What does Starmer actually mean by "£1,000 better off on mortgages" ?
It's certainly not a monthly, or even an annual saving looking at rates now and back last August unless it's for an amazingly high value property.
Could he be referring to the change across the lifetime of this Government? That would be 1.25pp. I think a 0.25pp cut equates to about £350 a year on the UK average mortgage (if it's a tracker). So 1.25pp is comfortably over £1000.
Not saying I give Labour full credit for what has been the trajectory for a while, but people are paying quite a lot less on mortgages than a year and a bit ago.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
There will be those folk, sure. But there will also be a lot of people somewhere in the middle.
Leon is falling for the fallacy of thinking everyone wants a taxi and prefers a taxi.
If people only wanted cars as glorified taxis there wouldn't be so many to choose from.
There may be a few people happy to dump their own vehicle for taxis but the idea everyone will is silly.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Sorry BartholomewRoberts
I was right again
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Indeed.
@Leon is making the mistake of thinking that he's come up with some novel idea of calling for a vehicle and that's that. That already exists, its called a taxi, and people don't want that for a reason.
The reason people want their own vehicle rather than taxis goes far beyond the fact the taxi needs a driver.
We're already transitioning to semi autonomous private vehicles. That transition will continue towards potentially fully autonomous private vehicles but the idea everyone will dump their own cars for a taxi is fallacious.
Not if it's cheaper. The cost of the taxi is primarily the driver, and for almost everyone the benefits do not outway that cost.
The costs of robot taxis won't just be cheaper than current taxis - but driving a private vehicle altogether. Reduced maintenance costs, capital costs are shared, parking costs, insurance and so on.
Car clubs are already financially viable for a very large chunk of the population, if you consider annual mileage is only about 8,000 miles. And you still have to drive the damn thing!
We could see leased autonomous cars, indeed that's quite likely
Instead of buying a car outright, you will lease a car for six months, or two years, or whatever. For that period it is yours and yours alone, but the upkeep and maintenance will be done by others, as part of the fee. Again I don't see many people parking them as they do now. The downsides - depreciation, cost, ugliness, driveways, stupid garages, chance of theft or damage - are so much greater than the upsides
This is going to be great for European cities which were never designed for the car. They can go back to their true and beautiful selves
Fuck knows what American cities will do. All those hideous car lots and urban freeways rendered largely pointless
One thing about this meeting is that it effectively says that they're not going to prosecute anyone else over Epstein, if the AG, deputy and FBI director are at an administration strategy meeting over the issue.
It would be wildly prejudicial to any prosecution subsequently launched.
White House chief Susie Wiles, JD Vance, AG Pam Bondi, FBI Dir Kash Patel & Deputy AG Todd Blanche are expected to meet Wed evening at Vance’s residence to discuss the Trump admin’s strategy relating to Epstein case https://x.com/alaynatreene/status/1952899871666508042
What we can expect is selective disclosure of anything embarrassing to Democrats, plus a few randoms for good measure.
The whole arrangement, with Trump's lawyer interviewing Maxwell in private, is massively corrupt, on its face.
The obvious deal is Maxwell gets a pardon and spills the beans on mostly Dems, a handful of minor Republicans, gives Orange a pass and exagerrates the f*** out of anything to do with the Clintons. Not sure why it is taking so long, perhaps being timed for the mid terms.
She's already had her reward in that she's been moved to a low security prison, something highly unusual for someone with her criminal record. In return, she's done an interview in which she's exonerated Trump.
I have spent most of today in central London wearing my Breitling.
I can confirm I wasn’t mugged and I am now on the way back home.
Manchester hin und zuruck--ish!
Today (6th), I did Heald Green South to Heald Green North (avoiding Manchester Airport) both ways. Available due to Avanti/CrossCountry diversions due to Stockport being blocked (until the 22nd).
Had a bit of a scare on the outbound journey - was "detrained" from the 1033 ex-Euston at Crewe due to a points failure at Wilmslow, but the next Avanti to arrive (1053 ex-Euston) completed the journey into Manchester! And on the return leg, the 1410 ex-Piccadilly was delayed for 15 minutes due to a crew member being delayed on his own journey in from Liverpool.
Do you have any significant train journeys still to do in the UK? The most interesting one I've done is probably Belfast to Derry/Londonderry.
Apart from heritage railways, yes the Northern Irish network is the only significant UK railway left for me!
