Thursday, November 18, 2010

Award for Least Obvious Idea

I am in Nuremberg for the German Oracle User Group conference (DOAG). Will be presenting my keynote, Coding Therapy, in a few hours.

Read the International Herald Tribune over breakfast and came across "An upgrade or a trip in space? It's a tough call."

First paragraph reads: "In the rarified realm of airline frequent-flier perks, elite status can bring cushy upgrades, airport lounge access, priority boarding and any number of concierge and customer service benefits. But on Wednesday, the Dutch airline KLM set a new goal for road warriors to aim for: free space flight."

Wow. I must admit, this was not on the top of my mind. But as Andrew Nelson, XCOR's chief operating officer says later in the article: "It is only logical that, in the future, airlines are going to want to take advantage of services like these to enhance their frequent-flier programs."

Really? Is that "logical"? Enhance your frequent-flier program by offering trips in space that, today, cost roughly $95,000 for four minutes of weightlessness. Richard Branson's venture, Virgin Galactic (is this guy's ego the size of a mountain, or what?), has already reserved nearly 370 seats for its own commercial space flights - requiring a 10% deposit of $20,000 to reserve that seat.

It's the New Logic.

The logic of "I have so much money, I don't know what else to do with it."

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