Economy

“Tea: Earl Grey, hot!” This is one of Captain Jean Luc Picard’s most famous quotes from the Star Trek television series.{{ double-space-with-newline }}A few seconds later, a cup of steaming tea materializes in the “Replicator” and Captain Picard can enjoy it.{{ double-space-with-newline }}The replicator can produce not only tea, but all kinds of drinks, food and contraptions. What if we could really build such a Replicator and everyone had one at home, just like the crew of the Enterprise?

Beam me up, Scotty! Even non-Trekkies know this (mis)quote from Star Trek. It reminds us of the effortless way of traveling that Captain Kirk and his crew enjoy: Teleportation.{{ double-space-with-newline }}It sounds like science fiction, but what if it were really possible? What would the implications be for our daily lives and mobility? Join me on a hypothetical journey into a very distant future of transportation.

The invention of the railroad has changed the world. For the first time, both people and goods could be transported fast, long-distance and in great numbers. Almost 200 years later, the Internet started a similar revolution. Today information travels the globe with lightning speed. The first revolution was powered by steel and steam. The second revolution was driven by cables and electrons. But both of them followed similar patterns. This article analyses the similarities of both systems and what we can learn from them.