Upcoming on the mainland:
Bicester Village to Milton Keynes via Bletchley (hopefully open December) Tram from Wednesbury to Dudley (probably early 2026 now)
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
There will be those folk, sure. But there will also be a lot of people somewhere in the middle.
Leon is falling for the fallacy of thinking everyone wants a taxi and prefers a taxi.
If people only wanted cars as glorified taxis there wouldn't be so many to choose from.
There may be a few people happy to dump their own vehicle for taxis but the idea everyone will is silly.
I've literally just said I expect the private car to survive
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Sorry BartholomewRoberts
I was right again
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Indeed.
@Leon is making the mistake of thinking that he's come up with some novel idea of calling for a vehicle and that's that. That already exists, its called a taxi, and people don't want that for a reason.
The reason people want their own vehicle rather than taxis goes far beyond the fact the taxi needs a driver.
We're already transitioning to semi autonomous private vehicles. That transition will continue towards potentially fully autonomous private vehicles but the idea everyone will dump their own cars for a taxi is fallacious.
Not if it's cheaper. The cost of the taxi is primarily the driver, and for almost everyone the benefits do not outway that cost.
The costs of robot taxis won't just be cheaper than current taxis - but driving a private vehicle altogether. Reduced maintenance costs, capital costs are shared, parking costs, insurance and so on.
Car clubs are already financially viable for a very large chunk of the population, if you consider annual mileage is only about 8,000 miles. And you still have to drive the damn thing!
We could see leased autonomous cars, indeed that's quite likely
Instead of buying a car outright, you will lease a car for six months, or two years, or whatever. For that period it is yours and yours alone, but the upkeep and maintenance will be done by others, as part of the fee. Again I don't see many people parking them as they do now. The downsides - depreciation, cost, ugliness, driveways, stupid garages, chance of theft or damage - are so much greater than the upsides
This is going to be great for European cities which were never designed for the car. They can go back to their true and beautiful selves
Fuck knows what American cities will do. All those hideous car lots and urban freeways rendered largely pointless
Showing your own lack of logical thinking.
If people switch from private vehicle to taxi then they still need a freeway to get from A to B. They may not need a car lot, but taxis don't fly and still need roads.
Indeed they need them more as rather than parking at A or B, they then need to move towards their next client.
Completely off topic, but are others aware of Dea Matrona. I came across them a few weeks ago because they play a lot of the old blues type stuff I like eg Crossroads and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac stuff, but their own stuff seems pretty good as well, if you like that sort of thing. A bit more pop like but I recommend Red Button' and 'So Damn Dangerous'.
Sure, numbers are going up because people who live in the very restricted areas these cars operate are getting more comfortable using them. But they are not a replacement for manned cabs or private vehicles and won't be until you can get into one and have it take you anywhere.
The day I can step off a train in Glasgow and have a driverless cab take me to my home in the rural wilds is the day they've won. That's still many years away, I believe.
They’ve already “won”. The concept is established and we know it can be done and it turns out these cars are hugely popular - people will wait longer and pay more for a driverless car. That’s how popular they are
So then it’s just a question of how long before this victory is ubiquitous
You present a hard case. A rural drive in Scotland. These will presumably be the last to go
However looking at Genie 3 suggests advances will now come much quicker
I reckon we are now in the final decade of the human driven car. By 2035 they will almost all be gone - but a few will remain for fun and status, the way some people still keep horses or steam engines
Christ knows what 80 million cab drivers will do for a living
But the benefits from those rural drives are much bigger too. I'm pretty sure I have among the biggest mileages on PB (something like 17,000 miles) and it's irritating AF stick behind tourist traffic on the A9, getting stuck behind a lorry on the A1 etc etc. if I could jump in a cab that dropped me off below the Triple Buttress on Being Eighe, a 4.5 hour drive away, I'd pay ££££.
Would it make sense to book the car out for the whole day? Dunno. But I think the market could deliver that too.
Likewise. I have to drive my eldest to St Andrews Uni in early September. It’s a 4 day slog there and back. I have to rent a car and drive 30 trillion miles
I’d pay very good money for a driverless car. Then my daughter and I could chill out and chat. It would be safer. Much more relaxing. And maybe I could let the car go in St Andrews and take the train home to london
Bring it on, I say. The future is bright
I assume the reason to drive is because your daughter has a mountain of luggage, otherwise you could take the train from London to Leuchars, and you could get the sleeper back. Have you considered this for your daughter’s luggage? https://www.mybaggage.com/shipping/universities/student-shipping-to-st-andrews-university/ Then you and your daughter could enjoy the journey, with wine, and you could enjoy the journey back, with wine, g&t or whatever. Your daughter may meet some other students on the train.
