Friday, November 28, 2003

Back in Boston safely. Wet and warm here. Easy flight. Just checked. The Bush weblog has been updated with news of the President's trip to Baghdad.  

Good morning. Today is a travel day, heading out from SFO to BOS. Got a bad cold, coughing sneezing, sniffling. Luckily there's no one sitting next to me, according to Orbitz.  

Travel is never going to be the same. I stayed in a deluxe hotel on the peninsula, in a plush room that has to rent for $300 a night. But I paid $65 a night. This is because I used a computer network to do my bidding. In the past I'd have to call eight hotels to get their rates, and none of them would know that I was talking to any others, so I'd just get their average price. Or call a travel agent, and get directed to the hotel that gives them the best commission, not necessarily the best located hotel, or the one with the best deal for me. Now I can get multiple bids on the same hotel, even, and consider hundreds of options before making my decision. When people say the Internet wasn't revolutionary, they must not be paying attention. It gave us the power, where the industry used to have it. The power of better information, and that can translate into nicer accomodations for much less money.  

Not much going on today. Thought I'd mention that the Bush weblog still doesn't have anything about Bush's trip to Baghdad. Not that I thought it was much of a blog before, now it's clear.