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Topic starter
25/10/2021 8:52 am
I predict that the day will come when no one will own a car. Instead there will be pools of autonomous "units" that are scattered about a city/area. When needed a "unit" will be summoned into service via a cell phone and paid for by the minute or mile (whichever makes more sense). One unit will drop us off at our destination and a different unit will pick us up and take us home. There will be no need for parking spaces/lots/garages or driveways.
There also will be no need for grocery shopping or much else that can and will be delivered by drone/self-driven cars/trucks. Shopping centers will become service centers and/or entertainment/dining venues except for those housing anomalies selling limited issue goods or allow customers the opportunity to sample goods. Most shopping will be done on the Internet with free shipping and free returns and goods will be warehoused in structures that are not open to the public except for a sampling area.
Cross country travel will be accomplished by a system of autonomous units that don't even resemble what we now call a car scattered across the country at charging stations. We will reserve as many of these 500 mile range units as necessary to reach our destination, changing vehicles as needed for a freshly charged one.
Vehicles will run in tandem on EXISTING roads and will be equipped with entertainment and refreshment modules. Some units will be "sleepers" equipped like old Nashes with seats that convert to beds. As a result we will arrive at our destination relaxed and ready for action. All speeds will average higher than today's limits. Speeds for some units on some highways will average better than 90MPH. Some units will be bus-like.
Those who recognize the business opportunity will form a unitline to provide scheduled and managed travel that will be operated much like an airline and will become wealthy.
I haven't figured out what will happen with the existing cars, the automotive industry or the economy. My guess is that our stock in the Big Three might become worthless unless they consolidate for a different purpose, the need for NAPA, Checker Auto, Uber/taxi/truck drivers will disappear and "mechanics" will likely be skilled engineers. A Sunday drive and taming a Dodge Demon will become distant memories.
Possible? Nah. I'm just day dreaming.
25/10/2021 9:21 am
Your post has caused me to reply with my first post after joining a few (?) yrs ago, I usually just enjoy reading the posts without replying but you lit a fire . They will get my SRT Challenger when they pry it from my dead hands. Good post thou, Thanks.
25/10/2021 10:01 am
Thanks for this interesting post Frank. What you have posted seems quite possible, if we haven't destroyed our environment and/or one another in the meanwhile. Personally, I'm happy that I grew up in the era that I did. I do wish that I could have been born 10 or so years earlier, in the early 1940s, so that I could have experienced even more of the 1950s and 60s. There were many social problems then of course, it was far from perfect as we all know, but I would go back in a second if I could. I say forget all this futuristic stuff....build us a decent time machine....lol.
25/10/2021 10:33 am
Sadly, there are forces working to make that largely dystopian future an attempted enforced reality. Even now, and for some time, these entities have pushed through their distorted visions with mandates and policies and anti-free choice programs.
But there is opposition. And the Revolutionary War term "Don't Tread On Me" still has relevance.
Topic starter
26/10/2021 11:41 am
Read it and weep, fellas. Here is the first one. My son has the listing on it.
john barry and john barry reacted
26/10/2021 12:41 pm
The pandemic has given the anti-car culture in many cities around the world more opportunity to push their agenda. Climate change has also given them ammunition. Street closings, bicycle lanes reducing automobile lanes and just closing off streets to all traffic are common city occurrences. Public transportation has so far not kept pace with reductions in vehicle access. A political battle is coming. Where we end up, who can tell.
I feel privileged to have had most of my life span in an optimistic society with growing wealth and access to a wonderful variety of travel options, both at home and abroad.
26/10/2021 1:17 pm
Read it and weep, fellas. Here is the first one. My son has the listing on it.
Good God......what an ant hill. The suites are so tiny as well. Green grass is almost non-existent. Not for this farm raised boy. The next generation won't know any better for the most part I would guess; their experience of "normal" will be very different from previous generations. They can have it.
Frank Kocour and Frank Kocour reacted
26/10/2021 3:11 pm
Good God......what an ant hill. The suites are so tiny as well. Green grass is almost non-existent. Not for this farm raised boy. The next generation won't know any better for the most part I would guess; their experience of "normal" will be very different from previous generations. They can have it.
along those lines...........
26/10/2021 4:20 pm
Having been born in 1940 and raised in America by a mom and dad who loved my brother and I makes me one of the most blessed individuals on earth. Was it perfect? Of course not but I didn't know it. The problem I have today is people who have absolutely no life experiences are telling me how I should be living my life and what the future will look like when they don't have a clue.
Topic starter
27/10/2021 10:02 am
Large private homes on large lots are still the American dream.
The problem is not having the ability to afford such a place.
The home we dowsized to February 2021 and now live in has increased in value by nearly 30% - about $350 every day since then. The home we sold and moved from has increased $533 every day since. No end in sight to the inflation yet.
Thank God my (net spendable) Social Security will be increased by $110/month in January . . .