Really useful, ta. I wish I'd known this before!
I've now booked in this trip with my daughter. But for next time? Yes, I'm using that
I had GB News on earlier (don't judge) and even their presenters fall for the interest rates = a good thing rubbish. Presumably it's because they all have mortgages so that's all that matters to them.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
There will be those folk, sure. But there will also be a lot of people somewhere in the middle.
Leon is falling for the fallacy of thinking everyone wants a taxi and prefers a taxi.
If people only wanted cars as glorified taxis there wouldn't be so many to choose from.
There may be a few people happy to dump their own vehicle for taxis but the idea everyone will is silly.
Exactly the sort of language we used to hear about cycling in London and Paris 👀
Rumours are flying around Tameside Labour circles that Andy Burnham’s plan to return to Westminster may come sooner than expected. Sources on the ground say Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Gorton and Denton, wants to leave Parliament as soon as he has another job lined up.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
One thing about this meeting is that it effectively says that they're not going to prosecute anyone else over Epstein, if the AG, deputy and FBI director are at an administration strategy meeting over the issue.
It would be wildly prejudicial to any prosecution subsequently launched.
White House chief Susie Wiles, JD Vance, AG Pam Bondi, FBI Dir Kash Patel & Deputy AG Todd Blanche are expected to meet Wed evening at Vance’s residence to discuss the Trump admin’s strategy relating to Epstein case https://x.com/alaynatreene/status/1952899871666508042
What we can expect is selective disclosure of anything embarrassing to Democrats, plus a few randoms for good measure.
The whole arrangement, with Trump's lawyer interviewing Maxwell in private, is massively corrupt, on its face.
The obvious deal is Maxwell gets a pardon and spills the beans on mostly Dems, a handful of minor Republicans, gives Orange a pass and exagerrates the f*** out of anything to do with the Clintons. Not sure why it is taking so long, perhaps being timed for the mid terms.
On the other hand, if Bill Clinton goes to jail it will be very funny. And possibly a just and righteous outcome
Possibly, but there is zero chance of that happening if the key evidence against him is the word of convicted criminal, Ghislaine Maxwell, given to secure a pardon from Donald Trump. That's all just too trivially easy to discredit.
Depends how debased the US legal system is by then. Could be summary executions by presidential decree and Trump naming a Shetland pony as a replacement for Bondi at that point.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
There will be those folk, sure. But there will also be a lot of people somewhere in the middle.
Leon is falling for the fallacy of thinking everyone wants a taxi and prefers a taxi.
If people only wanted cars as glorified taxis there wouldn't be so many to choose from.
There may be a few people happy to dump their own vehicle for taxis but the idea everyone will is silly.
I don't think Leon is falling for a fallacy. To fall would imply he started higher up, in some state of gnosis. Rather, he's just perpetually scrabbling around on the ground in the accumulated muck of misunderstandings and disinformation.
One thing about this meeting is that it effectively says that they're not going to prosecute anyone else over Epstein, if the AG, deputy and FBI director are at an administration strategy meeting over the issue.
It would be wildly prejudicial to any prosecution subsequently launched.
White House chief Susie Wiles, JD Vance, AG Pam Bondi, FBI Dir Kash Patel & Deputy AG Todd Blanche are expected to meet Wed evening at Vance’s residence to discuss the Trump admin’s strategy relating to Epstein case https://x.com/alaynatreene/status/1952899871666508042
What we can expect is selective disclosure of anything embarrassing to Democrats, plus a few randoms for good measure.
The whole arrangement, with Trump's lawyer interviewing Maxwell in private, is massively corrupt, on its face.
The obvious deal is Maxwell gets a pardon and spills the beans on mostly Dems, a handful of minor Republicans, gives Orange a pass and exagerrates the f*** out of anything to do with the Clintons. Not sure why it is taking so long, perhaps being timed for the mid terms.
On the other hand, if Bill Clinton goes to jail it will be very funny. And possibly a just and righteous outcome
Possibly, but there is zero chance of that happening if the key evidence against him is the word of convicted criminal, Ghislaine Maxwell, given to secure a pardon from Donald Trump. That's all just too trivially easy to discredit.
Depends how debased the US legal system is by then. Could be summary executions by presidential decree and Trump naming a Shetland pony as a replacement for Bondi at that point.
