If there's no artificial scarcity, then no it's not a monopoly, but then what purpose do the medallions serve?
Expirable taxi licenses, granted by the government to anyone who passes a test and pays a fee would be government regulation and a part of the price of doing business. The cost of the process would be transferred to the customers while the benefit would be reaped by both the customers, small business owners and in part general public through the ensured qualities of the drivers and their abilities which would be determined by the administered test.
Transferable, marketable, artificially scarce permanent licenses are a subsidy by the government to the rich AGAINST the small business owner. A subsidy which started as a service to the public and a subsidy to small business owners cause it gave them the ability to cash in on their investment. A sort of a government subsidized retirement plan for small business owners. The cost is transferred to the tax payer, whether he/she is a customer or not and the benefits now go to those who can afford ever increasing prices of the licenses - large investors and brokers.
Scarcity results because humans want unlimited amounts of goods.
No they don't.
The amount of goods a human can posses directly is limited by said human's lifespan and the amount of freedom he/she is willing to sacrifice to such objects. You can posses many more pairs of pants if you put them all on at the same time - but you will have to sacrifice your freedom to directly posses chairs, cars or even the ability to procreate.
I like the implied cultural racism of "conflict" diamonds.
You know... A supposed embargo on trading in diamonds from war-torn places in Africa, which should exclude such diamonds as the means of support for the warring sides and regimes.
Cause they will totally ALWAYS be worthless and will NEVER be valuable again now that it was decided that they are worthless. Now there is no chance that arms dealers will profit from the blood of the oppressed through those diamonds. Because it is totally inconceivable that someone might get them cheap NOW and sell them later when the embargo is lifted or use them as a collateral for a long term loan. Just as it is totally impossible that such practices actually directly benefit arms dealers while further oppressing the people who now must mine even more diamonds.
Because, as we know, those wars will NEVER end. That's in their culture.
He thinks that Star Wars is Star Trek and vice versa.
That's why the flying zamboni sounds like a TransformerTM transforming in front of you - while moving away. It's grinding down instead of zooming away and dopplering out.
Gears grind. Gears inside mechanical things. Star Wars technology is indistinguishable from magic. The moment you start thinking "How does light saber work" it breaks apart. Until that point Force is plausible, hyper jumps across galaxy in a small fighter are plausible, Death Star i plausible, Ewoks are plausible...
Lucas fucked that up with midi-chlorians. This is the same thing, only it's not as obvious. You don't see it right away - but your brain does. Star Trek is the one where the tech needs explanation. In Star Wars "it just works" (or not) because plot demands it.
Three blade saber does the same thing. You don't question the original saber, but that one literally BEGS an explanation. WHY? Why three blades? How? What's the use? What for?
Same for the soccer ball and R2's love child robot. How? Why? What for? What's the use?
It makes you question the fairytale on a level on which you are not supposed to be questioning it. You should ponder the moral message NOT the verisimilitude of the SCENERY.
Even the Falcon in the end. No tech issue there. Instead, it feels too CGI and static. Because it is not moving. It sits and spins in the shot while the HORIZON moves. But your brain and your body know that the horizon is not moving. You know it's fake. Compare it to the scenes of doing loops in the original trilogy - where it moves THROUGH the shot and you have the distinct feeling of action and movement taking place. Cause you have a stationary point of reference. A fixed horizon.
This will be an overproduced and very expensive fan movie. High on effects, interesting concept, plenty of action - overall... just meh.
Star Wars is the McDonald's of franchises now. Note how they HAD to include the old actors and promise to keep it the same - while Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Avengers etc. keep being completely re-imagined? FFS the same guy tried rebooting Star Trek. Remember how Superman used to have a John Williams theme? Would they DARE to try to change that with Star Wars?
It's a TOY franchise now. Like Lucas intended it to be. You know... for kids.
Now we're standing around with our cocks in our hands, selling three blades and a strip. Moisture or no, suddenly we're the chumps. Well, fuck it. We're going to five blades.
