satellite cities and such nonsense
I was thinking about the Peak Oil situation some more whilst reading an interesting article at Wired News called The Backhoe - A Real Cyberthreat when I had a thought. No doubt it's not an original thought. In fact it's one that probably everyone has thought of already. It's only now that I'm up to the same page. Turn on motherfuckers and next time don't leave me hanging!
It would seem that the ability to exist as a community through want, interest and a smidgen of necessity rather than simple old geography is a solution to existing transport / fossil fuel / environmental woes. Instead of driving to work and then home again I can log-on to work with my computer. We can communicate with video. I can work on jobs with other collegues no matter where in the world they are. The Goodies hit it right on the head, Anything, Anywhere, Anytime. As long as I keep my very real physical relationships intact then I shouldn't lose my shit and go all cabin-feverish.
The only problem with this sort of setup is the organisation. Systems need to be put in place. And used. Properly. The cool thing is that most software in my field is already setup to run in a workgroup situation. Folders can be set to allow multiple users. Permissions allow the logging-in and out of files. Time and datestamping helps guide the dangerous path of redundant file usage. Granted it would be a different task being a manager but hell, the possibilites are endless. Work with the best people for you or the job rather than the best found locally.
Peak-hour traffic would still exist. Instead of traffic jams with cars we'd find our net connection would be slower in the morning and late afternoon as almost everyone would catch up on emails and then banking. No doubt anyone selling computer monitors would make a killing out of all the schmucks who used to get road-rage, now stuck venting their anger through fist-to-monitor exchanges.
Micro-cafes consisting of vans selling coffee and sushi-or whatever social cliche overtakes these in the future-would be hurtling around the 'burbs feeding the armada of home-workers.
Obviously this has already started happening but such a huge scale would be really interesting. It's effect on fossil fuels and vehicle usage would be quite dramatic. I guess sales of eye-glasses would take off, not to mention physios having to work double shifts trying to help a million more bent-over crippled computer users.
Still it's interesting to think that this social change may be necessary and yet it's evolved quite without guidence. A thing that seemed possible could become the only option. Maybe there was guidence. Probably by the same aliens that invented the pyramids and velcro.
quote for the day:
"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something." (from Time Enough for Love)
- Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
It would seem that the ability to exist as a community through want, interest and a smidgen of necessity rather than simple old geography is a solution to existing transport / fossil fuel / environmental woes. Instead of driving to work and then home again I can log-on to work with my computer. We can communicate with video. I can work on jobs with other collegues no matter where in the world they are. The Goodies hit it right on the head, Anything, Anywhere, Anytime. As long as I keep my very real physical relationships intact then I shouldn't lose my shit and go all cabin-feverish.
The only problem with this sort of setup is the organisation. Systems need to be put in place. And used. Properly. The cool thing is that most software in my field is already setup to run in a workgroup situation. Folders can be set to allow multiple users. Permissions allow the logging-in and out of files. Time and datestamping helps guide the dangerous path of redundant file usage. Granted it would be a different task being a manager but hell, the possibilites are endless. Work with the best people for you or the job rather than the best found locally.
Peak-hour traffic would still exist. Instead of traffic jams with cars we'd find our net connection would be slower in the morning and late afternoon as almost everyone would catch up on emails and then banking. No doubt anyone selling computer monitors would make a killing out of all the schmucks who used to get road-rage, now stuck venting their anger through fist-to-monitor exchanges.
Micro-cafes consisting of vans selling coffee and sushi-or whatever social cliche overtakes these in the future-would be hurtling around the 'burbs feeding the armada of home-workers.
Obviously this has already started happening but such a huge scale would be really interesting. It's effect on fossil fuels and vehicle usage would be quite dramatic. I guess sales of eye-glasses would take off, not to mention physios having to work double shifts trying to help a million more bent-over crippled computer users.
Still it's interesting to think that this social change may be necessary and yet it's evolved quite without guidence. A thing that seemed possible could become the only option. Maybe there was guidence. Probably by the same aliens that invented the pyramids and velcro.
quote for the day:
"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something." (from Time Enough for Love)
- Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
posted by brent c. airey at 3:56 PM
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