I feel the simplicity of walking would be something people might do just to take it easy and see the sights, "stop and smell the flowers", as well as stay physically fit.

One other reason for people to use antiquated means of movement might be nostalgia, just like sometimes "retro" is in fashion. Luddites might exist even in the future.

There might even be people like the Amish who forego technology due to some ideological reason.

Why are people still using trains and buses for travel when airplanes are available?

Maybe at the time there is no portable teleporter yet... also Scotty hasn't born yet!

@hoffmale: Likewise, why haven't we switched to those magnetic trains already?

@hoffmale you can't really go "a few dozen yards" in an aeroplane, and they aren't anything like instant compared to trains and busses - indeed they take a lot longer, what with going to airports and queuing and whatnot.

You (probably) have a car, and yet you still walk. Why? 1) it's cheap; not everyone can afford a car (or teleporter). 2) it's convenient and space-efficient; you can't always find car (or teleporter) parking. 3) you enjoy taking the time to stop and smell the flowers along the way.

As usual: Depends on the cost.

I think you just need to read the Harry Potter books, especially the parts about Apparition, and you'll have a perfect answer.

@GhotiandChips got a link to show pigeon post(s) are still being used as a viable method of communication today?

Major changes in law to strictly regulate transporting so criminals don't use it to steal all your stuff.

Yes, for the same reason some people still play vinyl records. Nostalgia. Plus many people like to live for the experience rather than towards a goal. Journey vs results.

In an era of instantaneous communication why do we still use mundane methods?

Nobody seems to have mentioned the inherent dangers of teleportation.. youtube.com/watch?v=etY7kbRRQ_c

Piers Anthony looked into this in his Cluster series. Matter transmission was both instantaneous and prohibitively expensive proportional to the mass being sent. Hence, electronic messages and similar were often sent this way, very small packages, less often and humans almost never.

As a hiker and kayaker, I object to this discussion. I walk for no reason except to get out and walk. I enjoy it! It's not always about getting from A to B. If it was small enough, I'd probably take a teleport device with me, for emergencies or getting home from my end point, but during the hike, I'd just happily be where I was: on foot.

There's a bonus here - if everyone's using the teleporters, there's no traffic on the road!

@flith Actually, I would probably hike more if I had such a device, as I could instantly teleport to any number of interesting places to hike, whereas now I don't really have time to take a quick hike in the Grand Canyon or through the Andes before I go to work in the morning.

@Michael - same for running and cycling. It's winter here at the moment, the smog is killing me, and I smell like ham after every run in all this fucking coal smoke (coal heating dominates in my town). If I could affordably go and jog in some nicer places on a whim, I think I'd qualify for the next olympics.