Sure, we could go to four blades next, like the competition. That seems like the logical thing to do. After all, three worked out pretty well, and four is the next number after three. So let's play it safe. Let's make a thicker aloe strip and call it the Mach3SuperTurbo. Why innovate when we can follow? Oh, I know why: Because we're a business, that's why!
You think it's crazy? It is crazy. But I don't give a shit. From now on, we're the ones who have the edge in the multi-blade game. Are they the best a man can get? Fuck, no. Sith is the best a man can get.
What part of this don't you understand? If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking saber that ever existed. Comprende? We didn't claw our way out of a sarlacc pit to the top of the saber game by clinging to the two-blade industry standard. We got here by taking chances. Well, five blades is the biggest chance of all.
Here's the report from Engineering. Someone put it in the bathroom: I want to wipe my ass with it. They don't tell me what to inventâ"I tell them. And I'm telling them to stick two more blades in there. I don't care how. Make the blades so thin they're invisible. Put some on the handle. I don't care if they have to cram the fifth blade in perpendicular to the other four, just do it!
You're taking the "light" part of "light saber" too literally, grandma. Cut the strings and soar. Let's hit it. Let's roll. This is our chance to make saber history. Let's dream big. All you have to do is say that five blades can happen, and it will happen. If you aren't on board, then fuck you. And if you're on the board, then fuck you and your father. Hey, if I'm the only one who'll take risks, I'm sure as hell happy to hog all the glory when the five-blade saber becomes the fencing tool for the Gal-a- "this is how we cut the hands off now"-xay.
People said we couldn't go to three. It'll cost a fortune to manufacture, they said. Well, we did it. Now some egghead in a lab is screaming "Five's crazy?" Well, perhaps he'd be more comfortable in the labs at Coruscant, working on fucking electrics. Rotary blades, my white ass!
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we should just ride in Empire's wake and make blasters. Ha! Not on your fucking life! The day I shadow a penny-ante outfit like the Empire is the day I leave the saber game for good, and that won't happen until the day I die!
The market? Listen, we make the market. All we have to do is put her out there with a little jingle. It's as easy as, "Hey, cutting with anything less than five blades is like scraping your beard off with a dull hatchet." Or "You'll be so smooth, you'll make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." Try "Your neck is going to be so friggin' soft, someone's gonna walk up and tie a goddamn Medal of Bravery under it."
I know what you're thinking now: What'll people say? Mew mew mew. Oh, no, what will people say?! Grow the fuck up. When you're on top, people talk. That's the price you pay for being on top. Which Sith is, always has been, and forever shall be, Amen, five blades, sweet Jesus in heaven.
Stop. I just had a stroke of genius. Are you ready? Open your mouth, baby birds, cause Mama's about to drop you one sweet, fat nightcrawler. Here she comes: Put another aloe strip on that fucker, too. That's right. Five blades, two strips, and make the second one lather. You heard meâ"the second strip lathers. It's a whole new way to think about swords. Don't question it. Don't say a word. Just key the music, and call the chorus girls, because we're on the edgeâ"the saber's edgeâ"and I feel like dancing.
He assumes constant or rising speed of spreading of the disease and constant or increasing contact with the diseased. While ignoring ANY possibility of lowering of those factors by various means.
From governmental blockades of travel, through people avoiding contact on their own, up to changes in weather as we are moving into a winter which will make moving of humans and viruses across continents slower, harder and easier to spot.
IP is not an ACCURATE ENOUGH identifier to send you to jail. Sorta the way your car's lenience plates alone would not be good enough for such a purpose. It must be proven beyond doubt that YOU were the one driving the car that ran over Justin Bieber.
But it is accurate enough for someone to come to the physical address associated with IP at that time and toss a Molotov cocktail through the window to send you a message that they don't like your comments on the "Beliebers" forum.
