Design is often a compromise between many different audience types and factors. It wouldn't surprise me that a lot of design projects, especially for products that are marketed to a non-retired audience, are not going to put much effort into making the design friendlier to older people.
I think the biggest mistake isn't so much not designing for all audiences equally, but rather the problem is inconsistent designs over time. If your design has a consistent logic to it, you will automatically make it easier for audiences, even the ones you didn't intend the design for.
More companies could stand to come out with design standards, like https://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html#. And then stick to it for many years if not decades.
But all that aside, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that lots of popular software projects likely don't even employ a designer (a real designer, with degrees and stuff:)).
I am willfully ignorant about my truck. I just have more money than time usually. If I get a flat tire, I call a tire shop. Oil change, pull into Oil Can Henry's. Tail light goes out.. OK, that one I did myself:). I am sure I could research and figure out how to do all the maintenance on my car myself. But I just don't want to.
But I don't think my example applies to using computers as equally as it does to things like cars, which may require special tools or shops to work on.
It comes down to lack of interest imo. The primary factor isn't that it is socially acceptable, the primary factor is more likely lack of interest by a large segment of society, which in turn makes it socially acceptable to 'be dumb' about computers.
If your toaster suddenly stopped working correctly, are you more likely to just go buy a new toaster, or research and tinker with it trying to make it perfect again? Lots of people on this site might do the later, but 95% of the country is going to do the former.
And despite having the skill to debug software and computer issues in general, oftentimes I find myself just re-installing software at home rather than debugging it. Or flat out just buying a new computer if it starts to act weird or gets slow. I spend 8+ hours a day debugging, creating, working on computers and servers. I just have zero interest continuing to do that once I get home.
That average price I believe refers to new cars sold. There is a much, much larger used market, where people are trading around older cars for 5,000, 10,000, etc..
21.5k, for most people, would be entirely financed. That would add something like 450 dollars a month to someone's bills.
The lease vs buy is a very interesting question when it comes to EV's. Your numbers sound possibly accurate, but it would really require some true calculations to make the decision. Lease with an option to buy might be the no-brainer for EVs, especially when deals like the 200 a month come out.
Standing uses more energy during the day. More muscles are moving standing than sitting. But you are right, movement is key. There are two things that help movement: foam mats like 'extreme standing mat's that are essentially 2-3 inches of spongy foam that you constantly sway on, trying to find balance, and for sitting, those big blow up rubber balls you can sit on. Again, keeps your body in constant motion, because your body must provide the strength to balance, not the chair.
I have a standing desk. Work got us 'Extreme Standing Mat"s which are basically thick foam. It keeps your body in constant motion, because you sway back and forth and side to side on the deep foam, and your body constantly adjusts to try to find a center of balance. I used to be able to stand all day, but using the foam mat, I have to take breaks and sit. It really does work out your legs.
Now cardio is another matter. You've got to get your heart rate up each day, and that isn't feasible at work. At least for those of us that don't like the idea of having to shower in the middle of the day at lunch.
Can you tell the difference between pellets and real logs of wood? It seems like it would make a difference. Aren't pellets made from grinding up the wood into sawdust, then pressing back together with steam? Lots of sap/resin/aromatics would be lost in that process.
Where do you live in California that it is.33? That is Hawaii's cost. Googling shows Cali at 0.15 - http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/10/27/141766341/the-price-of-electricity-in-your-state
Nor is there any requirement (or incentive) to retrofit the building
There will be a big incentive to upgrade the building once he/she starts losing tenants because they want to live in a newer building with chargers. Start the ball rolling and move out:)
Or better yet, buy a house. I was really surprised how cheap owning a home is compared to renting. Just comparing the monthly payment doesn't take into account all sorts of things like deducting mortgage interest at the end of the year, and the fact that your payment can't be raised by any landlord, so your payment relative to your income is constantly going down. And the money up front isn't too bad. Most people can get into a house for $3,500-$10,000, the rest is financed.
The gas you are saving with an EV more than covers the cost of renting a gas car 3-4x per year (Enterprise rental company charges about 400 for a full week) . It is a different mindset / odd feeling experience for most people though. They like the thought of leaving right from their house and driving as long as they want, spur of the moment freedom. Also, people are not going to be counting and saving their gas money once they get a new EV. So spending an extra 400 for the week car rental will feel like an extra cost, when in reality they saved money that year!
you can get the base price down to about $26k before you even apply the gvmnt incentives if you're half good at arguing.
