16 Aug 2006, Posted by Matthew Reinbold in Thought & Theory, 1 Comments

Airline Hassle is Dev Opportunity

We have reached a tipping point. Last weekend’s foiled terrorist plot not only highlighted the determination of non-state entities to disrupt but brought with it a whole host of new flight regulations. No liquids of any sort on the plane and all shoes are now a removal must. I try to make it a point to travel carry-on only to avoid potential lost luggage and the extra wait. Now I’ll have to check a bag just so I’ll have toothpaste and shampoo. I should count myself lucky; those traveling in the UK have the misfortunate of not being allowed carry-ons of any sort. Considering the quality of the in-flight movies on my last several trips I can only say – ouch.

Paul Kedrosky, venture capitalist, is declaring the recent events a tipping point. Fred Wilson, from Union Square Ventures, wonders what he’s supposed to do on a six hour trans-Atlantic flight. From a user group manager’s perspective my contacts willing to come and speak has shrunk considerably. It’s not because they have to check shampoo. A mind shift has occurred: air travel is just too much of a hassle to justify the experience.

Seth Godin, a buzzword happy guy and failed Web 2.0 guru, claims that we just won’t be able to give up meeting face to face. It’s as if all the world’s problems would only be fixed if we could pop on a plane and shake hands with every person upon landing. I agree with Chris Messina – we’ve got the displays, the bandwidth, and the VOIP. If we don’t have the ability to create rich interpersonal experiences with our technology let’s goddam fix it. Let’s get innovative on this problem even if it means giving up air travel all together.

If the airline industry were a software program it would be one huge interconnected mass of spaghetti code. It is not forgiving to disruption – my wife, a Jet Blue reservationist, knows she’s in for a long night when a random storm pops up on the Eastern seaboard. A single act of nature can cause negative ripples (delays, canceled flights, etc.) through the entire business pond. A successful terrorist act would not just complicate some vacation plans – it would threaten our entire economic well being.

There is an opportunity for software developers here. We need to create distributed systems that enable the same kind of relationship building that, till now, have been the domain of face-to-face greetings. We need to create the kind of communications infrastructure seen in clever, authority stumping P2P apps. We need to turn the Internet, something already hardwired to survive a nuclear attack, into a superior expressive platform.

If developers can seize this opportunity we’ll be so much the better for it.

Update 2006-08-16
An airliner headed for overseas has to make an emergency landing in Boston because a passenger began to freak out during the flight. The precautions are necessary but how are people supposed to get things done in this climate?