That's it. Game over. Every game ever. I just won them all. Even "Thermonuclear War". See, computer screen says so. Go me! You are free to stop thinking about it now. Cause I just won them all. With my clever hack.
"Hacking" gameplay is bending and breaking rules. Not playing the game. Playing outside of it. Real life comparison would be winning like Tonya Harding - by clubbing your opponents outside of the game. She just got a bot to hack her opponent's rig and downgrade her abilities a little. Stupid bitch didn't know I won at skating too.
1. Outside rush hour, the demand for cars will be low. So there'll be a glut of people trying to make money from selling rides, and prices will be low.
Ergo, the most profitable solution is to get many cars and have them driving people around 24/7.
That's not the point where car owners buy more cars. That's the point where someone figures out that they could make a killing if they keep the prices so low that it is not worth it for 1 car owners to play in that field. And if the price is so low... and cars are always available... what's the point of owning one, right?
We're not talking the price of a taxi ride either. We're talking bus fare. For a taxi ride.
2. I drive a car precisely so I don't have to share it with other people coughing and pissing and vomiting in it.
Ergo, you're not sharing it with anyone. And being self-driving, they can zoom back to the base for cleaning should someone vomit inside (and be charged for it) and be back on the street in 15 minutes.
3. What's the car going to do when no-one else is renting it? Just drive around randomly, burning up fuel? Park at the side of the road, being charged for parking?
Same thing taxis do. Well... not exactly.
IF there are cycles of use and non-use where it is worth to take most of the fleet off the street, that's actually beneficial. You can PLAN around cycles. Have your 10000 - 50000 car fleet recharging (remember, this only works with electric cars - fossil fuel cars would make Beijing air look like a breath of crisp mountain breeze) and cleaning at the base during that time. And no drivers also means that you can stack them like sardines in automated garages.
And they don't have to be huge towers. A news stand is 4-5 cars stacked on top of each other. Up to 10 if they are 2-seaters with two trunks (like Teslas). Remove the trunks for even more transport pods stacked at each corner. You only use half the space of a taxi as a passenger now.
As for fuel burning... We're heading face first into a single purchase energy world. I.e. Electricity WILL be for free after the initial investment in the generator. Think buying a home instead of renting a room in a hotel. THAT big of a difference. Storage and transportation of electricity will cost money. I.e. Batteries and the use of grids and chargers. Burning fuel will not be an issue. All cost will be in the installation and the maintenance of the grid - which is what the owner of those cars would be selling for profit to the riders of their cars.
Right now a taxi is selling you fuel and the workforce of a driver. If you make one free (i.e. renewable) and the other a piece of software - the only thing remaining to sell is maintenance. Or the lack of it.
I.e. Selling a hassle free transportation from A to B. Never think of licenses, price of gas, winter tires, speeding tickets, parking, paying attention to the road... You could be asleep on your way to work. Or on your way home. You literally get hours of life handed to you each day. Plus, the whole thing being automated, you don't get into traffic jams. Or miss a green light.
Hans Rosling has a talk about washing machines liberating women. A driverless car would liberate the modern human the same way. We're literally wasting decades of life just sitting, and staring in the distance while gripping the wheel. At best, we're listening to the radio idiots and commercials.
The years we could get back would not just be free again, but BETTER. There's a reason rich people hire chauffeurs for driving around and only driving by themselves for fun. Cause unless you're doing it for fun - it's a waste of time and a hassle. Like walking to a store and taking a walk in the park.
You like driving? Great! Now you get more time to do it RIGHT and more money to spend on RIGHT cars. Wanna drive a Ferrari on the weekends? Then don't buy a Ford for driving - be driven around for a pittance.
How long does it take for people to realize that their car could be making them money whenever they are not driving it? Like Uber but without actually having to drive people around by yourself.
How long after that do they realize that the most profitable solution is to get many cars and have them driving people around 24/7?
How long after that until the people realize that they don't actually need the car - after all, how many of them are renting their living space already without owning it?