The base price of the eGolf is $35,000. You are seriously telling us you can convince a dealer to shave $9,000 off that price somehow? If you are serious, then please explain, because the rest of us need to know.
As a single person who makes 100+ mile trips with some frequency
I would bet that less than 1% of the US population makes more than four or five 100 mile+ trips a year. Renting a car for those trips would be reasonable.
An analogous situation applies to pretty much every single person who can't afford a nice house in the suburbs
64% of households in the US are home owners. 36% rent. So it is a valid concern, longer term, to get the outlet situation solved in in apartment complexes (which I suspect will fix itself once consumers start demanding it from landlords). But since it isn't the majority of the population, it likely isn't the issue that is holding back mass adoption of EV's.
Side note: get a financial planner to run the numbers for you. You will be surprised how easy it is to own a home if you can afford moderate rent in a city. For instance, your monthly payment might be 25%-40% higher, but when you deduct your mortgage interest at the end of the year, the money you get back more than makes up for it (shouldn't wait until the end of the year though, have your taxes adjusted so you pay less to the government). And there is no landlord to raise your rates. The only part of a mortgage that goes up over time is your property tax. So as you earn more and more, your payment relative to your income drops. You will need $3,500-8,000 of up front cash usually though. Banks will finance all the rest. Even with bad/young credit, there are loan options, FHA, etc..
$29,010 (leaf base price) minus $7,500 is still expensive for most people.
And it is never just the base price. Most people want a bit of luxury. So you can afford the one year old honda accord or toyota camry with a lot of bells and whistles, or an electric with no extras.
Leasing is reasonable for most people though. I saw a leaf lease special for $200 a month for 3 years. But most smart people don't like leasing, because it is like renting: throwing money away and having nothing at the end.
This is a forum site; have you gone looking for 'proof'?
Yes. Many times. And my search results always show plenty of different ways that 100% renewable is possible, today (by today I mean existing technology, not the time to implement obviously). Slashdot usually has well informed posts on technical issues, but this seems to be driven by ideology, or something other than facts. What other explanation is there?
Here is even a group that worked with scientists, engineers, etc.. to come up with 50 customized plans for 100% renewable energy for all 50 states. http://thesolutionsproject.org/
Or skip the general searching, the weeding through all the web sites that may or may not be biased and go to google scholar: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=100%25+renewable+energy&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C38&as_sdtp=
Plenty of strategies and different methods of reaching 100% renewable.
So either the people claiming it is impossible are either 1) lying, 2) misinformed, 3) willfully ignorant due to ideology, 4) are paid shills of oil/gas.
No, the idea is that we can't produce enough 'green' energy economically enough.
People on this site keep saying that, but I have yet to see any proof. There is no reason why over the course of 20--30 years we couldn't invest in more energy storage (house batteries like Musk is offering, pumped storage in reservoirs, huge grid batteries, all the batteries in EV cars operating in a 'smart' grid, etc...) and then renewable energy would be just as steady as traditional forms.
With the right government incentives pushing the market, it wouldn't cost nearly as much as people think as far as I can tell.
It is working for now, because they have great content, and there isn't much in the way of competition online yet.
If every channel offered an online version for 15 a month, most would go out of business. Would you pay 15 a month, each, for 7-8 channels?
The problem isn't the premium 10 episode movie quality type shows like Game of Thrones. The problem is monetizing the 'daily' shows. Like "the daily show with jon stewart", reality shows like Mountain men, good tv series like AMC's halt and catch fire, breaking bad, discovery shows, history shows, etc....
Younger people don't want to pay 100 dolllars a month, but they still really want Jon Stewart, history shows, mythbusters, etc.. And a lot of those type of shows are not making it to Netflix.
Greece seems to be a country that doesn't consider capitalism in the western sense
If true, interesting seeing as how the ancient Greek philosophies are the basis for western government and much of its underlying cultural assumptions.
I agree. But because of the revolving door in Washington, you are either in or out of the 'circle' unless you can afford to hire people 'in the circle'.
Most people, rightly so, see lobbyists as the mouthpiece of 'the rich' who seem to never have the average person's interests in mind. Every time they lobby for something and win, we get screwed.
but nonetheless we should cheer them on, because how the Uber situation falls out helps determine what you are allowed to do with your car.
