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The Wiki Man

Rory Sutherland

Wednesday, 16th April 2008

A fortnightly column on technology and the web

Like my accuser, I love going to France. He may like the deep-felt love of justice, whereas I like their admirable policy of pricing the poor off the motorways. But the best thing nowadays is the French love of technology and innovation. Fnac, for example, makes our own electrical retailers look second-rate.

On a recent French rail trip, I walked most of the length of the train and found over half of the people onboard were using laptops (I even made an unwelcome foray into second class, and it was the same story among the proletariat). What the French have found is that any journey over two hours is transformed by a laptop. It is better than any in-flight entertainment. You can play games, listen to over 4,000 hours of Johnny Hallyday, watch DVDs, read emails, blog, entertain children, organise photographs — or even oppress the lower orders with a little light capitalism.

The invention of the laptop and BlackBerry have revived the case for rail travel for, unlike a car trip, time spent by train can be put to good use. In France they know this. Meanwhile, in the UK, a bunch of idiots with engineering degrees are busy removing the tables from our trains to fit in 4.9 per cent more passengers per carriage — unaware that by removing the table they are destroying the single most compelling reason to travel by rail.

Besides, if it’s elitist to prefer your coffee on a table to on the floor, then guilty as charged.

Rory Sutherland is vice-chairman of Ogilvy Group UK.