TIM COOKED HIMSELF. APPLE COMPUTER CEO GETS THE FUTURE SO WRONG. HERE IS WHAT THE FUTURE WILL LOOK LIKE FOR US.

“I think if you’re looking at a PC, why would you buy a PC anymore? No really, why would you buy one?” ~ Tim Cook, CEO Apple Computer, Inc.

Of course Tim Cook said this only days away from the Christmas holiday shopping season likely in hopes of increasing sales of Apple Computer iPads and iPhones. However, can anyone play Assassin's Creed or Fallout 4 on an iPad?

Tim Cook seems to lack vision. Tim Cook might have joined the pantheon of bad claims about products.

• "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." -- William Orton, President, Western Union, 1876
• "The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys." -- Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876.
• "The wireless music box [radio] has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" -- David Sarnoff, circa 1920
• "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" -- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
• "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
• "With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market." -- Business Week, August 2, 1968.
• "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
• "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get." -- Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft, 2007

And now I give you the future.

Smartphones and tablets will seem quaint in 10 years.

The future is bigger screens much bigger screens. Screens will become detached from CPUs. Screens will pop up everywhere. Through NFC, anyone will have access those bigger screens.

The future also is roll up screens that people put in their pockets. Again, screens will be fully detached from the CPU device. Control will be through your hand gestures and your voice.

The CPU device will act more like a key, a FOB for the cloud-based, wireless, accessible everywhere Internet. Your CPU FOB will have little more than your ID info and comm support.

All of your data will be accessed either from the cloud or from your own home storage.

Social media will be dead in 10 years too.

The future is mediated advertising where you will have a virtual assistant with artificial intelligence who will negotiate deals for you watch and hear sales pitches made exactly for you.

Selfie narcissism likely will come to an end once today's young and future adults discover they have harmed their careers. Without the selfie narcissism, there is little reason for social media. 

Read more ...

AMERICANS HIGH-SPEED RAIL FANTASIES AND THE TRANSPORTATION REALITY AMERICANS NEED

So while googling for something else, I came across this map on Upworthy detailing someone's fantasy for a nationwide high-speed rail network.

Americans already have a high-speed transportation network, likely the most advanced of all people. We call that network commercial aviation.

It seems quite silly to build faster versions of 19th century technology so Americans can haul themselves across great distances. It's already much faster to ride in a flown commercial jet than it is to ride in any high-speed train running anywhere on earth.

That said, perhaps there could be purpose for high-speed rail, if such rail were limited to one hour travel time between any terminals. With one hour rides, positive network effects can arise for commuters working in various nearby cities.

As can be seen, some cities in the USA are much closer together and thus lend themselves to being connected. It's unlikely that HSR could work for cities with population less than 300,000, though I included cities within the Top 100 by population.

Short-hop (one hour or less) HSR might be what Americans need to revive the fully rusted Rust Belt. In my vision, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, and Fort Wayne would become the Short-hop connected cities of the future.

The Great Lakes region is ready made for HSR. So too is the Southern Plains. HSR would work in the Mid-Atlantic, in Florida, in California, and in the Pac NW. Again, the right way is to run one-hour trains or less.

The political leadership behind HSR in California are doing it wrong, thoroughly so. The goal should not be to connect San Francisco with Los Angeles.

Already a robost high-speed infrastructure exists with flights between the many airports of greater Los Angeles and of the San Francisco Bay area. Letting many move into the San Joaquin valley to work in San Jose and San Francisco would be much smarter. Connecting Las Vegas with Los Angeles through Riverside would be much smarter.

The big question needing answer is who should own a nationwide HSR network and service? Most Americans fail to realize that when the U.S. Government owns something, in effect, that means the U.S. Congress owns it.

Taxpayers don't own anything, ever. Congress gives itself the right to a share of the wages of all wage earners even before they profit. Congress gives itself the right to a share of profits of all incorporated firms. Congress imposes duty upon wage earners and firms to pay Congress those shares under the name taxes.

If Congress owns the HSR, then Congress shall use the HSR for political purposes rather than for the betterment of all Americans, which is what the general welfare clause is truly all about.