That isn't the issue surrounding most of this imo. For example, the reason that PDX doesn't allow Uber is because they refuse to work under the same regulations that taxis do: among other things, they cannot discriminate, must serve all neighborhoods, etc.. Taxi services often act as the 'last mile' for areas that have no access to public transit. As I understand it, an Uber driver can refuse to take request for service for any reason.
And can't uber drivers refuse service? Poor neighborhood, ethnicity X sounding name, too far away, etc..
Taxi service for most cities is required as part of regulations to service all areas and people without discrimination. I think I recall hearing that is the reason that PDX turned down Uber.
It's the laws that are bullshit. Look at what kind of service Uber facilitates. How is it that only now anyone is introducing a reputation system to this industry? How is it that only now the barrier of entry to this industry is coming down? What exactly does a stringently controlled supply of government-licensed "taxi" drivers do for the consumer anyway?
One major thing that regulated taxi service provides a city, is they are required to service all areas of the city. Not just the profitable downtown areas. The city basically says, "if you want a private run car company in our city, you have to serve all areas, no discrimination." Taxis act as a last mile extension to some areas that do not have good public transit access points. As I understand it, Uber drivers can decline requests for service. Poor neighborhood, too far away, black person name, etc..
"The estimated average transaction price of a new car or truck sold in the U.S. in April was $33,560"
I'd be more interested in a median value. To compute the average value you would have to include all the ridiculously priced luxury cars ($100,000+), and I'm guessing that wealthy people buy more cars more often than your average family, so the average numbers may skew higher than the median.
The toyota camry is the #1 selling car in the US, starting price 22k.
Slashdot Mirror
Design is often a compromise between many different audience types and factors. It wouldn't surprise me that a lot of design projects, especially for products that are marketed to a non-retired audience, are not going to put much effort into making the design friendlier to older people.
I think the biggest mistake isn't so much not designing for all audiences equally, but rather the problem is inconsistent designs over time. If your design has a consistent logic to it, you will automatically make it easier for audiences, even the ones you didn't intend the design for.
More companies could stand to come out with design standards, like https://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html#. And then stick to it for many years if not decades.
But all that aside, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that lots of popular software projects likely don't even employ a designer (a real designer, with degrees and stuff:)).
I am willfully ignorant about my truck. I just have more money than time usually. If I get a flat tire, I call a tire shop. Oil change, pull into Oil Can Henry's. Tail light goes out.. OK, that one I did myself:). I am sure I could research and figure out how to do all the maintenance on my car myself. But I just don't want to.
But I don't think my example applies to using computers as equally as it does to things like cars, which may require special tools or shops to work on.
It comes down to lack of interest imo. The primary factor isn't that it is socially acceptable, the primary factor is more likely lack of interest by a large segment of society, which in turn makes it socially acceptable to 'be dumb' about computers.
If your toaster suddenly stopped working correctly, are you more likely to just go buy a new toaster, or research and tinker with it trying to make it perfect again? Lots of people on this site might do the later, but 95% of the country is going to do the former.
And despite having the skill to debug software and computer issues in general, oftentimes I find myself just re-installing software at home rather than debugging it. Or flat out just buying a new computer if it starts to act weird or gets slow. I spend 8+ hours a day debugging, creating, working on computers and servers. I just have zero interest continuing to do that once I get home.
That average price I believe refers to new cars sold. There is a much, much larger used market, where people are trading around older cars for 5,000, 10,000, etc..
21.5k, for most people, would be entirely financed. That would add something like 450 dollars a month to someone's bills.
The lease vs buy is a very interesting question when it comes to EV's. Your numbers sound possibly accurate, but it would really require some true calculations to make the decision. Lease with an option to buy might be the no-brainer for EVs, especially when deals like the 200 a month come out.
Standing uses more energy during the day. More muscles are moving standing than sitting. But you are right, movement is key. There are two things that help movement: foam mats like 'extreme standing mat's that are essentially 2-3 inches of spongy foam that you constantly sway on, trying to find balance, and for sitting, those big blow up rubber balls you can sit on. Again, keeps your body in constant motion, because your body must provide the strength to balance, not the chair.
