Andreas Broeckmann on Thu, 5 Mar 1998 18:13:17 +0100


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Syndicate: kit blake: global / Sector Traffic


Sector Traffic
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For the holidays in December I traveled to Berlin by train. During the trip
I put my mobile phone next to me so I could watch the display. It reads out
which network cell I happen to be in. So when I crossed the border to
Germany I saw it switch from NL Lib (Nederland Libertel) to D D1
(Deutschland One). Then it switched to D2, back to D1, and at certain
points the readout said No Network. At other locations, usually in former
East Germany, it said No Access.

While I traveled I pictured this cellular landscape, a geometry of bubbles,
footprints of satellites, invisibly imprinting the land. As I moved thru
space my presence in the ether changed, faded in and out, from one network
to another, appearing and disappearing in commercial phone cell space.
Sparked a lot of spinoff thoughts.

I've gotten totally used to having the portable phone, so: "Hi Andreas, I'm
on your street. What was your, uhh, house number?  Thanx, see ya in a
minute." Another day, I was out in Berlin with my friend Daniela, and
Andreas was supposed to meet us at a cafe at a certain time. There was a
problem, so he called us. To do that, he had to dial a number in Holland.
The system knew I was in Berlin, in such and such a cell, and switched the
call through. This took microseconds, and when we talked it was like we
were around the corner. Which in fact, we were. But the call was routed
across the continent, bouncing off of satellites, then back down to earth.
Picture that. Yes, the spinoff thoughts can get pretty bizarre.

kit