Friday, August 11, 2006
Cars - NOW IS WHEN TO WORK IT OUT
Toyota sales are said to soon exceed those of General Motors in US and in Detroit it is frequently said that Toyota and Honda are much superior to US cars. Saab (a GM subsidiary) now produce a lot of non-petroleum cars with excellent performance (e.g. 0-60 mph in 8 seconds) and better specifications than US cars but there is a problem that nongasoline (usually ethanol-driven) cars may ultimately be worse than using gasoline as rainforests could be destroyed. An electric car would still need energy too, even if more efficient batteries (e.g. using carbon nanotubes) come into production.
Any good answers? Very substantial reduction of car numbers and car size.
Developing countries like India and China should realise that cars are becoming passe, like it or not. US carmakers are certainly said in Detroit to have 'lost it'. The right answer is to look to a new and better carless future, whatever form that may take, not to fight against a new and hopeful future in USA or elsewhere. Just as USA went forward to the car when there were only horses and buggies. The answers are not yet clear as to what to do, but things move fast AND NOW IS WHEN TO WORK IT OUT.
The apparently obvious solution, that of physical teleportation (matter transmission), was patented years ago in USA, in a very primitive form, by the Xerox company but it may never be physically feasible for the commuter at any price. Obviously mobile phones are one answer and TV phones are getting more and more common too. A few years ago for an ordinary workman on a Mumbai building site to have a mobile phone would have been inconceivable and even outside the bounds of science fiction, but now it is normal! Still, a phone call is not the same as being there and there is much room for more progress. What that progress will be, is not yet clear but it is clear that when there is a problem, there is often a satisfactory solution. So there is certainly room for original thinkers and inventors.
Any good answers? Very substantial reduction of car numbers and car size.
Developing countries like India and China should realise that cars are becoming passe, like it or not. US carmakers are certainly said in Detroit to have 'lost it'. The right answer is to look to a new and better carless future, whatever form that may take, not to fight against a new and hopeful future in USA or elsewhere. Just as USA went forward to the car when there were only horses and buggies. The answers are not yet clear as to what to do, but things move fast AND NOW IS WHEN TO WORK IT OUT.
The apparently obvious solution, that of physical teleportation (matter transmission), was patented years ago in USA, in a very primitive form, by the Xerox company but it may never be physically feasible for the commuter at any price. Obviously mobile phones are one answer and TV phones are getting more and more common too. A few years ago for an ordinary workman on a Mumbai building site to have a mobile phone would have been inconceivable and even outside the bounds of science fiction, but now it is normal! Still, a phone call is not the same as being there and there is much room for more progress. What that progress will be, is not yet clear but it is clear that when there is a problem, there is often a satisfactory solution. So there is certainly room for original thinkers and inventors.
# posted by uv : 8:52 PM
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