New Goes so Far

A couple months ago, Apple introduced it I-phone X, not 10, but X.   Far be it for a person with a flip phone to make comments about a smart phone, but bear with me.  When the I-phone X came out there were articles about how it really was not all that much different from earlier versions of the phone, and people should not waste their hard earned money.  More recently I saw that the I-phone X was selling quite well.  Although on Monday, November 13, 2017 a news report noted that the I-phone 7 was the bestselling I-phone in the 3^rd quarter of the year.  The X was not introduced until later in September. Thus, it seems that people want the newest which is often thought of as the best version.  In the computing world one only needs to look at Microsoft’s Vista operating system to realize newer is not better.   Is the I-phone X that much better than number 7?  Or, for that matter, a Samsung, a Moto, or any of the other similar devices?

I Phone

Devices such as the I-pad are now ubiquitous in American Households, and so is the I-phone in American pockets.  Pope Francis recently commented about the number of cell phones being used while he is celebrating mass, and he suggested that people turn more to Jesus and God, than use their cell phone.  In 2013 I visited the Church of the Nativity, and there were many persons, particularly Asians, who were taking photos using an I-pad.  It was not the photo taking that was annoying, but rather the jockeying  for position by people concentrating on and what is in its camera view rather than the people they bumped.  And, let's face it, a 9+" I-Pad is much larger than a point and shoot camera.  Yet, the whole photo thing is understandable.  People wish to post a photo of  events on social media showing that they were part of something larger; something that may someday viewed as historic.  At the birth place of Christ, all wanted a photo to commemorate the event.  People are said to be social animals and this practice certainly plays to that argument.

Average Commute Times in the United States

Yet, the paradox of the social nature of people is the way we choose to live and transport ourselves.  The American dream still consists of a single family home, often in the country, with your own nice Toyota.  This is as American as apple pie and Toyota (the latter is really not very American, but shows how the country has changed). Varied technology and car companies are working on the self-driving car.  Our quest for privacy in the outer regions of exurbia has taken us from where a drive was leisurely, to now where it is a chore.  My dad had only but travel a few blocks to work (often walking).  Today many commutes are 30 minutes or more, with the average, nation wide, being almost 26 minutes.  Years ago my mom and dad would go for a leisurely ride during a Sunday afternoon, most likely to get away from my older and younger siblings.  John Nolen Drive in Madison came about in part due to a leisure drive association.  So did many of the Parkways in New York City.  John Nolen can now be a frantic drive, particularly during commuting times and UW football games. 

Self Driving Car Prototype

Self-driving cares may reduce stress, but will they reduce traffic?  It will take years for all persons to drive an autonomous vehicle, and so there will still be humans driving on the road for quite some time.  People are not like storm troopers who can be tuned to one cadence with a meticulously planned spacing.  Some say the self-driving car will allow a person to be dropped off at work, and then the car can travel home to avoid needing to park in an expensive downtown location. (But, perhaps the expense of downtown parking will decrease as demand shrivels.).  It can then retrieve the person later in the day.  This adds two more trips to the road system.  They could also lead to more exurban sprawl as persons decide they can work in the vehicle while they get driven to their place of employment.  The paradox is that while people are social animals they also seek privacy.  Another paradox is that as more people move to exurbia and the pastoral lands, the land becomes more developed, ruining the reason why they move there in the first place.  It seems a not too often occurrence that we degrade that which we value. 

Self Driving Car technology

Social media is replacing face to face contact.  As technology with self-driving cars and even robotics increase will we see a day when little human contact occurs.   There is even talk of robots replacing human partners.  My wife would probably say a robot would be more talkative than I.  It probably also would not touch her cheek with a cold aluminum finger.  My cold human hand, just cannot be replaced.  Technology has changed the way we interact and communicate, and the way we work.  Will it continue to drive market demand to the point that humans really don’t know what they got themselves into?