THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

THE SST DIED BECAUSE THERE ARE LIMITS TO MANNED BUSINESS TRAVEL, TOO | 2003-11-01

While Britain and France were hiring giant companies for a Giant Leap into the Future in supersonic transportation, little companies in America were just beginning to develop Silicon Valley.

Britain and France and their mega-companies were finding a way to get people on different continents together in a hurry. Those people would take their writing slates with them.

In the modern age if you are in a desperate hurry you use a fax and teleconference. If you can wait on a supersonic transport, then you can wait on a nice first class transatlantic flight at a fraction of the cost of an SST ticket.

During the trip you can work on your laptop computer.

If you have to have an emergency conference, you can do it with the telephone on the plane.