The future is here

It’s knocking at the door and going to rush in and amaze us with new stuff which will wrap up old problems.

We already have instant information at our fingertips, access to all the music we want, all the time. You can now put a computer anywhere: micro-chip-sized casings and atom-powered transistors can be so small as to be invisible to the naked eye

It is not likely I will buy another motor car.

Soon, I won’t have to see a doctor for a check-up – my health will be monitored by a telephone app.

My house will be self-sufficient in energy production with solar roof tiles and a Powerwall battery for cloudy days. Rainwater will be purified and drinkable. I will probably convert my garage into a granny flat and one of our children can have the house.

Here in the suburbs, I could construct a hydroponic tower garden and be self- sufficient in vegetable and fish production. My own chickens will provide meat and eggs. Meat will soon be produced from insect protein, algae or vegetables.

If necessary, I will be able to fly from Australia to London in under three hours in an Elon Musk Space-X rocket. Travel by train to Sydney from Brisbane (1000kms) will only take 90 minutes in a Musk tunnel train. I don’t want to go to Mars but I could before I am 75!

You’re dreaming! I hear you say … that won’t happen for a looong time yet. A friend of mine from varsity said he hoped to never to see it!

Well  – burgers that taste like beef, but are made from plants are already being sold in over 5,000 stores and over 4,000 restaurants, hotels, and university dining halls.

PepsiCo has just pre-ordered 100 Tesla semi trucks powered by electricity. As of December 2015, there were over 30 models of highway legal all-electric passenger cars and utility vans available. Cumulative global sales of highway-capable light-duty pure electric vehicles passed one million units in total, globally, in September 2016

 

A KPMG survey revealed that 59% of industry bosses believe that more than half of all car owners today will no longer want to own a car by 2025. That’s only 7 years from now!!

The City of South Perth Intellibus service has recently celebrated its first birthday, has completed more than 7,728 km in autonomous/driverless mode and completed more than 2,208 thirty minute rides carrying over 10,000 passengers. No driver involved.

Autonomous vehicles can travel safely closer together, and with less braking and accelerating than human drivers, traffic will flow more smoothly and congestion will decrease. On motorways more vehicles will be able to fit safely into the same length of road, effectively increasing capacity but there will be fewer vehicles.

The potential benefits of autonomous cars include reduced mobility and infrastructure costs and increased safety – 93% of accidents are attributed to human error.

Specifically there will be a significant reduction in traffic collisions;  injuries and related costs, much lower cost of insurance; significantly reduced needs for parking, and minimal traffic offending.

Finally, transportation as a service, especially via the sharing economy which is already big with Uber and Lyft, will be facilitated.

So get used to it – the Merry Go Straight just keeps getting faster!

Me – I can’t wait – I hate driving!