Where it won't work like that right away? Rural areas and small towns. I.e. Places where there are not enough people to keep cars driving around 24/7 and maintenance costs per capita are higher. Until someone realizes that there is money to be made in being the only game in town in a place like that. Probably the same person who is already the only game in town regarding cars - be it selling them or servicing them with fuel.
Also, it's a practical impossibility as long as the cars are running on fossil fuels. Unless you somehow get the people to breathe exhaust fumes instead of air.
If so, from my personal experience in dealing with returns of damaged items and refunds for rather costly postage (more than the value of the items), your claim will be forwarded to their customer support somewhere in India. Then it becomes a waiting and an e-mail game. Then you get a refund.
I've actually had a case where they would refund me a wrong sum, first a completely unrelated smaller one to which I complained, then a complete sum they owed me. Then I had to remind them that they've overpaid the return, to which they replied "Meh, just keep it."
All you have to do is be persistent and courteous. And you need to have a reason for your claim.
And to Slashdot, just count each request for modding up and each +1 as a "1 question per post". No need repeating the questions that SuperBanana has already made. We could, but then what's the point of moderation, right?
24/7 free Internet access with up to gigabit speeds Integrated lighting Digital displays to provide insight-driven and intelligently programmed advertising & public service announcements Android tablet with touch screen display, directional speaker & microphone Tactile keypad & Braille lettering, dedicated 911 button, USB charger, headphone jack Iconic and durable aluminum construction designed and built in NYC Sleek design and decreased footprint to restore sidewalk space and improve visual continuity
This is people trying to do something productive about it.
No. This is people trying to do something they BELIEVE will be favorable to their PERSONAL idea of a solution to their PERSONAL idea and PERCEPTION of a problem they PERCEIVE.
I.e. It is about as productive as me buying a large quantity of mice traps and positioning them at "strategic locations" around my home because I believe that my neighbor is spying on me with the help of trained mice. Which I know cause I've noticed that he does not particularly like cats.
An obsessive-compulsive action performed because "something has to be done" to fix a PERCEIVED aspect of a potential problem. Which, even should the problem turn out to be real, is still a mere case of "ANY action is better than inaction". Be it that my neighbor really is spying on me - or that Sweden has a clear and present problem of rampant sexism which requires warning labels on works of fiction, entertainment and art.
After all, "parental advisory" stickers on works of fiction, entertainment and art REALLY were necessary AND they have both reduced the exposure of youth to "inappropriate material" AND have either reduced or completely eliminated whatever it was that was poisoning the minds of the youth. Which is clearly visible in the higher quality of humans born and raised since 1990. They are simply better.
Not talking about the case at hand. Just in general, as the comment separating the issue into idiots and non-idiots generalizes.
Sadly, you can have both idiots and non-idiots aligned with various sides of any issue, all of which in conflict with other sides of said issue. I.e. You don't have to be wrong to have idiots on your side and non-idiots against you. And vice versa.
Humans are non-rational actors who value and cherish both rationality and factuality (logic, reason, knowledge) AND irrationality and delusion (feelings, fantasy and straight up cognitive fallacies). We are walkin-talkin cognitive dissonance machines - and we wouldn't have it any other way. Cause that would be either robots or... evil.
Slashdot Mirror
If there's no artificial scarcity, then no it's not a monopoly, but then what purpose do the medallions serve?
Expirable taxi licenses, granted by the government to anyone who passes a test and pays a fee would be government regulation and a part of the price of doing business.
The cost of the process would be transferred to the customers while the benefit would be reaped by both the customers, small business owners and in part general public through the ensured qualities of the drivers and their abilities which would be determined by the administered test.
Transferable, marketable, artificially scarce permanent licenses are a subsidy by the government to the rich AGAINST the small business owner.
A subsidy which started as a service to the public and a subsidy to small business owners cause it gave them the ability to cash in on their investment.
A sort of a government subsidized retirement plan for small business owners.
