The world’s media has gone crazy for the Telectroscope. Already I have bookmarked over 20 different news items, including reports in German, French and Chinese, as well as over 40 blog posts. I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg.
One of the more interesting speculations arising from all this attention has been whether more Telectroscopes should be built and for what purpose.
Tom Taylor writes: "I envisioned a telectroscopic network spread throughout the world, connecting all manner of cities, not just London and New York. I imagined simple devices, without the steampunk-esque glamour, perhaps the size of a bus stop advertising horde. They would stand upright, dotted around parks and public spaces, each one forming a permanent connection to its partner thousands of miles away."
Others, such as commenters Ed and Lanalasagna suggest that Telectroscopes could be used to promote global peace.
In the one brief phone conversation I have had with Paul this week he rather breathlessly alluded to requests from national governments for their very own Telectroscopes. Presumably this would also mean many, many more Tunnels. Is this the reason, perhaps, why so many countries including Britain are racing to claim sovereignty over vast areas of the sea bed?
I fear for Paul. The more attention his wondrous device receives, the more likely it is that powerful and avaricious forces may seek to control what he has created. Could the Tunnel be nationalised, I wonder? Would a foreign power have the temerity to steal or appropriate a Telectroscope and perhaps even use it for warlike purposes? Remember the Iraqi supergun?!
As a young boy I was made painfully aware - thanks to my brother Paul - what a magnifying glass on a sunny day can do to a man (and a gerbil) when placed in the wrong hands.
I sincerely hope that Paul has taken steps to ensure that the Telectroscope cannot be reverse engineered.
Comments