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I'm kind of fascinated by how times change and things that were once normal are now not (examples, corporal punishment, male only voting systems, smoking on planes etc). So I often think about what is normal now, that people will look back on in the future and ask "what on earth were they thinking?".
My list, so far:
- Over the counter fireworks. Yep, lets sell actual rockets to the public
- Vaping
- Splitting up older couples when one of them goes into residential care
- Phones / Social media for kids
- Religion, all forms
- Driven grouse moors
What else have you got?
You'll have to defeat the properly rich and the powerful before there's any chance of getting rid of Religion or Grouse shooting so can't see that happening unfortunately.
I was going to say vaping. How about desk top computers? Normal, scheduled TV channels?
Drive places ourselves, unless for the pleasure of driving
Releasing helium balloons at memorials, funerals, weddings, birthdays, in fact anywhere really. This gas is finite. The balloons are littering the country and cause trouble in the countryside for farmers.
We live near Stockport, where I regularly see these floating by our house, heading on the prevailing wind to the Peak District. Moorland, woodland and farmers grazing land.
talking to people unless it is direct family.
people seem to be nearly there already. the ability to converse.
Imprisoning animals in our homes.
Jetting off on holiday several times per year. *
Ocean cruises *
(* More accurately, these will be the preserve of the very wealthy)
Imprisoning animals in our homes.
I assume that is just your wish, not what you expect to happen?
I wonder of alcohol will fall into that category?
Manual cars for sure, and I suspect the concept of driving car.
Slightly deeper, but the concept of privacy as we currently know it. We've got a generation who share everything on line and I wonder if that'll lead to concerns/laws around privacy being heavy reduced.
I also think there will be a huge change in what we currently call social media. Perhaps in contradiction to the above, I wonder if we'll see a backlash to how ubiquitous it's become, and how people interact with it.
Using privately owned two tonne metal boxes on wheels to move one person around - and having that box sat idle for most of the time occupying public land
Old blokes like the guy above won't be wearing jeans.
and having that box sat idle for most of the time occupying public land
We'll all have private driveways in the future?
Burning gas for cooking inside your house.
Had a discussion like this with my daughter recently, and she thinks I'm insane, but in the future, I can imagine eating meat being a thing of the past.
Talking to neighbours when WFH.
Thinking that first gen public A.I. was any good.
Cycling without an engine.
Accepting that America once voted for a President every few years.
Lots of wishful thinking so far....
How about : Being in control of technology.
Working with AI at the moment I can see the finance and other group functions shrinking.
I'm wondering if the current generation of young folk who are fuelling the fast fashion industry (and its disposable attitude) will turn against that as they age.
Using privately owned two tonne metal boxes on wheels to move one person around - and having that box sat idle for most of the time occupying public land
Unfortunately this will never happen.
Take a look around - the vast majority see a car as a status symbol. It's mind blowing how many people push themselves deep into debt to have a car, and they require zero effort to justify it to themselves.
Personally I think self driving cars (not elon's as he's an arsehole) are the way forward and more than 99% of journeys would be all the better for having a computer doing the driving. Traffic congestion would reduce, accidents reduce, the journey would be less stressful and people can relax while being transported etc etc.
But it will never happen. You will never convince people to give it up, even if it would benefit them.
And then there is the laziness factor!
I make a choice to walk as much as possible. Supermarket is 15 minutes away and I walk to/from for at least 9 out of 10 visits , but I know I'm definitely in the minority.
The ongoing bitching and complaining about perceived parking issues clearly shows the majorities priorities and you'll not get those people making a conscientious effort to leave a car at home and walk. A glance at the cesspit that is Facebook and local pages are always full of morons moaning their coupon off about parking and driving. Still it's another good reason not to waste time on social media...
I'm wondering if the current generation of young folk who are fuelling the fast fashion industry (and its disposable attitude) will turn against that as they age.
My daughters (21 & 22) rarely buy any brand new clothes, it's all 2nd hand from Vinted or charity shops.
My daughters (21 & 22) rarely buy any brand new clothes, it's all 2nd hand from Vinted or charity shops.
My daughters (both 16) do a mix of the two – lots of Shein stuff, but almost equal amount of buying (and selling) on Vinted, which is a start.
Empathy.
Polite manners.
