The web has its limits, too

Is there anything the World Wide Web can’t do?

I had to wonder about that after my column on synching troubles appeared. In it, I describe the agony of trying to share data between a laptop and a PC. Readers pointed out that in trying to fix this uncooperative hardware, I’d overlooked an obvious solution: the Internet.

“You may want to take a look at FusionOne, which is launching a new sync process that I believe is primarily for PC-based contact managers and PDAs, but soon to be expanded,” noted Ray Grefe, a director of business development for a San Francisco e-commerce venture.

I checked out Fusion One and found that I could have probably saved myself a big headache by signing up for its service. FusionOne’s free “Internet Sync” application lets you access and synchronize e-mail, contacts and calendar appointments, among other things. Updates are made over the Internet through any Web-enabled device such as a PDA, PC or a wireless phone, regardless of platform and operating system. Best of all, many of its services are free.

Other alert readers mentioned I-drive.com which also allows you to share files across the Web. The service gives you 50 megabytes of personal Internet storage space – which is more than enough for the majority of users – along with a host of other features that business travelers will probably find less interesting. I-drive.com is a pleasure to use when it works. But pray that you don’t get on the wrong side of its server, which loves to reject file names with odd prefixes and suffixes.

Now that I’ve been totally humiliated by my readers (thanks, folks) I guess I’m left with just one question: Is there anything that can’t be done online today?

Booking complex travel itineraries. With all due respect to the publishers of biztravel.com, it’s still pretty much impossible to book complex travel online without some kind of human help. Simple trips can be accomplished with a few clicks, but try the Internet for an itinerary over several days, with open segments and multiple hotels in the same city, and an agent becomes essential. That’s why this site and others like it also offer real people to help travelers.

Substituting travel. The newest of the newfangled Web applications aimed at business travelers would like you to think that the Internet can take the place of travel. Wrong. Services such as Evoke and WebEx might offer great teleconferencing or videoconferencing services, but they can’t replace a face-to-face meeting. Not now, and probably not ever.

Improving travel. Plenty of Web sites – including one that I founded called Ticked.com – promise that they’ll make your travel experience better. It’s an almost irresistible offer for those of us on the road three weeks out of the month. And yet, with all the helpful information, tips and tricks we offer, it is difficult to see any improvement when the travel industry seems to work so hard to make your trip miserable. This is why many travel editorial columns (including this one) tend to specialize in griping about the shortcomings of travel rather than searching for a solution. Offering solutions sometimes seems pointless without the industry’s cooperation. The best that Ticked.com can do is to let travelers “click on” and “sound off.”

Reducing travel. Not to be confused with substituting travel, the rationale goes something like this: “In the information age, because we’re all so much more efficient, we’ll have to get on a plane less.” Supporters of this disproved theory point to any number of Web sites that increase our productivity, help us stay connected or supposedly make our lives more tolerable. Sadly, the more connected we are, the more we seem to travel. Go figure. That’s not to say I’m unimpressed by the likes of Quixi.com, a new site that helps you stay in touch with friends, get information and go shopping. It’s that the implied promise of these sites – that unneeded travel will be eliminated – simply is impossible to fulfill.

I’m sure there are many other travel-related tasks that the Web isn’t suited to. I’m sure there are some jobs that the Web will never be suited to. In an age in which the Internet is being touted as the answer to all of our problems, a discussion on the World Wide Web’s limitations is not only interesting, but also imperative. The sooner we begin it, the sooner we’ll find the solutions we’re looking for offline, or wherever else they may be.

What in the way of travel technology is the Web promising you that it can’t – won’t ever – deliver? Your opinions are welcome. Please send them to me.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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