I have a standing desk. Work got us 'Extreme Standing Mat"s which are basically thick foam. It keeps your body in constant motion, because you sway back and forth and side to side on the deep foam, and your body constantly adjusts to try to find a center of balance. I used to be able to stand all day, but using the foam mat, I have to take breaks and sit. It really does work out your legs.
Now cardio is another matter. You've got to get your heart rate up each day, and that isn't feasible at work. At least for those of us that don't like the idea of having to shower in the middle of the day at lunch.
That is the biggest problem with gun control -- criminals do not obey laws.
I know. I mean, what is the point of outlawing murder? Criminals are just going to do it anyway.
Can you tell the difference between pellets and real logs of wood? It seems like it would make a difference. Aren't pellets made from grinding up the wood into sawdust, then pressing back together with steam? Lots of sap/resin/aromatics would be lost in that process.
Until you can buy an iBBQ, come to PDX. We have awesome BBQ. That, or maybe I don't know good barbecue:)
http://www.smokehouse21.com
http://podnahspit.com/
Where do you live in California that it is .33? That is Hawaii's cost. Googling shows Cali at 0.15 - http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/10/27/141766341/the-price-of-electricity-in-your-state
Nor is there any requirement (or incentive) to retrofit the building
There will be a big incentive to upgrade the building once he/she starts losing tenants because they want to live in a newer building with chargers. Start the ball rolling and move out:)
Or better yet, buy a house. I was really surprised how cheap owning a home is compared to renting. Just comparing the monthly payment doesn't take into account all sorts of things like deducting mortgage interest at the end of the year, and the fact that your payment can't be raised by any landlord, so your payment relative to your income is constantly going down. And the money up front isn't too bad. Most people can get into a house for $3,500-$10,000, the rest is financed.
Basically, they will be a major car maker (as in top 5) within 10 years.
I assumed closer to 5 years. The date the new battery factory is going to be complete.
The gas you are saving with an EV more than covers the cost of renting a gas car 3-4x per year (Enterprise rental company charges about 400 for a full week) . It is a different mindset / odd feeling experience for most people though. They like the thought of leaving right from their house and driving as long as they want, spur of the moment freedom. Also, people are not going to be counting and saving their gas money once they get a new EV. So spending an extra 400 for the week car rental will feel like an extra cost, when in reality they saved money that year!
you can get the base price down to about $26k before you even apply the gvmnt incentives if you're half good at arguing.
The base price of the eGolf is $35,000. You are seriously telling us you can convince a dealer to shave $9,000 off that price somehow? If you are serious, then please explain, because the rest of us need to know.
Don't forget to add in decades and decades of past, present, and future wars over oil.
As a single person who makes 100+ mile trips with some frequency
I would bet that less than 1% of the US population makes more than four or five 100 mile+ trips a year. Renting a car for those trips would be reasonable.
An analogous situation applies to pretty much every single person who can't afford a nice house in the suburbs
64% of households in the US are home owners. 36% rent. So it is a valid concern, longer term, to get the outlet situation solved in in apartment complexes (which I suspect will fix itself once consumers start demanding it from landlords). But since it isn't the majority of the population, it likely isn't the issue that is holding back mass adoption of EV's.
Side note: get a financial planner to run the numbers for you. You will be surprised how easy it is to own a home if you can afford moderate rent in a city. For instance, your monthly payment might be 25%-40% higher, but when you deduct your mortgage interest at the end of the year, the money you get back more than makes up for it (shouldn't wait until the end of the year though, have your taxes adjusted so you pay less to the government).
And there is no landlord to raise your rates. The only part of a mortgage that goes up over time is your property tax. So as you earn more and more, your payment relative to your income drops. You will need $3,500-8,000 of up front cash usually though. Banks will finance all the rest. Even with bad/young credit, there are loan options, FHA, etc..
$29,010 (leaf base price) minus $7,500 is still expensive for most people.
And it is never just the base price. Most people want a bit of luxury. So you can afford the one year old honda accord or toyota camry with a lot of bells and whistles, or an electric with no extras.
Leasing is reasonable for most people though. I saw a leaf lease special for $200 a month for 3 years. But most smart people don't like leasing, because it is like renting: throwing money away and having nothing at the end.
This is a forum site; have you gone looking for 'proof'?
