My first "invention" came to me as an 8-year old when I told my father about teleportation device. He explained how disruptive that would be the transportation industry, but that it would also generate tremendous cost-savings (assuming it was cheap to operate). Then he asked me HOW I was going to do it. "Science stuff. I'll figure out the details later."
My second invention was a pill that would keep you healthy forever. Again, practical sciency considerations have stymied that one.
My third invention, well, what can I say? Google beat me to it. It is the self-driving car. Nolan Bushnell, blogging at INC.com, wrote up an insightful analysis:
Cars will be able to park blocks or miles away from congested areas while their passengers shop online for the cheapest parking locations. Your car will be a cell call away, and you will be able to text it for a pick-up. Kids will be able to go to school without mommy or daddy taxiing them. Cities without mass transportation can simply put extra cars on the road to pick up those without cars for point-to-point transportation. Long-haul trucks will pilot their cargos efficiently and cheaply. Local deliveries will be made in the same way. Perhaps there will be a kind of IP network of containers that can be routed like packets, but in the physical world.
The next few years will be very interesting as the winners and losers jockey for position in this new and efficient system. Bars will flourish as drunk driving becomes a thing of the past. The thousands of highway fatalities will finally cease. I can hardly wait.
Bushnell really gets it. Keep in mind that traffic accidents in the U.S. every year kill about the same number of Americans as died during the entire Vietnam war. As for productivity, how many millions (billions) of hours are wasted each year as we look for parking? Poof. Soon, you will simply have your car drop you off at the front door, then send it on its way to find a parking spot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhHxPJSrPOw
This is what self-driven cars means to me. No stop and go in traffic; semi-trucks always going 55 in the right lane. This is a truly green technology
Posted by: Mikedorr77 | April 26, 2011 at 12:09 PM