The cost is transferred to the tax payer, whether he/she is a customer or not and the benefits now go to those who can afford ever increasing prices of the licenses - large investors and brokers.
All this requires is a desire to control destructive potential of free market capitalism, ensuring fair competition instead.
But that would be communism and everyone would have to start talking in Russian, drink cheap vodka and wear ugly winter hats with earmuffs.
Scarcity results because humans want unlimited amounts of goods.
No they don't.
The amount of goods a human can posses directly is limited by said human's lifespan and the amount of freedom he/she is willing to sacrifice to such objects.
You can posses many more pairs of pants if you put them all on at the same time - but you will have to sacrifice your freedom to directly posses chairs, cars or even the ability to procreate.
I like the implied cultural racism of "conflict" diamonds.
You know... A supposed embargo on trading in diamonds from war-torn places in Africa, which should exclude such diamonds as the means of support for the warring sides and regimes.
Cause they will totally ALWAYS be worthless and will NEVER be valuable again now that it was decided that they are worthless.
Now there is no chance that arms dealers will profit from the blood of the oppressed through those diamonds.
Because it is totally inconceivable that someone might get them cheap NOW and sell them later when the embargo is lifted or use them as a collateral for a long term loan.
Just as it is totally impossible that such practices actually directly benefit arms dealers while further oppressing the people who now must mine even more diamonds.
Because, as we know, those wars will NEVER end. That's in their culture.
...on Endor.
Or was that AND-OR?
Which one's a logic gate and which one had the holocaust of savage bear-people happen on it?
...does it still make a "WHOOOSH!" sound as it flies by?
He thinks that Star Wars is Star Trek and vice versa.
That's why the flying zamboni sounds like a TransformerTM transforming in front of you - while moving away.
It's grinding down instead of zooming away and dopplering out.
Gears grind. Gears inside mechanical things.
Star Wars technology is indistinguishable from magic. The moment you start thinking "How does light saber work" it breaks apart.
Until that point Force is plausible, hyper jumps across galaxy in a small fighter are plausible, Death Star i plausible, Ewoks are plausible...
Lucas fucked that up with midi-chlorians.
This is the same thing, only it's not as obvious. You don't see it right away - but your brain does.
Star Trek is the one where the tech needs explanation.
In Star Wars "it just works" (or not) because plot demands it.
Three blade saber does the same thing.
You don't question the original saber, but that one literally BEGS an explanation.
WHY? Why three blades? How? What's the use? What for?
Same for the soccer ball and R2's love child robot.
How? Why? What for? What's the use?
It makes you question the fairytale on a level on which you are not supposed to be questioning it.
You should ponder the moral message NOT the verisimilitude of the SCENERY.
Even the Falcon in the end.
No tech issue there. Instead, it feels too CGI and static.
Because it is not moving. It sits and spins in the shot while the HORIZON moves.
But your brain and your body know that the horizon is not moving. You know it's fake.
Compare it to the scenes of doing loops in the original trilogy - where it moves THROUGH the shot and you have the distinct feeling of action and movement taking place.
Cause you have a stationary point of reference. A fixed horizon.
This will be an overproduced and very expensive fan movie.
High on effects, interesting concept, plenty of action - overall... just meh.
Star Wars is the McDonald's of franchises now.
Note how they HAD to include the old actors and promise to keep it the same - while Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Avengers etc. keep being completely re-imagined?
FFS the same guy tried rebooting Star Trek.
Remember how Superman used to have a John Williams theme?
Would they DARE to try to change that with Star Wars?
It's a TOY franchise now. Like Lucas intended it to be.
You know... for kids.
They all had shaky cam and orange and teal stormtroopers and robots?
Oh! A prequel fan.
Don't see many of those around these days.
...until bastards go to four blades.
Now we're standing around with our cocks in our hands, selling three blades and a strip.
Moisture or no, suddenly we're the chumps. Well, fuck it. We're going to five blades.
