Teleportation and Gibson's Vision of a Beige World

I've travelled a lot this year and, unfortunately, I've got several more weekends of planes and car rides ahead of me until I hit my third trimester and mercifully get a doctor-approved break. And as much as I love traveling, I have to admit I find all this back and forth fairly exhausting. To those of you out there who travel weekly for work, God bless you. I can't imagine trying to keep up this pace on a regular basis.

As I sat down to book yet another series of flights and hotel rooms, I couldn't but but speculate how much simpler life would be if I only possessed a teleportation device.

Think about it. It would eliminate the need for airports and road trips (at least road trips that are not of the recreational sort). No more pulling out your laptops and liquids for TSA inspection, or holding it until you drive past a decently clean and/or safe looking bathroom. You could zip across the country in the blink of an eye. You could save hundreds and hundreds of your hard earned dollars by eliminating the need for hotels. Who needs a reservation at the Marriott when you can hop to Paris for the afternoon and be back home before bedtime? Not to mention the effect it would have on long distance relationships and the job market. No need to move to a city that caters to you chosen profession. Live in Chicago but dating someone in San Francisco? No problem! With a handy teleportation device, all your geographic troubles disappear. 

Ideal, right?

But as I fantasize about the benefits of teleportation, I can't help but think about William Gibson's Neuromancer. He wrote of a completely homogenized world, one where countries bleed together and cities around the world are practically indistinguishable. And I can't help but wonder if the lines between cities and countries become moot, would the world's most recognizable and treasured cities all meld together? Would we wind up with a beige world, stripped of what made different places around the globe unique?

Imagine stepping out of a teleportation device and not being able to recognize if you're in Bangkok or London. Of taking a trip to Tokyo and thinking how similar it is to Milwaukee. The very thought of it makes me think a little more favorably of planes with screaming babies, endless miles crammed in a car, too-firm hotel beds and even the dreaded TSA. 

What about you? Have you ever wondered what life would be like with teleportation?