The Street > The Lounge
Apple's iCar or whatever..
G:
So Apple has been hiring a shit load of automotive engineers and there is speculation about what they are doing... well I have a theory and I want to get it down early, so when I am proved right in 5 years time I will have some proof to my claim of "told you so"...
So, everyone hates public transport because it is full of psychos/muggers/stinky-mad-women/farters/leary-old-men/flashers etc.
The vast majority of people dont really give that much of a shit about cars. You can see this by simply looking at the vehicles on the road. Who the fuck buys a Juke or a Fiat500x or any of those other hideous things I see on the road all the time. They just want a comfy safe place to sit and use their phone, hopefully without getting caught or crashing.
So here is what Apple are going to do.
You (and I obviously dont mean you here, but all the millions of people living in the suburbs who drive to Malls and offices with parking) will buy a CarPod. This will be a very stylish little caravan type thing with your choice of seats that turn into beds and telly screens and curtains and all sorts of other customisable shit. It will have a modest battery kept topped up by a solar panel on the roof, that can power AC or heating and top up your phone or whatever.
This pod will have little extendable legs underneath to keep it up off the ground and will cost you just a few thousand dollars.
When you want to go somewhere, you will take out your iphone (or speak into your iwatch if anyone ever buys one) and say "Hey pod, I need to be at xxxxx by 5pm" (obviously you may already have booked this appointment in your calendar so no need to say anything).
Apple's software will work out when you need to leave based on traffic etc and tell you to get in your carpod sometime before the necessary departure time, and the AC or heating will already have got the inside a nice temperature for you. Meanwhile it will allocate a "trolley" which will be a big flat four wheel thing like a Tesla drivetrain and battery pack arranged as a big flat platform. This "trolley" will arrive at your carpod, roll underneath, tell the pod to retract its legs and the two will dock together securely like a shipping container on a truck.
The trolley will then whisk you off to your destination.
If your destination is a few miles away, then it will just drop your pod off in a car park and fuck off to charge itself or move someone else's pod. If your destination is half way across the country then it will take you as far as it can, at which point another trolley will be ready to take over.
You wont own a trolley, just pay for your miles. You will never have to think about fuel/charging, tyre wear, servicing, punctures, tax etc etc.
So imagine you live in the Suburbs of Chicago and need to go to Buffalo for a 9am meeting.
Instead of going to the airport the day before, flying there, going to a hotel, getting up early and then heading to the meeting, you just climb into your pod at bed-time the night before, lay back your seat and go to sleep. While you are asleep, a trolley comes and picks you up, and a series of trolleys takes you to Buffalo while you sleep. When your iphone wakes you up in the morning you are "parked" outside a hotel which through an agreement with Apple lets you use an empty room to have a shower and get dressed, you eat breakfast there and get back in your pod which takes you to the meeting.
So instead of being stuck on a plane with what can only be classed as "other cunts" you have a nice snooze in your own little pod that has your favourite snacks and comfy slippers etc..
Pods can also be sent to take children to school/hockey-practice/friend's-houses or to pick up shopping etc
This all obviously needs a few changes in the law (luckily Apple have a lot of lobbying power) like being able to sleep in a bed while travelling without needing a seatbelt (big airbags instead) and being allowed to park a "pod" in the street, but it's all pretty minor.
As battery and motor technology improves Apple can update the trolley to have a longer range etc, but this wont matter to you. Apple will make money for every mile you travel, and no doubt be able to offer new pods with better soundproofing, satellite internet, showers and toilets etc as demand dictates.
TLDR: Apple iCar will be like shipping containers for people. Will you buy one? (pretty sure I would)
:)
G.
alaskun:
pneumatic tubes or bust
in the future people will be astonished at the kind of choices we've had, at the different styles, the fact that we were allowed to steer/brake/accelerate on our own... will roads disappear to the extent that horse trails have?
Stoked:
Will everyone get lost using maps?
condrbkr:
I don't know you had me till you mentioned the trolley system which seems too in the future.
jaythomas:
--- Quote from: Stoked on August 07, 2015, 03:10:42 PM ---Will everyone get lost using maps?
--- End quote ---
step 1. buy icar
step 2. download google maps
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