Siam Sam, I always associate the term with “wetware”. Wetware (i.e., brains encased in human bodies) is to software and hardware what meatspace is to “virtual” space – you know, the Interwebs. Around here, they often refer to it with the phrase “IRL.” “Bricks and mortar” would be a parallel term for commerce, to contrast with Amazon.com and the like.
It’s a sort of retronym (I think that’s the term), which is a word that is coined for something which never needed its own word before, because before the thing it’s contrasted with hadn’t yet been invented. Example: “acoustic guitar.”
I don’t like the term and I don’t use it, but I don’t especially hate it. I just think it’s unnecessary. As in, if we’re going to meet up, I shouldn’t need to specify “meat space” because otherwise I’d say we’d email or IM or text or whatever. The only way it really seems to have any use is in differentiating from a virtual world like in an MMO, but even then I think the context is more than enough. With the friends that I might do both with, it was always perfectly clear without the term. So when else might one use it, when directly comparing the virtual world with the real world? How often do you do that, and why not just use those terms?
Similarly, I dislike the term “snail mail”. It’s just unnecessary. It’s always perfectly clear from context. Again, the only time I really ever see it being useful is when comparing email to conventional mail. But how often do you really talk about that anymore?
I agree that the term “meat space” is not necessary, but it is a mildly humorous way to occasionally allude to a strange aspect of living in the 21st century.
“Snail mail,” on the other hand, I personally have found to be a truly useful phrase. Quite often, I’ll say (or email) to someone, “Send it to me…,” and then add “…by snail mail,” just to clarify what might otherwise be ambiguous. Very important, for example, when asking someone for a reference letter for a job you’re applying for.
I endorse this pitting. I loathe the term. How about “the unvirtual world” as an alternative? It reminds me of the guy I used to work with who put his own label on the sugar: “Non-faux sweetner.”
“Meat space” is annoying and “in 3D” isn’t? That’s the first time I’ve heard 3D used to refer to RL, and it sounds way more annoying and cutesy-pootsy.
