Lauren Goode: Oh, actually?
Zoë Schiffer: Sure.
Lauren Goode: I didn’t have that have on Caltrain.
Zoë Schiffer: Properly, you were not studying Infinite Jest on the Caltrain, had been you now?. That was my catfishing approach.
Lauren Goode: What was your worst commute, Mike?
Michael Calore: There was a time period within the early 2000s after I was residing out within the Sundown district of San Francisco. Which there’s a few trains that may deliver you downtown, however they take an hour. And it was pre-mobile expertise, so we had Discman Walkman gamers, transportable CD gamers, so that you needed to deliver slightly guide of CDs. And other people would learn newspapers. I keep in mind one day-
Zoë Schiffer: Sounds actually romantic.
Lauren Goode: I used to be simply going to say people listening who do not keep in mind these occasions, this was a locomotive prepare and also you hand-cranked the Discman.
Zoë Schiffer: It was 200 BCE.
Michael Calore: I simply keep in mind there was a lot stuff you needed to carry simply to your commute. And the brand new Harry Potter guide got here out, and all people on the prepare was studying this 10 pound, thick, hardcover Harry Potter guide on the identical time and speaking about it. Lauren, it’s important to inform us your unhealthy commute story.
Lauren Goode: There was a time period on the East coast the place I used to be commuting on the Metro North prepare, after which as soon as I obtained into New York Metropolis, I needed to hop on the subway and head all the way in which downtown.
Michael Calore: Two trains. Stuffy. Lots of people pushing.
Lauren Goode: Yeah. Lots of people studying the Wall Avenue Journal.
Zoë Schiffer: Say no extra.
Lauren Goode: It was lengthy, and it sucked the life out of me. Whereas the pandemic was not an excellent factor, it is a good factor that none of us had to return into the workplace anymore. We’re achieved with that? Welcome to Uncanny Valley from WIRED, a present concerning the individuals, energy, and affect of Silicon Valley, hosted by me, senior author, Lauren Goode, and my co-hosts.
Michael Calore: I am Michael Calore, director of shopper tech and tradition at WIRED.
