Interesting idea! I don't see a direct analogy with how we communicate in the real world. So I wonder what use will emerge for that medium. Network sentiments?
Anonymity will be relative to how unique your behavior is among your address book contacts. Might become an awesome tool to educate people about the difficulty of anonymizing content...
This article raises interesting observations. I find it fascinating to see how technology might be perceived as a distant animal. The tech industry, like most schools of thought, regularly faces the danger of becoming an Ivory tower, disconnected from the real-world. After all, technology bubbles hurt us all in the past. Similarly, technology is hard to understand, it is magical in a way, an alien tool.
If you work in tech, don't be offended. Solnit is not claiming an absolute truth. She's raising awareness of potential collateral damage by tech companies.
Besides making security/authentication even more critical, this challenges photo ownership. In Facebook terms of service, the photographer retains rights on their pictures, but transfer to Facebook certain rights to use the work. Want that?
I did my trip last year. 21k and not a booking (not even planes). My only advice is:
do not plan things that much.
Traveling is not a job. It is not about filling up a to do list. Of course there are specific things you want to see, but you should not turn your trip into a real-world travelling salesman problem. We all know it is NP-hard.
Travelling is about living experiences, meeting people that move you in some weird way. Be flexible. Be open. Forget travel agents. It is a life changing experience. Good luck everyone.
Anonymity will be relative to how unique your behavior is among your address book contacts. Might become an awesome tool to educate people about the difficulty of anonymizing content...