Rather than Congress owning the HSR, Americans should own it, should it come to be. Each American 18 and older should be issued one share of stock in publicly traded HSR Corp. Likely, over time, most shares will end up in stronger hands. However, with an HSR Corp., Americans can be sure of efforts toward efficiency and quests for profits.

But will high-speed rail bring productivity gains to Americans and thus grow the economy beyond the initial outlay for track and trains? Rather than high-speed rails, perhaps Americans should better embrace a future of driver-less trucking.

In that future, perhaps U.S Interstates need to be cleared of passenger vehicles, at least those with drivers. Perhaps it's time to think upon a future where cars being restricted to U.S. Numbered Highways. Of course, interstate highways traversing cities couldn't be commandeered, but interstates spanning great distances ought to be reserved for driverless vehicles.



Already, Californians are being stuck with a massive bill, about $69 billion, for a pseudo high-speed rail foolishly planned to be built between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Read more ...

GRANT DELGATTY'S URB-E

Made from recyclable aircraft grade aluminum the URB-E is an electric motorbike designed by the team at EgoLogical Mobility to solve the  “last mile” problem for public transport commuters who need to get to their final destination after riding a train or bus.

The URB-E comes with a shock absorbing seat and integrated luggage rack. Foes Racing out in Pasadena, California, is set to being production.

Read more ...

ELECTRIC CAR GENIUS FOR EVERYONE. CONVERT ANY CAR INTO A HYBRID

This guy shames the failed bailed out General Motors and Chrysler as well as all of the other dopey car makers.

Read more ...

RETRO FUTURE?

Is this the future of what cars might look like? Elio Motors of Louisiana plan to sell this Hollywood movie or Japanese anime futuristic car soon.

The 3-wheel Elio can hit 60 mph (96.5 km/h) in 9.6 seconds, cruise at speeds up to 100 mph (161 km/h) and get 84 mpg (2.8 l/100 km) city, 49 mpg (4.8 l/100 km) highway all from its eight-gallon (30 liters) tank that shall take you from Los Angeles to Provo, Utah on one fill up.

The Elio comes with a 70-hp, 3-cylinder engine, 5-speed automatic transmission and ABS brakes to haul you and a passenger who sits directly behind.

See more pics here.

Read more ...

3D ACTORS BEAT DRUG-ADDLED ACTORS ANYDAY

Who needs drugged up actors and actresses? With a Microsoft Kinect, mocap, a Blue microphone, Audacity, digital costumes and digital scenery, anyone can go into the movie business, kicking ass. Mocap lets anyone use his or her own body to control virtual actors.

Of course, what anyone every ones needs, always, are great stories to tell. Great stories only come from clever minds. 

Software to Consider

DAZ Studio is a 3D figure illustration and animation software compatible with Poser. Unlike most 3D software, where 3D objects are usually created from scratch, DAZ Studio is designed to allow users to manipulate "ready to use" models and figures. 

It is aimed at users who are interested in posing human and non-human figures for illustrations and animation, but who do not wish to incur the expense of, or who may be daunted by higher-end 3D and CAD software.

Poser is a 3D CGI rendering and animation computer program optimized for models that depict the human figure in three-dimensional form, mostly used to pose and animate the figures in a similar way as a mannequin. Poser itself does not allow for original modeling of objects. Instead,  a large market of merchants and artists create and sell Poser models crafted in software like Blender.

iClone is a 3D rendering and animation software program that enables users to make 3D animated films. 

The Mocap Device Plug-in from Real Illusion turns iClone5 into a complete mocap studio using a Kinect for a motion capturing tool. in real-time, with motion smoothing optimizations. Lightspeed your animations and create authentic motions without having to rent an entire mocap studio or even wear a markered jump suit! 

Posermocap lets animators uses unleash DAZ characters for Poser and DAZ  Studio by optimized motion capture libraries specifically for those characters. 

SKAmotion produces high quality, affordable 3D Animation for Poser and DAZ3D software.

Moviestorm is real-time 3D animation software to create animated movies. 

Read more ...