Sure, we could go to four blades next, like the competition. That seems like the logical thing to do.
After all, three worked out pretty well, and four is the next number after three. So let's play it safe.
Let's make a thicker aloe strip and call it the Mach3SuperTurbo. Why innovate when we can follow?
Oh, I know why: Because we're a business, that's why!
You think it's crazy? It is crazy. But I don't give a shit. From now on, we're the ones who have the edge in the multi-blade game.
Are they the best a man can get? Fuck, no. Sith is the best a man can get.
What part of this don't you understand? If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking saber that ever existed. Comprende?
We didn't claw our way out of a sarlacc pit to the top of the saber game by clinging to the two-blade industry standard.
We got here by taking chances. Well, five blades is the biggest chance of all.
Here's the report from Engineering. Someone put it in the bathroom: I want to wipe my ass with it.
They don't tell me what to inventâ"I tell them. And I'm telling them to stick two more blades in there.
I don't care how. Make the blades so thin they're invisible. Put some on the handle.
I don't care if they have to cram the fifth blade in perpendicular to the other four, just do it!
You're taking the "light" part of "light saber" too literally, grandma. Cut the strings and soar. Let's hit it.
Let's roll. This is our chance to make saber history. Let's dream big. All you have to do is say that five blades can happen, and it will happen.
If you aren't on board, then fuck you. And if you're on the board, then fuck you and your father.
Hey, if I'm the only one who'll take risks, I'm sure as hell happy to hog all the glory when the five-blade saber becomes the fencing tool for the Gal-a- "this is how we cut the hands off now"-xay.
People said we couldn't go to three. It'll cost a fortune to manufacture, they said. Well, we did it.
Now some egghead in a lab is screaming "Five's crazy?"
Well, perhaps he'd be more comfortable in the labs at Coruscant, working on fucking electrics. Rotary blades, my white ass!
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we should just ride in Empire's wake and make blasters. Ha!
Not on your fucking life! The day I shadow a penny-ante outfit like the Empire is the day I leave the saber game for good, and that won't happen until the day I die!
The market? Listen, we make the market. All we have to do is put her out there with a little jingle.
It's as easy as, "Hey, cutting with anything less than five blades is like scraping your beard off with a dull hatchet."
Or "You'll be so smooth, you'll make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs."
Try "Your neck is going to be so friggin' soft, someone's gonna walk up and tie a goddamn Medal of Bravery under it."
I know what you're thinking now: What'll people say? Mew mew mew. Oh, no, what will people say?!
Grow the fuck up. When you're on top, people talk. That's the price you pay for being on top.
Which Sith is, always has been, and forever shall be, Amen, five blades, sweet Jesus in heaven.
Stop. I just had a stroke of genius.
Are you ready? Open your mouth, baby birds, cause Mama's about to drop you one sweet, fat nightcrawler.
Here she comes: Put another aloe strip on that fucker, too. That's right.
Five blades, two strips, and make the second one lather. You heard meâ"the second strip lathers.
It's a whole new way to think about swords. Don't question it. Don't say a word.
Just key the music, and call the chorus girls, because we're on the edgeâ"the saber's edgeâ"and I feel like dancing.
And an aloe strip. Call it Mach3Turbo!
He assumes constant or rising speed of spreading of the disease and constant or increasing contact with the diseased.
While ignoring ANY possibility of lowering of those factors by various means.
From governmental blockades of travel, through people avoiding contact on their own, up to changes in weather as we are moving into a winter which will make moving of humans and viruses across continents slower, harder and easier to spot.
In short...
http://xkcd.com/605/
Apparently, it does not work on gay boy scouts. Also, something-something Obama.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
IP is not an ACCURATE ENOUGH identifier to send you to jail.
Sorta the way your car's lenience plates alone would not be good enough for such a purpose.
It must be proven beyond doubt that YOU were the one driving the car that ran over Justin Bieber.
