What is face-to-face these days? Current 'virtual offices' already give localisation and 'true' virtual offices will give the illusion of all the people being in the same office anyway. Much the same as applications like Skype are a stage on from the phone - and virtual shops (https://www.chargedretail.co.uk/2019/08/12/obsess-launches-virtual-reality-shopping-centre-with-19-stores/) are already starting to appear. Soon you will have accessories for touch, smell...etc. Everything will be brought to you in your home. Not my idea of the world I'd like to live in - but it's already occurring - and will it then finally stop the need to millions of people travelling every day?
It's not beyond technology now for me to have uploaded this - as a video of me saying it, and for you to then hear me and see me saying this rather than reading text. Bandwidth is constantly increasing and storage space is no longer a major issue - so realtime, online chat forums will appear (if they haven't already - https://talky.io/ is 'virtually' there) - and isn't that what an office is in effect? Is that face-to-face enough?!
You could set up communal workplaces in villages and suburbs which people can walk to. Given decent internet and other facilities, many people could then work form this community base without commuting miles and hours to and from their employer's base but they'd not be isolated and it may even help build community cohesion.
There's have to be rules and regs about condition, access, security etc but they're not insurmountable.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
The only trouble is that office workers cannot afford to live anywhere near the centre of London and the outer suburbs are beyond the means of many so it would still be necessary to have meeting places near the centre.
You could set up communal workplaces in villages and suburbs which people can walk to. Given decent internet and other facilities, many people could then work form this community base without commuting miles and hours to and from their employer's base but they'd not be isolated and it may even help build community cohesion.
There's have to be rules and regs about condition, access, security etc but they're not insurmountable.
This is how I see it working. Why are people commuting miles to work in a call centre when they're just sat on the phone or computer every day. There are plenty of buildings and industrial units sat empty to provide the space. Invest in the communication infrastructure rather than make empty promises with no plans to deal with the consequences.
As for charging cars, I've seen proposals that suggest that the cars (and houses) themselves could provide the battery storage for the grid. I can't see that many batteries being a sustainable resource though and I think privately owned cars will have to be rethought. Again local community hire schemes could really help but I think people are beginning to see how deep the hole we've dug for ourselves really is. 15 years to completely rethink and rebuild major parts of how society has worked for decades?
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
It's already there. Regus started years back by offering 'managed' office space - and a few companies now offer managed,shared offices (obviously you may need managed - to have a phone/internet connection - but even that gets superseded by 5G - as your phone could act as a hub for any computer). Google 'managed,shared offices' for your area and see what's already there.
As for the cars - pure battery just seems so limiting especially as they have been playing with 'induction as you drive' for a while (but that would need the infrastructure change to have induction plates in the roads). Personally, I think it's a bit like Beta max and VHS - hydrogen cell looks like a better bet (ignoring the risks of having hydrogen tanks in your car and that they don't fit in so well with an autonomous driverless car model). A chemical reaction then provides the power (with battery) - and no worry about refill/re-charge times.
I also repeat that I don't think car ownership will last that long anyway. As soon as fully autonomous cars hit the road, you'll just hire a car for the trip you want to do. Cars will in general be just glorified, in-use 24x7, taxis. They will return to charge/refill/clean/service points when needed - and you will simply have an app to book a size/quality/age of vehicle and be charged by class of car/time/mileage. Car manufacturers will build the cars and potentially be the hire companies that hire them out if they have any sense. Cars will then be vastly more efficient and be recycled when they reach end-of-life - and won't sit around 90% of the time doing nothing.
Living in a scummy area where people can't be trusted to treat anything with respect I just can't see driverless cars working out well. Loads of things work well in theory if people weren't total scumbags for the most part. We've also known for years that cars need to be more efficient and recyclable and yet they're not. You can still go out and buy a Rangerover sport to commute hundreds of miles each day and SUVs are more popular than ever. Manufacturers are following the money not concentrating on efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Maybe so - but in Victorian London very few people had their own transport - it was the cabs/omnibuses that caused the manure mountain. Mass ownership came with mass production in the 1920's - only 100 years ago - a mere blink of an eye. Maybe the same will occur in reverse - after Tebitt's 'get on your bike' to find work - it could be that people won't need to travel that much in future for work because of 'the virtual world'. So the model changes drastically - but still, I don't see ownership of cars lasting. I wouldn't have a car if I knew I could simply book one I wanted when I wanted it and the cost was cheap enough (take the driver cost out of a taxi and what would trip become - just the running costs of the car plus profit).
5G and the IOT will ensure that each car is up to spec.
The newer SUV crossovers are much more efficient than the older versions. Following a rear impact from a lorry driver not paying attention, our 6yr old Zafira had to be scrapped. We searched long and hard for a suitable replacement but even going down a size there were no electric or hybrids in our price range or suited to life in the countryside with no power points away from home so we've ended up with a smaller diesel SUV crossover with a smaller engine. 100kp consumes 4.5litres on average and better over long distances at steady speeds. The Zafira averaged 100kph to 7 litres.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I'm not against it in any way. I think that reducing leisure trips will be just what local communities need to rejuvinate high streets and outdoor areas. At the moment we bundle kids and the dog into the car and drive 10 or 15 minutes away to a park or nature reserve when there could be just as nice areas in walking distance if people didn't just use them as glorified dog toilets. I hope car designs will change drastically with automation too. Once you remove the vanity of personal ownership then cars can be much more practical.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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There's have to be rules and regs about condition, access, security etc but they're not insurmountable.