The Wiki Man | 19 June 2010

I am, it’s true, optimistic about the role of technology in making life more pleasant and interesting, but in some areas I am sceptical, even fogeyish. Ask me to design a perfect world and it will have electronics (and medicine) from the present day but engineering and architecture from the 1930s. My answer to any volcanic ash cloud would be to reintroduce a transatlantic Zeppelin service. As for Heathrow’s third runway, let Short Brothers’ Empire flying boats land on the Thames.

It is all too easy to fantasise about a golden age of travel while forgetting that it was golden only for the few who could afford it. But something has been lost. I recently met someone from a Hollywood studio who observed that the film industry now describes itself as being in the transportation business — a travel agent for the mind. It made me wonder whether the travel industry would be better if it learned a lesson from showbusiness — that journeys are to be enjoyed not endured.