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Carl D Gustavson's avatar

I look forward to this publication each week, always learn something new.

Wish I was 50 years younger!

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Jeff Harbaugh's avatar

Very cool. Now, how's upgrading our electrical system going? I'm guessing all of these great new tools run on electricity. Anybody you know in the process of coming up with a transformer we can make in the U.S. that's maybe smaller, cheaper and lighter. I understand the backlog for transformers is two to three years.

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Robin Ward's avatar

Amount of electricity from which source to fuel all Monsieur McBride is enamored of plus everything AI whether we want it or not is my concern as well

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Steve's avatar

Certainly very impressive. Why the pressure for speed for everything ? At eighty years old, I have seen many changes . However, as humans we have not changed and need time to adapt to changes. Time spent enjoying your life is not compacted by speed but by appreciation.

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Steve Mudge's avatar

My sentiments too. Not only that but isn't this type of indulgence in the Econ 101 manual of non-productive uses of profits? Meanwhile China marches on building useful infrastructure.

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Chartertopia's avatar

China builds lots of useless infrastructure and entire cities which sit empty and unused.

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dave walker's avatar

Interesting ideas. Not sure speed is that important to many of us. And we enjoy the grocery store. We might be a minority, but we’ve never used a service for food picking or food delivery except we got a pizza delivered once about 5 years ago.

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Lynda J. Turco's avatar

Sometimes when I read your wonderful stories, I feel like I did reading futuristic comic books, when I was a kid. Most of those comic book stories are now real. We need to move off the old was better,and imbrace change. Stand still and die, move forward and live, have an adventure.

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Galynn Ferris's avatar

"Instant delivery is the most pro-family technology I know." How so? This will isolate you even more from your family and from other people. From society. From the real world.

"That’s how they’ve already flown more than 100 million miles safely." A blind raccoon could fly 100 million miles safely in Rwanda.

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade. Just thinking of unintended consequences.

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John Cummins's avatar

As usual Great Stuff, keep them coming

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Gregory Kruse's avatar

So now all the delivery guys can join the recent graduates in the coffee shops reading the Help Wanted ads. So much current innovation seems to be implying a dramatic restructuring of the workforce, but I'm not seeing how it will play out yet. But that is clearly a problem crying out for innovative solutions, too.

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John Smith's avatar

I am sure I heard the supermarket delivery vehicles lose money on just about every journey but are subsidised by those who walk around a supermarket picking their own stuff. Is there any evidence for this?

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LEO GRACIANO's avatar

What about areas subject to earthquakes? Would earthquakes move the tunnels or distort them in some way to upset the movement of the robots/machines? Sounds nice but impractical in earthquake prone areas.

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William P Griggs's avatar

I always enjoy your emails and your enthusiasm. I can't visualize how the Zipline will navigate its

way thru city sewage, electrical and water lines already underground not to mention natural gas

lines. It will be interesting to hear that conversation. Thanks!

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Derick's avatar

PipeDream is finally a great idea for delivering packages...if they can make it work (the skies should be reserved for important things like medical deliveries...not burritos)

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Cameron D Wieme's avatar

Wow, that was so interesting. Smart too. Thanks for sharing the story. Loved it. 🙏🏻👍

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Robin Ward's avatar

Cheap labor concerns me As a capitalist I want every one to have income enough to be independent. As a fine worker in a restaurant a gentleman told 45 he was grateful to be able to buy a house. During COVID when jobs were lost I wondered what happened to this gentleman, if he lost his job was saddled with payments he could not make. Too going to a lobby in my bathrobe for a coffee when I can go to my library with my hot coffee programmed to be made the night before at my getting up time. What was charming was the I spy games played while in long grocery lines with children. No one liking to wait our local Kroger has a contact service where grocery lists are filled for customers to pick up in their own X amount of tons vehicles, Kroger guaranteeing freshness of all. I send my husband to shop at non busy times. A next time go my self at not busy times to exchange any mistaken husband purchases, make others ; ) Very nice Monsieur McBride likes living in very modern Abu Dabi (sp) desert town We like our little not crowded fine weather South Carolina town ; )

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Chartertopia's avatar

"Abu Dhabi taught me instant delivery changes how you shop. Instead of doing one big weekly shop and having to eat wilted lettuce by Friday, we order fresh almost every day."

Iceboxes and especially refrigerators changed that 100 years ago. Our ancestors used to shop every day because fresh food would not keep for a week.

Sherpas are old-fashioned drones, and were I a mountain climber, I would be ashamed to rely on them for climbing mountains. I wonder if the climbing community will frown on drones at first, not realizing the irony. How much closer to the top will drones drop off supplies as they become accepted? Will there be some standards? Will large drones carry "climbers" part way up, just as vehicles carry them and their supplies part way to the base camp? Will it become acceptable to hitch a drone ride back down after some suitable face-saving descent of, what, 1000 feet, 100 feet, 10 feet, 0 feet?

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George Binns's avatar

Like the punchy delivery!!!

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