It’s not often that Giant Robot get namechecked, but if it happens then the person checking their name is likely to be Finnish1 – in this case, Marko Ahtisaari, the recently-appointed CEO of Dopplr2 and the son of Marti Ahtisaari3. The question is, how can Marko misunderstand Giant Robot so completely?
Tokyo today, San Francisco tomorrow, Amsterdam next week. And now playing: the first verse of Airport City by Giant Robot, singing a scene of cosmopolitan jet speed:
Career is alright thank you for asking
Short notice no time for packing
Shuttle to the terminal traveling light
Last on the plane timing is rightRight now − seated as I am in business−lounge suburbia in the airport city of Heathrow, waiting for the flight home to finally board (not having quite the right timing à la Giant Robot) − right now seems a fitting time to reflect on the joy of travel, but also to imagine how much better it can get. In many ways, I want to celebrate the world that travel brings to me, as well as how happy I am to be going home.
Say what? Let’s look at those lyrics some more, shall we?
Take me back to airport city / where the glass is clean, girls fresh, real pretty / this planet it’s airport city / they call my name as i step thru security / call me back i’m in airport city / waiting in line just to get real busy / palace of pleasure – airport city / passenger shopping terminal activity
Apart from the shameless lyrics swipe from GnR, it should be fairly obvious that Giant Robot aim to be a needle under the eyelid of anybody who believes that Airport City is in any sense a worthwhile place to be. If “they call my name as i step thru security” doesn’t give the game away – evoking that sense of self-importance you get from hearing your name called anywhere, even if it’s only for a full-body cavity search, or simply because you’re keeping the rest of the passengers waiting – then the violent collision of “passenger shopping” with “terminal activity” probably should.
This comes from an essay entitled Intelligent Travel, in which Marko cites the webiquituous Joi Ito as
the model of the intelligent, social traveler. Whenever we think of Joi, we wonder what interesting city he might be in today, what great people he must be sharing a meal with, or whose photographic soul he is freeing at this very moment.
So far, so Web 2.0, which so far seems to exist mainly so we can pat our own backs about how 21st century our lifestyles are4. Yet Marko understands Giant Robot more than I realise; a brief visit to Joi Ito’s blog reveals that, in order to learn more about Muslim culture, he has moved to Dubai5. Dubai is surely the closest thing to Airport City on earth, although it’s open to question whether Dubai is particularly representative of “Muslim culture” – by which he actually means “Arab culture”, but surely we can forgive a slip by an intelligent, social traveller?
madison ave, 73rd / i said it out loud clearly none of you heard / shameless, in pursuit / godzilla’s silver snakeskin boot / man far – moneymakin’ / gundam touchdown manhattan
I just hope that he keeps a close eye on all those migrant workers – they can really spoil the “safe, liberal and convenient” view.
- This is because Giant Robot are Finnish, in case that’s not clear. [↩]
- A service that I’ve recently opted out of, on the grounds that it is almost entirely useless to me, which will probably be hugely successful and make other people lots of money. [↩]
- Who I’ve had the pleasure of working for on a project that he probably doesn’t remember. [↩]
- Full disclosure – I consciously turned my back on the samsara of continual travel two years ago, although it always threatens to pull me back in for one last job. [↩]
- While noting – apparently without irony – that “As someone who doesn’t spend “the majority” of my time in any place except in airplanes, “moving to Dubai” basically means setting up a residence and shipping most of my “stuff” here”. [↩]
Tags: Giant Robot, Joi Ito, Marko Ahtisaari