Cybergirl goes travelling... A trip across The World Wide Web...
Ok boys and girls, I’m
about to provoke a bit of serious travel envy; Cybergirl is officially on holiday ladies and
gentlemen!
And where am I writing this handy little blog from? Vong Duan beach
in Southern Thailand..
Yes I am logged on, booted up with my feet dangling in the water – ahhh the genius that is the world wide web – the genius of Sir Tim Berners Lee. See this is where technology really comes
into its own, when a voyage of over twelve thousand miles is reduced to the
instantaneous click; when the world becomes a mobile office, when you can be sitting
with your feet in the following position…
And still be logged on!
Yes this is where we’ve got to - the world wide web still accessible, even on an Island five miles from the mainland. I even downloaded
the Sunday Times (it’s the tenth anniversary of the Style Section don’t you
know). But what are the downsides of the web’s global domination – of the fact
that even on a secluded beach in Thailand I am still accessible?
I can check on things of course, keep some
semblance of control – but what of the fact that I never really switch off? There’s
simply no respite; no breathing space for those much needed brain cells to multiply
like a hungry little embryo desperate for new and enlightening experiences.
Yes the emails are still flooding in, the Wunderlist
is still growing like a Jenga skyscraper and that sense of
detachment, that remote cut off point that announces itself like a guillotine after a sixteen hour flight, with a new and fascinating culture – well it just isn’t
there. Why? Because I still checked The Daily Mail Online this morning (I know,
I know – it’s an addiction) I still checked FB (another uni friend’s wedding I
wasn’t invited to grrrr) and I’m still wondering why a certain person hasn’t
replied to my email – it’s 9.35am for
Christ’s sake. See I shouldn’t be thinking this – I should be head down, feet
massaged, contemplating James Corden’s Autobiography and whether to commit to a
Pina Colada or a Gin Fizz – that’s what holidays are for, for submerging your toes in the water...
That’s the investment (money and time) that
directly correlate to your coming home revived, refreshed, alive joyous and
free! But it’s just so argghh hard when every single café on the beach sports
wifi!
Not logging on is a literal test of endurance! How to do it…?
When I’ve cracked the answer to that question I’ll get back to you.
On the other hand the web’s global reach also
has its upsides; I was wandering down the beach last night and took the
following photograph:
Ok it’s a little dark, but I was moved to see a young
Thai man of no more than eighteen teaching himself to play Guitar on Youtube;
his fingers strumming the chords, his face crumpled in concentration – wifi on
the beach - one man’s meat, another man’s poison.
________________________________________________________________
Now on another note (there are always several)
I’ve been absolutely baffled by the sheer speed at which the Thai
counterfeiters have managed to copy the IPhone 5, yes barely has it been out a
week and malls in the province of Bangsaen are awash with handsets proffering
to be the long awaited and much lauded next generation of superphone.
Unfortunately the counterfeiters haven’t quite got the hang of putting the touch
pad on the right way up...
Now for a quick note on IOS 6 (I know I know I just can’t help myself) but please humour me – because (drum roll) I’m actually about to say something positive about Apple! Yes it came, it downloaded, it kind of conquered – IOS 6 is here and (apart from Maps) it’s a well thought out, handy and best of all completely free update to IOS 5. I like it – I like it a lot, why? It certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does add handy little features that will make you smile (but honestly how long did it take to Integrate FB? Blackberry were doing it years ago). I like the ‘Do Not Disturb’ facility, the refined graphics, the mail facility is definitely better, I love the multiple time zones (handy for the world wide work addict – I mean traveller) and best of all shared Photo Streams. Overall the software is much improved – though the maps – Jeez – according to Apple I am currently floating in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand, wifi or no wifi - this humble little Island literally does not exist.
Plus at a retail price of well over £700
it may be cheaper to buy the real one…
Now for a quick note on IOS 6 (I know I know I just can’t help myself) but please humour me – because (drum roll) I’m actually about to say something positive about Apple! Yes it came, it downloaded, it kind of conquered – IOS 6 is here and (apart from Maps) it’s a well thought out, handy and best of all completely free update to IOS 5. I like it – I like it a lot, why? It certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does add handy little features that will make you smile (but honestly how long did it take to Integrate FB? Blackberry were doing it years ago). I like the ‘Do Not Disturb’ facility, the refined graphics, the mail facility is definitely better, I love the multiple time zones (handy for the world wide work addict – I mean traveller) and best of all shared Photo Streams. Overall the software is much improved – though the maps – Jeez – according to Apple I am currently floating in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand, wifi or no wifi - this humble little Island literally does not exist.
And last but certainly not least I just have
to give a huge shout out to the organisers of the DLD Cities conference which I
attended last week. The event was just the most incredible example of what
happens when innovation meets excellence. My favourite event was the Start Up
Bonanza – where three founders of genius start-ups spoke to an assembled crowd of
technophiles on the merits of their respective technologies. Rian Liedenberg of
Recce, Pilgrim Beart of Alert Me and Marley Fabiesiewicz of Unlike, spoke
about the incredible journey they have all been through developing apps that
will seriously improve the way we interact with our environment. Check out
Recce in particular for an alternative to both Google and Apple Maps.
Another
highlight included a unique talk from DLD chairman Yossi Vardi; a web pioneer if
ever there was one (with a wicked sense of humour to boot), Yossi pointed the
audience towards the Israel, yes if you’re looking to invest in the next big
start up – chances are that’s where it’s going to come from. In Yossi’s words,
it’s a city where ‘like in LA you have waiters who are all actors, in Israel
every waiter is the founder of a start up.’ Keep your eyes and ears peeled
ladies and gentlemen… There word on the ground is that there’s another dot-com
boom just around the corner. You have been told.
Over and out – next week it’s the turn of the
apps – are we becoming a nation that is app obsessed? Are they more of a help
or a hindrance? All this and more travel photos :) Till next time,
this is your intrepid work/web explorer singing off.
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