Yes. Many times. And my search results always show plenty of different ways that 100% renewable is possible, today (by today I mean existing technology, not the time to implement obviously). Slashdot usually has well informed posts on technical issues, but this seems to be driven by ideology, or something other than facts. What other explanation is there?
Here is even a group that worked with scientists, engineers, etc.. to come up with 50 customized plans for 100% renewable energy for all 50 states. http://thesolutionsproject.org/
Or skip the general searching, the weeding through all the web sites that may or may not be biased and go to google scholar: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=100%25+renewable+energy&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C38&as_sdtp=
Plenty of strategies and different methods of reaching 100% renewable.
So either the people claiming it is impossible are either 1) lying, 2) misinformed, 3) willfully ignorant due to ideology, 4) are paid shills of oil/gas.
That is why I think that as EVs become commonplace, all those cars will eventually become part of our grid to help store and regulate renewable power.
No, the idea is that we can't produce enough 'green' energy economically enough.
People on this site keep saying that, but I have yet to see any proof. There is no reason why over the course of 20--30 years we couldn't invest in more energy storage (house batteries like Musk is offering, pumped storage in reservoirs, huge grid batteries, all the batteries in EV cars operating in a 'smart' grid, etc...) and then renewable energy would be just as steady as traditional forms.
With the right government incentives pushing the market, it wouldn't cost nearly as much as people think as far as I can tell.
It is working for now, because they have great content, and there isn't much in the way of competition online yet.
If every channel offered an online version for 15 a month, most would go out of business. Would you pay 15 a month, each, for 7-8 channels?
The problem isn't the premium 10 episode movie quality type shows like Game of Thrones. The problem is monetizing the 'daily' shows. Like "the daily show with jon stewart", reality shows like Mountain men, good tv series like AMC's halt and catch fire, breaking bad, discovery shows, history shows, etc....
Younger people don't want to pay 100 dolllars a month, but they still really want Jon Stewart, history shows, mythbusters, etc.. And a lot of those type of shows are not making it to Netflix.
Greece seems to be a country that doesn't consider capitalism in the western sense
If true, interesting seeing as how the ancient Greek philosophies are the basis for western government and much of its underlying cultural assumptions.
Lobbying doesn't immediately mean evil
I agree. But because of the revolving door in Washington, you are either in or out of the 'circle' unless you can afford to hire people 'in the circle'.
Most people, rightly so, see lobbyists as the mouthpiece of 'the rich' who seem to never have the average person's interests in mind. Every time they lobby for something and win, we get screwed.
but nonetheless we should cheer them on, because how the Uber situation falls out helps determine what you are allowed to do with your car.
That isn't the issue surrounding most of this imo. For example, the reason that PDX doesn't allow Uber is because they refuse to work under the same regulations that taxis do: among other things, they cannot discriminate, must serve all neighborhoods, etc.. Taxi services often act as the 'last mile' for areas that have no access to public transit. As I understand it, an Uber driver can refuse to take request for service for any reason.
And can't uber drivers refuse service? Poor neighborhood, ethnicity X sounding name, too far away, etc..
Taxi service for most cities is required as part of regulations to service all areas and people without discrimination. I think I recall hearing that is the reason that PDX turned down Uber.
It's the laws that are bullshit. Look at what kind of service Uber facilitates. How is it that only now anyone is introducing a reputation system to this industry? How is it that only now the barrier of entry to this industry is coming down? What exactly does a stringently controlled supply of government-licensed "taxi" drivers do for the consumer anyway?
One major thing that regulated taxi service provides a city, is they are required to service all areas of the city. Not just the profitable downtown areas. The city basically says, "if you want a private run car company in our city, you have to serve all areas, no discrimination." Taxis act as a last mile extension to some areas that do not have good public transit access points. As I understand it, Uber drivers can decline requests for service. Poor neighborhood, too far away, black person name, etc..
"The estimated average transaction price of a new car or truck sold in the U.S. in April was $33,560"
I'd be more interested in a median value. To compute the average value you would have to include all the ridiculously priced luxury cars ($100,000+), and I'm guessing that wealthy people buy more cars more often than your average family, so the average numbers may skew higher than the median.
The toyota camry is the #1 selling car in the US, starting price 22k.
http://www.toyota.com/camry/?srchid=sem|google|Camry|Model_Camry|Camry_General_E|Camry+Copy+Refresh|