And yet, even as business has slowed, we have been speeded up, and the dead giveaway was the growth of laptops in paradise. Five years ago, in Barbados, none of us consulted a computer. Three years ago, in Costa Rica, a few family members walked to an Internet cafe and checked our e-mail one afternoon just for the novelty of being online in a faraway place.
This year I stood in a long line in the lobby of this resort in the Dominican Republic, to wait my turn to sign up for 25 hours of Internet service for $25. Several in the family brought laptops and we checked our work e-mail daily.
From a pretty good, and pretty telling, essay in the New York Times. Read the whole essay to appreciate the writing of Michael Winerip and to enjoy a wry conclusion.