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#3 is never going to happen. Just like people aren't actually riding their segways to work wearing Google Glass. Sure it's theoretically possible, but at some point you have to seperate science fiction from reality.
It's not science fiction and could easily be done right now with the existing tech. Having a car that will drop you off at your destination, park itself and then pick you up when summoned is going to be at the top of the wish list for these cars.
It's not science fiction and could easily be done right now with the existing tech. Having a car that will drop you off at your destination, park itself and then pick you up when summoned is going to be at the top of the wish list for these cars.
I'm well aware. People aren't going to give up car ownership for it though. They'll just own a fancier car that parks itself.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ziggy100
Alternative fuels are easy, they're just not cost effective, nor sustainable. ...It's just cheaper to use oil.
If you want to get rid of gas, just make it expensive.
UK has done a pretty good job of making fuel EXPENSIVE!!! But there is always room to improve and make it MORE expensive (not a bad plan for USA either...) $10 / gal + a $20,000 annual 'permit to buy fuel" should help conservation efforts. I will stick with my 40 yrs of WVO (waste oil)
Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman
It's not science fiction and could easily be done right now with the existing tech. Having a car that will drop you off at your destination, park itself and then pick you up when summoned is going to be at the top of the wish list for these cars.
When we were in Germany, our host 'fetched' his Tesla out of his VERY TIGHT garage using his cell phone.
It (very cautiously) drove out to the street and opened the doors for us. There is NO WAY we could have squeezed into the narrow garage and got in and drove it out. (Fat Americans) Even my High School width of 24" (600mm) would not have fit in his garage.
Call me crazy, but if we to hit rewind and go back to what, 1995, would anyone here believe that everyone alive would have a smartphone today? Predicting the future can be really hard. I too find it hard to believe that autos would be driven out of the market place in twenty years; but disruptive technologies have happened before.
Speaking of smartphones, I suspect a great deal of us would be happy if no one ever bought another car again; and that the bulk of humanity took the bus instead. There may well be a blessing in disguise, the rumors of millenials no longer wanting to drive, countries trying to deter auto ownership, etc. The roads might just get better...
It's not science fiction and could easily be done right now with the existing tech. Having a car that will drop you off at your destination, park itself and then pick you up when summoned is going to be at the top of the wish list for these cars.
Including having a car to drop you off at those places which you rather not have people know where you go to?
Consider that aspect for a moment........and consider all the people who do things like that in their lives from time to time.
Call me crazy, but if we to hit rewind and go back to what, 1995, would anyone here believe that everyone alive would have a smartphone today? Predicting the future can be really hard. I too find it hard to believe that autos would be driven out of the market place in twenty years; but disruptive technologies have happened before.
Speaking of smartphones, I suspect a great deal of us would be happy if no one ever bought another car again; and that the bulk of humanity took the bus instead. There may well be a blessing in disguise, the rumors of millenials no longer wanting to drive, countries trying to deter auto ownership, etc. The roads might just get better...
I'm a gen-X'er myself, but most of the millenials I know still love their cars. Probably 3/4 of the younger "millenial" guys I know drive lifted pickups, usually with expensive wheels and sound systems. So yes, they love their smartphones, but they also love their cars/trucks.
I do know of a few that have no interest in driving or owning a car, but they are also lazy and don't want to find a job.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
2,254 posts, read 2,737,417 times
Reputation: 3203
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redraven
Perhaps England should do some research into what their people did during WWII, when gasoline (petrol) and diesel fuel were very strictly rationed. I remember reading about some VERY ingenious alternative fuels that were used then.
As I said in another thread in a different forum, perhaps it is time to begin gathering the parts necessary to build wood-fired condensing steam engines for my car, truck, and motorhome.
Why? Maybe the lunatic fringe would go for this but most people, in the UK and everywhere else, couldn't care less what their car runs on. It just needs to get them where they want to go when they want to go there. Given that this is 23 years from now, I fully expect it to be implemented by then. After all, by 'ending' fossil fuel burning vehicles what they mean is they will not longer be making them. It does not mean that they will all suddenly disappear.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if this happens organically and globally. Given how much electric cars have progressed in the last 5 years, another 20 years should fully mature the tech to the point that people wouldn't want to by some outdated fuel burner. Just look at how quickly people dumped the horse when the car became available.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
2,254 posts, read 2,737,417 times
Reputation: 3203
Quote:
Originally Posted by supton
Call me crazy, but if we to hit rewind and go back to what, 1995, would anyone here believe that everyone alive would have a smartphone today? Predicting the future can be really hard. I too find it hard to believe that autos would be driven out of the market place in twenty years; but disruptive technologies have happened before.
Speaking of smartphones, I suspect a great deal of us would be happy if no one ever bought another car again; and that the bulk of humanity took the bus instead. There may well be a blessing in disguise, the rumors of millenials no longer wanting to drive, countries trying to deter auto ownership, etc. The roads might just get better...
Heck, make that spring 2007. Even Nokia, the world leader in phone tech at the time, didn't believe that smart phones would be successful. Neither did RIM. Phone too big, battery life too short, not made by us, blah blah blah. We all know how that turned out for them.
Last edited by Stonepa; 07-26-2017 at 08:15 PM..
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