But it is accurate enough for someone to come to the physical address associated with IP at that time and toss a Molotov cocktail through the window to send you a message that they don't like your comments on the "Beliebers" forum.
Hence, privacy issues.
MADAGASCAR!
It's a COVENANT. Like circumcision.
You know... for kids.
God also told Davis that 640x480, 16-color graphics "is a covenant like circumcision," making it easier for children to make drawings for God.
I WIN!
That's it. Game over. Every game ever. I just won them all. Even "Thermonuclear War".
See, computer screen says so. Go me!
You are free to stop thinking about it now.
Cause I just won them all.
With my clever hack.
"Hacking" gameplay is bending and breaking rules. Not playing the game. Playing outside of it.
Real life comparison would be winning like Tonya Harding - by clubbing your opponents outside of the game.
She just got a bot to hack her opponent's rig and downgrade her abilities a little.
Stupid bitch didn't know I won at skating too.
1. Outside rush hour, the demand for cars will be low. So there'll be a glut of people trying to make money from selling rides, and prices will be low.
Ergo, the most profitable solution is to get many cars and have them driving people around 24/7.
That's not the point where car owners buy more cars.
That's the point where someone figures out that they could make a killing if they keep the prices so low that it is not worth it for 1 car owners to play in that field.
And if the price is so low... and cars are always available... what's the point of owning one, right?
We're not talking the price of a taxi ride either. We're talking bus fare. For a taxi ride.
2. I drive a car precisely so I don't have to share it with other people coughing and pissing and vomiting in it.
Ergo, you're not sharing it with anyone.
And being self-driving, they can zoom back to the base for cleaning should someone vomit inside (and be charged for it) and be back on the street in 15 minutes.
3. What's the car going to do when no-one else is renting it? Just drive around randomly, burning up fuel? Park at the side of the road, being charged for parking?
Same thing taxis do. Well... not exactly.
IF there are cycles of use and non-use where it is worth to take most of the fleet off the street, that's actually beneficial.
You can PLAN around cycles.
Have your 10000 - 50000 car fleet recharging (remember, this only works with electric cars - fossil fuel cars would make Beijing air look like a breath of crisp mountain breeze) and cleaning at the base during that time.
And no drivers also means that you can stack them like sardines in automated garages.
And they don't have to be huge towers. A news stand is 4-5 cars stacked on top of each other.
Up to 10 if they are 2-seaters with two trunks (like Teslas). Remove the trunks for even more transport pods stacked at each corner.
You only use half the space of a taxi as a passenger now.
As for fuel burning... We're heading face first into a single purchase energy world.
I.e. Electricity WILL be for free after the initial investment in the generator. Think buying a home instead of renting a room in a hotel. THAT big of a difference.
Storage and transportation of electricity will cost money. I.e. Batteries and the use of grids and chargers.
Burning fuel will not be an issue.
All cost will be in the installation and the maintenance of the grid - which is what the owner of those cars would be selling for profit to the riders of their cars.
Right now a taxi is selling you fuel and the workforce of a driver.
If you make one free (i.e. renewable) and the other a piece of software - the only thing remaining to sell is maintenance.
Or the lack of it.
I.e. Selling a hassle free transportation from A to B.
Never think of licenses, price of gas, winter tires, speeding tickets, parking, paying attention to the road... You could be asleep on your way to work. Or on your way home. You literally get hours of life handed to you each day.
Plus, the whole thing being automated, you don't get into traffic jams. Or miss a green light.
Hans Rosling has a talk about washing machines liberating women.
A driverless car would liberate the modern human the same way.
We're literally wasting decades of life just sitting, and staring in the distance while gripping the wheel.
At best, we're listening to the radio idiots and commercials.
The years we could get back would not just be free again, but BETTER.
There's a reason rich people hire chauffeurs for driving around and only driving by themselves for fun.
Cause unless you're doing it for fun - it's a waste of time and a hassle.
