I think the most similar example of a technological advance that has seemed very odd at it time of conception is the Mobile Phone. I mean, why would you need to make a bunch of calls from away? Most of them could wait until you get back home, and for those that couldn't there are plenty of phopne booths. The only thing cell phones have done for us is annoy us during meetings and scare us during flights. Yet for some reason, most of us now own them.
There are plenty of times in conversation when you feel like checking something on the web, and I have plenty of times felt annoyed that I didn't have access to my computer. The idea of being able to check statistics and trivia, as well as E-mail, and eventually use IP-phone from a little unit behind my ear (or in my pocket, either way) seems rather appealing to me. My only problems are with the technology itself, bandwidth, screensize / resolution, processor speed and storage capacity./nils
As I've been reading through this I've run into a major problem with the system. How do you deal with updates to the road network and changed speed limits? As I see it there are two ways, either you update every car every year (costing tens of millions of pounds each year), or you have the car inform the satelite where you are, when, how fast you are going, and in which direction. Now that sounds like information the british government would LOVE to get their hands on.
SOVINFORMSPUTNIK, here we come!
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I think the most similar example of a technological advance that has seemed very odd at it time of conception is the Mobile Phone. I mean, why would you need to make a bunch of calls from away? Most of them could wait until you get back home, and for those that couldn't there are plenty of phopne booths. The only thing cell phones have done for us is annoy us during meetings and scare us during flights. Yet for some reason, most of us now own them. There are plenty of times in conversation when you feel like checking something on the web, and I have plenty of times felt annoyed that I didn't have access to my computer. The idea of being able to check statistics and trivia, as well as E-mail, and eventually use IP-phone from a little unit behind my ear (or in my pocket, either way) seems rather appealing to me. My only problems are with the technology itself, bandwidth, screensize / resolution, processor speed and storage capacity. /nils
Woe upon man for the curse that is woeman (read woman). And I'm not chicken enough to send it anonymously.
As I've been reading through this I've run into a major problem with the system. How do you deal with updates to the road network and changed speed limits? As I see it there are two ways, either you update every car every year (costing tens of millions of pounds each year), or you have the car inform the satelite where you are, when, how fast you are going, and in which direction. Now that sounds like information the british government would LOVE to get their hands on. SOVINFORMSPUTNIK, here we come!
I sense a certain amount of flame-bait in that last letter, would that it be moderated as such.