[extropy-chat] Communication vs transportation

[BillK]

On Tue Dec 09, 2003 10:21 am Henrique Moraes Machado wrote:
> The transports need a revolution. When we had only horses, the trains 
> were revolutionary. Then the automobiles and finally airplanes.
> Nothing new since then. And there goes one hundred years.
>

Of course there has been much improvement in 100 years.
Automobiles are much improved from the Model T Ford.
Current research seems to be aiming towards driverless
(automatic-controlled) cars.

The 747 compares well with the Wright brothers craft and also flies on
auto-pilot for most of the time.

And existing technologies are finding more useful areas.

We have escalators to climb staircases.
We have travelators (moving pavements) at airports,
The Paris Metro has the worlds fastest beltway at 9 km/hour.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3001182.stm>

Skyscrapers have incredibly fast lifts nowadays.

In UK and Europe, electric urban Light Rail systems are becoming popular
in cities. They are cheaper to build than underground rail systems and
can follow the existing road system. They have priority over road 
traffic, so are not delayed by traffic jams.
<http://www.bathtram.org/tfb/tP20.htm>

We have monorail suspended rail systems and maglev 'floating' rail systems.

Container ships and huge lorries have revolutionised freight transport.

And the Segway, of course!

For more ideas, see:
<http://faculty.washington.edu/~jbs/itrans/>


BillK