Like walking to a store and taking a walk in the park.
You like driving? Great! Now you get more time to do it RIGHT and more money to spend on RIGHT cars.
Wanna drive a Ferrari on the weekends? Then don't buy a Ford for driving - be driven around for a pittance.
Behaviors of all industries point to a desire to keep wages lower than what they would pay in an open market.
There. Fixed that for you.
That'll be $9.99.
How long does it take for people to realize that their car could be making them money whenever they are not driving it?
Like Uber but without actually having to drive people around by yourself.
How long after that do they realize that the most profitable solution is to get many cars and have them driving people around 24/7?
How long after that until the people realize that they don't actually need the car - after all, how many of them are renting their living space already without owning it?
Where it won't work like that right away? Rural areas and small towns.
I.e. Places where there are not enough people to keep cars driving around 24/7 and maintenance costs per capita are higher.
Until someone realizes that there is money to be made in being the only game in town in a place like that.
Probably the same person who is already the only game in town regarding cars - be it selling them or servicing them with fuel.
Also, it's a practical impossibility as long as the cars are running on fossil fuels.
Unless you somehow get the people to breathe exhaust fumes instead of air.
then insist they honor the contract?
Should they fail.... bring it to court
Who "they"?
Is "they" Amazon?
If so, from my personal experience in dealing with returns of damaged items and refunds for rather costly postage (more than the value of the items), your claim will be forwarded to their customer support somewhere in India.
Then it becomes a waiting and an e-mail game.
Then you get a refund.
I've actually had a case where they would refund me a wrong sum, first a completely unrelated smaller one to which I complained, then a complete sum they owed me.
Then I had to remind them that they've overpaid the return, to which they replied "Meh, just keep it."
All you have to do is be persistent and courteous. And you need to have a reason for your claim.
And to Slashdot, just count each request for modding up and each +1 as a "1 question per post".
No need repeating the questions that SuperBanana has already made.
We could, but then what's the point of moderation, right?
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Key Features
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Integrated lighting
Digital displays to provide insight-driven and intelligently programmed advertising & public service announcements
Android tablet with touch screen display, directional speaker & microphone
Tactile keypad & Braille lettering, dedicated 911 button, USB charger, headphone jack
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This is people trying to do something productive about it.
No.
This is people trying to do something they BELIEVE will be favorable to their PERSONAL idea of a solution to their PERSONAL idea and PERCEPTION of a problem they PERCEIVE.
I.e. It is about as productive as me buying a large quantity of mice traps and positioning them at "strategic locations" around my home because I believe that my neighbor is spying on me with the help of trained mice. Which I know cause I've noticed that he does not particularly like cats.
An obsessive-compulsive action performed because "something has to be done" to fix a PERCEIVED aspect of a potential problem.
Which, even should the problem turn out to be real, is still a mere case of "ANY action is better than inaction".
Be it that my neighbor really is spying on me - or that Sweden has a clear and present problem of rampant sexism which requires warning labels on works of fiction, entertainment and art.
After all, "parental advisory" stickers on works of fiction, entertainment and art REALLY were necessary AND they have both reduced the exposure of youth to "inappropriate material" AND have either reduced or completely eliminated whatever it was that was poisoning the minds of the youth.
Which is clearly visible in the higher quality of humans born and raised since 1990.
They are simply better.
Not talking about the case at hand.
Just in general, as the comment separating the issue into idiots and non-idiots generalizes.
Sadly, you can have both idiots and non-idiots aligned with various sides of any issue, all of which in conflict with other sides of said issue.
I.e. You don't have to be wrong to have idiots on your side and non-idiots against you. And vice versa.
Humans are non-rational actors who value and cherish both rationality and factuality (logic, reason, knowledge) AND irrationality and delusion (feelings, fantasy and straight up cognitive fallacies).
We are walkin-talkin cognitive dissonance machines - and we wouldn't have it any other way.
Cause that would be either robots or... evil.