- taking off and landing becomes boring. So the future of air plane travel is the direct transfer of passengers from plane to plane and from a destination to a different one during the flight itself. That will free passengers to chose destinations and indeed travel hours before departure. The physical solution for that is available, inspired in NASA experiences in outer space; only economic conditions still need to be settled before we may use this technique in everyday air life.
- alternatively, acrobatic and sportive air transfer from plane to plane in flight are also being planned, for the plain satisfaction of adventure of those aiming more risky styles of life. Being seated all the time may be boring, even when communicating with a crowd of friends, family and partners, or doing some jogging on board.
- More sophisticated navigation techniques and devices are being conceived to assure a normal life on board, mainly the capacity to use laptops and mobile phones during the flight. Special internet prices are being arranged between companies to offer their passengers attractive conditions for frantic communication from plane to plane in flight. One of the ideas is to post videos to other's blogs in flight, etc. etc.

Trends point to the notion that in a near future we will all live in the air, from birth to death, as many science fiction films have shown a long ago. That will solve problems of excess of population on earth. Those nostalgic of heritage tourism or any other version of primitive current life on the soil may buy in flight e-tickets to land from time to time here and there, using particular "air car" transportation. That will be a little more expensive: indeed a luxury. But the apex of richness and prestige will be again (like old gurus used to do) to be seated on a carpet laying on soil, and looking at aereal transportation over one's head like a festival of balloons.



Source of image: Wikipédia
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