Asking other humans for help, face to face.
Skiing.
Manually selecting music once we picked an album and flipped it over to the otherside to listen to the second half, then we had CD's then we picked it from our phones, I still do this, but I know many will select via voice or just let their platform of choice play them random music.
Making coffee, the plantations will eventually struggle to make enough to make it anything other than an elite luxury.
Viewing migration as problematic, as the band around the equator grows and grows into an uninhabitable area with increased temperatures and fires people will be forced to migrate away. At some point it will become inevitable as opposed to optional.
User a 90's style forum on STW .... nah, actually this one won't change 😉
I'm wondering if the current generation of young folk who are fuelling the fast fashion industry
Why do you attribute this to "young folk"? Or do you just mean anyone too young to retire?
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Religion, all forms
Interesting point. I'm not religious, not against the concept of it either. I think it'll remain though, for the reasons it has existed in some form or another for so long. Even if we did get beyond a society where some abuse power systems like religion or business for personal gains, I think enough people will still have a sense of wonder or a question that only something like a spiritual faith can answer.
The one I'd like to see go the way of smoking in public spaces is the way we use smart phones so habitually. They're great devices but they get way too much of our attention and the addictive qualities they have are by design.
Things we do now that we won't do in the future:
Exist.
Using privately owned two tonne metal boxes on wheels to move one person around - and having that box sat idle for most of the time occupying public land
It'd require some kind of catastrophic shift in everything from general politics to socio-economic norms to spatial planning to even come close to that.
The car industry is actually more to do with finance than cars. Plus so much of the economy is built around cars and the supply chain and the use of them.
Bit like smoking. The Government is loathe to ban it completely cos it's a handy source of tax.
Cycling without an engine.
Cycling IS without an engine....
Believe that we can actually prevent climate crisis.
Using privately owned two tonne metal boxes on wheels to move one person around - and having that box sat idle for most of the time occupying public land
It'd require some kind of catastrophic shift in everything from general politics to socio-economic norms to spatial planning to even come close to that.
The car industry is actually more to do with finance than cars. Plus so much of the economy is built around cars and the supply chain and the use of them.
Bit like smoking. The Government is loathe to ban it completely cos it's a handy source of tax.
I disagree. Tech will make owning private cars uneconomic. Self driving electric runabouts in cities, car clubs outside of towns. I know for some its hard to imagine but I am certain we are the last generation to be wasting resources in this way. When its cheaper, easier and more convenient not to own your own car then why would folk
Using privately owned two tonne metal boxes on wheels to move one person around - and having that box sat idle for most of the time occupying public land
It'd require some kind of catastrophic shift in everything from general politics to socio-economic norms to spatial planning to even come close to that.
The car industry is actually more to do with finance than cars. Plus so much of the economy is built around cars and the supply chain and the use of them.
Bit like smoking. The Government is loathe to ban it completely cos it's a handy source of tax.
I disagree. Tech will make owning private cars uneconomic. Self driving electric runabouts in cities, car clubs outside of towns. I know for some its hard to imagine but I am certain we are the last generation to be wasting resources in this way. When its cheaper, easier and more convenient not to own your own car then why would folk
How is someone in a small village getting somewhere who lives 7 miles from a town ?
Let alone doing activities outside of your area, i drove to a DH race this weekend 160 miles away, how am i getting there ?
car club car
as in my post
or train or bus or ride
car club car
as in my post
or train or bus or ride
Nearest train station is in that town.
There's 4 buses per day, they're 3X the cost of driving and 1/10th as reliable.
There's no car club, how could that even work with insurance, tax, MOT, servicing etc etc
Riding, the person is 67 years old, they can't ride 7 miles.
- No car? I was in Austria a couple of weeks ago. Wife wanted to hire a car, but the rental accom had given us a bus pass for the Salzburg area - which is huge. I thought that we should try the pass first. It was brilliant, even out in the sticks. Never had to wait more than fifteen minutes. So no car can be done.
I've predicted for many years that the proper advent of self driving cars would mean the eventual end of owning your own car. Why would you spend an inordinate amount of money on something that sits still for 99% of its life if you don't have to? Flexible working has added to this as I had thought you'd have to have much better public transport for rush hour to really get there. Think of it ... need to go on a journey? Just ask in your app, car arrives at your house and you go wherever you want. Like taxis but cheap, reliable, and abundant. I'd sign up tomorrow. It surely couldn't be more than the hundreds of pounds everyone seems to be paying for cars every month at the moment.
