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What do you people think about a flying drone taxi?
type568
Member #8,381
March 2007
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Bruce Perry
Member #270
April 2000

I'll take it - I like flying :)

Cars, on the other hand, drive me crazy. It doesn't help that the UK is full of sufficiently historic towns and villages that there just isn't enough space for them, and guess who makes the sacrifice? Yes, pedestrians. (Cyclists get even less space.)

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Bruce "entheh" Perry [ Web site | DUMB | Set Up Us The Bomb !!! | Balls ]
Programming should be fun. That's why I hate C and C++.
The brxybrytl has you.

Mark Oates
Member #1,146
March 2001
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Would love it if cars just became less dominant in the world. I'm a fan of public transit.

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Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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I've mostly only ever lived in small towns that lacked public transit (except public buses, but those things are super sketchy), so I don't have an opinion of taxis, but the idea is neat. I certainly think it'd be more convenient to fly from place to place than to drive, but only if the skies don't become congested with machines. It'll be interesting to see how insurance companies handle these things.

Bruce Perry
Member #270
April 2000

We could look into existing commercial flights to get a feeling for it:

Because you have an extra degree of freedom (up and down), congestion is probably never going to be an issue outside of the takeoff and landing areas.

However, because any accident is much more likely to be serious, there will be very, very strict regulations about having vehicles serviced regularly, not meddling with the flight control software, thoroughly investigating every incident and implementing multiple mitigating improvements for the future, and so on.

If these things fly low, there could be protests about the effect on people's view of the sky.

Meanwhile, energy consumption is going to be greater than with cars. That's the killer, sadly. I would love to be proven wrong on that one though, since, as I said, flying is fun :)

--
Bruce "entheh" Perry [ Web site | DUMB | Set Up Us The Bomb !!! | Balls ]
Programming should be fun. That's why I hate C and C++.
The brxybrytl has you.

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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If these things fly low, there could be protests about the effect on people's view of the sky.

That's mostly what I meant by my sky congestion comment. I'd also hate the idea of one of the machines failing and crashing into my home. :-X

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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I think that the idea is neat, and the hosts of the technology certainly have the resources to develop it. In that sense, I think it's great. I do have reservations, and I probably won't be first in line. I am also nostalgic about the olden days and dream in fear of what the future holds, and am conscious of the environment and fear the impact that further abuse will yield. I can't imagine these being a more efficient means of transportation than available options today. I question even if they'd be more timely, let alone sufficiently so to warrant the added cost, harm, and risk. It's still a neat idea anyway.

Bruce Perry
Member #270
April 2000

In fairness, the risk is likely to be less than that of driving (once any initial hiccoughs have been ironed out, and until driving is legally required to be computer-controlled - maybe even after that). I agree with a lot of what you said though.

Which aspect of which olden days are you nostalgic about?

--
Bruce "entheh" Perry [ Web site | DUMB | Set Up Us The Bomb !!! | Balls ]
Programming should be fun. That's why I hate C and C++.
The brxybrytl has you.

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
avatar

In fairness, my nostalgia is probably more towards the days of greater personal ignorance than that of a better world.

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