Labour Party 6051 Conservative 4326 Liberal Democrats 3203 Green Party (E&W) 866 Reform UK 862 Scottish National Party 417 Plaid Cymru 201 Sinn Féin 144 Democratic Unionist Party 121 Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 66
Sky News reported that the new Corbyn/Sultana party had 200 councillors lined up, and nearly a dozen more have pledged support since. That would catapult them into 7th. If all of the Independent Alliance come over, they'll be 6th in Commons seats.
If we add the Reform Derby guys to Reform they sneak past the Greens, although defections have probably,y already done that
If you're going to add Reform Derby to the Reform total, then surely you'd add Scottish Greens (36) and Northern Ireland Greens (5) to the Green (E&W) total?
AIUI Reform Derby are just Reform, they set the group up before Reform had won any council seats in 2023/early 2024 Scottish Greens are a separate party with a different policy platform etc Not sure on the status of the NI greens?
It's a separately registered political party and I'd have thought that's the distinguishing feature for local government, given that all parties run on a local authority specific platform rather than a national platform (there's no reason to assume the Wandsworth Labour platform is the all that close to that of Cumbria Labour, albeit the national party would be keen to avoid really jarring differences and would encourage adoption of some common positions).
Ah, I which case I withdraw the amalgamation!
Given Reform UK's desire to drive Local Govt from their national headquarters, Derby Reform being separate is interesting.
Rumours are flying around Tameside Labour circles that Andy Burnham’s plan to return to Westminster may come sooner than expected. Sources on the ground say Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Gorton and Denton, wants to leave Parliament as soon as he has another job lined up.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Sorry BartholomewRoberts
I was right again
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Indeed.
@Leon is making the mistake of thinking that he's come up with some novel idea of calling for a vehicle and that's that. That already exists, its called a taxi, and people don't want that for a reason.
The reason people want their own vehicle rather than taxis goes far beyond the fact the taxi needs a driver.
We're already transitioning to semi autonomous private vehicles. That transition will continue towards potentially fully autonomous private vehicles but the idea everyone will dump their own cars for a taxi is fallacious.
Not if it's cheaper. The cost of the taxi is primarily the driver, and for almost everyone the benefits do not outway that cost.
The costs of robot taxis won't just be cheaper than current taxis - but driving a private vehicle altogether. Reduced maintenance costs, capital costs are shared, parking costs, insurance and so on.
Car clubs are already financially viable for a very large chunk of the population, if you consider annual mileage is only about 8,000 miles. And you still have to drive the damn thing!
We could see leased autonomous cars, indeed that's quite likely
Instead of buying a car outright, you will lease a car for six months, or two years, or whatever. For that period it is yours and yours alone, but the upkeep and maintenance will be done by others, as part of the fee. Again I don't see many people parking them as they do now. The downsides - depreciation, cost, ugliness, driveways, stupid garages, chance of theft or damage - are so much greater than the upsides
This is going to be great for European cities which were never designed for the car. They can go back to their true and beautiful selves
Fuck knows what American cities will do. All those hideous car lots and urban freeways rendered largely pointless
Showing your own lack of logical thinking.
If people switch from private vehicle to taxi then they still need a freeway to get from A to B. They may not need a car lot, but taxis don't fly and still need roads.
Indeed they need them more as rather than parking at A or B, they then need to move towards their next client.
Showing your lack of logical thinking
There will be far fewer cars as so many will be shared, and the cars that exixt will be used MUCH more economically and rationally. So the need for seven lane freeways in the middle of cities will largely disappear. No one likes traffic or car noise or ugly freeways or stupid garages, so they will all go. The opportunity to green our cities will be irresistible
Cars will also downsize, again freeing up space. There is no real need for a front seat in a FSD car. We will see the production of microcars for one or two which will be cheaper to use, like e-tuk-tuks in Phnom Penh, Indeed my stalker predicted all this. He really is a fucking genius. Very good at EXTRAPOLATING
Labour Party 6051 Conservative 4326 Liberal Democrats 3203 Green Party (E&W) 866 Reform UK 862 Scottish National Party 417 Plaid Cymru 201 Sinn Féin 144 Democratic Unionist Party 121 Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 66
Sky News reported that the new Corbyn/Sultana party had 200 councillors lined up, and nearly a dozen more have pledged support since. That would catapult them into 7th. If all of the Independent Alliance come over, they'll be 6th in Commons seats.
