It’s the future

About 10 or 15 years ago I said to my wife that I could not understand why the government was not investing in projects for car design that were just big enough for one or two people and had tiny engines.  These cars would be allowed to use a special lane, and you could get 2-4 of them in the space one car took up.  The same for parking, special bays and rates.  These could then have cheap insurance and tax to encourage use by commuters.  Surprise, surprise, they never did that…  but yesterday it was announced that Google stole my idea and improved on it!

They have announced driverless cars, presumably electric.  So no pollution, and you can work or play on the way to work.  In fact they can take junior to school and your daughter to ballet class too.  They won’t need parking as they will just pick up the next person.  You won’t buy them, just use them like taxis.  So pollution and congestion are both radically improved.  Presumably they are also quiet, so less noise in our environment.  They have the potential to transform our cities, our lives and the economy.

It wasn’t announced but you can bet your bippy that they will also be connected and encouraging you to browse the web and consume Goggle adverts and online services whilst you are chauffeured to your destination.  This is the kind of visionary change that has the potential to change lives, and Goggle has deep enough pockets to explore its potential.

This may or may not work out like this but there is no denying it is a bold move, imagining a different future and then pursuing it.  Most of us don’t have Goggle’s resources but we do have to take the time to imagine how we can invent a different and better future and then invest our efforts in reeling that in. 

Resources:

1. Telegraph

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2014 at 08:34 and is filed under Business Change, Gadgets & Technology, Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.