There's no car club, how could that even work with insurance, tax, MOT, servicing etc etc
Thats the point. This is the future. No reason why not have communal owned cars in some form in every town. think about the fact the costs would be far far lower? No reason why we cannot have properly integrated multi modal transport schemes. Its already happening in some places.
Car clubs already exist - as do other community managed transport schemes. they work really well. I know folk for whom a car club car is their only car. You pay a fee per hour and/or per mile.
Just imagine the cost savings when you only need to pay a small part of the cost of the car? When the city cars are electric small and light and in use 20+ hours a day?
- No car? I was in Austria a couple of weeks ago. Wife wanted to hire a car, but the rental accom had given us a bus pass for the Salzburg area - which is huge. I thought that we should try the pass first. It was brilliant, even out in the sticks. Never had to wait more than fifteen minutes. So no car can be done.
If you live in Salzburg maybe 😀
Weeksy, you do understand that this thread is about the future?
There will always a few holdouts. My brother still has a VHS player. But 90% of the UK live in urban areas, and increasingly see that with Amazon and Tesco deliveries on one hand, the cost of insurance and petrol on the other, it's barely worth the bother of owning a car. And you can get a lot of Uber journeys for the £350 a month a lease car might cost you.
We had our car MOT'd this week and I was surprised to see it only did 4,000 miles in the last 12 months. I won't be giving it up yet, but in 20 years time I can't see that I'll bother owning my own car.
So yeah, in the year 2100 there will still be some STWers towing a caravan in their ICE car from Glasgow to Morzine without a break every other week. And some rural areas where it's still essential. But in general, owning a private car will be seen as a largely pointless luxury, like owning a horse is now. And even then, it'll drive itself.
There's no car club, how could that even work with insurance, tax, MOT, servicing etc etc
Thats the point. This is the future. No reason why not have communal owned cars in some form in every town. think about the fact the costs would be far far lower? No reason why we cannot have properly integrated multi modal transport schemes. Its already happening in some places.
Car clubs already exist - as do other community managed transport schemes. they work really well. I know folk for whom a car club car is their only car. You pay a fee per hour and/or per mile.
Just imagine the cost savings when you only need to pay a small part of the cost of the car? When the city cars are electric small and light and in use 20+ hours a day?
Still going to be interesting for me to take it to Fort William 4 times in a year 😀
I agree that car clubs don't really work for all, yet. I ran the numbers before we got this car.
The main thing I use my car for is to visit family for the weekend, and when you're paying by the hour, a car club car won't work for that!
Cars will definitely still exist. But the current model of owning your own car, will die out eventually.
Be much cheaper than owning a car especially if car drivers paid the full cost of car ownership. this sort of stuff is already working on a small scale.
https://waymo.com/rides/san-francisco/
https://www.enterprisecarclub.co.uk/gb/en/programs/regions/scotland/edinburgh.html
https://at.govt.nz/about-us/working-with-at/bike-and-e-scooter-share-services/
The hire model is interesting to see, I totally agree it's a great idea, but where you have a terminus at a set time (as an example a Cambridge university office/lab location), every morning you end up with a glut. I've counted 50 Voi Scooters/e-bikes in a morning. But the place where you need one, i.e. the park & ride that allows someone to do the last section of a journey (last-mile logistics) there are none, as they have all been used to get to the popular terminus. In a fully autonomous solution they can load balance by returning to an expected location where there will be a need for it to be.
For balance I usually ride to work all the way so only occasionally want to use something to get between the park and ride and the office, but it's almost never an option to do so in the morning. In the evening I have more choice than I need.
Similar example, I live next to a newly built town, the car club has 2/3 car spots in the park and ride, but over 5k homes have been built with more to come, the supply is miles from a level where it is actually useful.
Putting margarine or spread if you will, on your knife flat to the tub, and longways. Difficult as the product diminishes.
In the future, all intelligent life will adopt my approach of upending the tub, knife in at right angles and taking a full depth spread across the width of the tub working one end to the other as the margarine is used.
Much better, except for when using brands with round tub ends.