If we add the Reform Derby guys to Reform they sneak past the Greens, although defections have probably,y already done that
If you're going to add Reform Derby to the Reform total, then surely you'd add Scottish Greens (36) and Northern Ireland Greens (5) to the Green (E&W) total?
AIUI Reform Derby are just Reform, they set the group up before Reform had won any council seats in 2023/early 2024 Scottish Greens are a separate party with a different policy platform etc Not sure on the status of the NI greens?
It's a separately registered political party and I'd have thought that's the distinguishing feature for local government, given that all parties run on a local authority specific platform rather than a national platform (there's no reason to assume the Wandsworth Labour platform is the all that close to that of Cumbria Labour, albeit the national party would be keen to avoid really jarring differences and would encourage adoption of some common positions).
Ah, I which case I withdraw the amalgamation!
Given Reform UK's desire to drive Local Govt from their national headquarters, Derby Reform being separate is interesting.
It predates them having any other councillors though
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
Yep I agree. Took the Cobra to the pub last night and quote the barmaid (who is obviously a lot younger than me) "I'm not into cars, but yours is really sick". I took that to be a compliment.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
The debate isn't self-driven versus autonomous, the debate is communal taxis versus private ownership.
Cars were a technological leap forward beyond horses. Taxis are not.
U2 spyplane breaks altitude record on the seventieth anniversary of the type's first flight. And flew over all 48 contiguous states on a 14 hour mission.
I tell you somebody else who made a big deal about hosting the Olympics.....
On a connected note, The Boys in the Boat is a surprisingly good film based on true story of US college team that became the US row team for the Olympics in Nazi Germany. After watching it, I thought well I bet a load of that wasn't true, it seems far to unbelievable, checks up true story, the main character is even more crazy impressive than portrayed in the film.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Sorry BartholomewRoberts
I was right again
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Indeed.
@Leon is making the mistake of thinking that he's come up with some novel idea of calling for a vehicle and that's that. That already exists, its called a taxi, and people don't want that for a reason.
The reason people want their own vehicle rather than taxis goes far beyond the fact the taxi needs a driver.
We're already transitioning to semi autonomous private vehicles. That transition will continue towards potentially fully autonomous private vehicles but the idea everyone will dump their own cars for a taxi is fallacious.
Not if it's cheaper. The cost of the taxi is primarily the driver, and for almost everyone the benefits do not outway that cost.
The costs of robot taxis won't just be cheaper than current taxis - but driving a private vehicle altogether. Reduced maintenance costs, capital costs are shared, parking costs, insurance and so on.
Car clubs are already financially viable for a very large chunk of the population, if you consider annual mileage is only about 8,000 miles. And you still have to drive the damn thing!
We could see leased autonomous cars, indeed that's quite likely
Instead of buying a car outright, you will lease a car for six months, or two years, or whatever. For that period it is yours and yours alone, but the upkeep and maintenance will be done by others, as part of the fee. Again I don't see many people parking them as they do now. The downsides - depreciation, cost, ugliness, driveways, stupid garages, chance of theft or damage - are so much greater than the upsides
This is going to be great for European cities which were never designed for the car. They can go back to their true and beautiful selves
Fuck knows what American cities will do. All those hideous car lots and urban freeways rendered largely pointless
Showing your own lack of logical thinking.
If people switch from private vehicle to taxi then they still need a freeway to get from A to B. They may not need a car lot, but taxis don't fly and still need roads.
Indeed they need them more as rather than parking at A or B, they then need to move towards their next client.
Showing your lack of logical thinking
There will be far fewer cars as so many will be shared, and the cars that exixt will be used MUCH more economically and rationally. So the need for seven lane freeways in the middle of cities will largely disappear. No one likes traffic or car noise or ugly freeways or stupid garages, so they will all go. The opportunity to green our cities will be irresistible
Cars will also downsize, again freeing up space. There is no real need for a front seat in a FSD car. We will see the production of microcars for one or two which will be cheaper to use, like e-tuk-tuks in Phnom Penh, Indeed my stalker predicted all this. He really is a fucking genius. Very good at EXTRAPOLATING
All this has been obvious for at least a decade. As a glance back at previous PB arguments makes pretty clear.
It's just that fewer people are now arguing that it will never happen.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Sorry BartholomewRoberts
I was right again
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Indeed.
@Leon is making the mistake of thinking that he's come up with some novel idea of calling for a vehicle and that's that. That already exists, its called a taxi, and people don't want that for a reason.
The reason people want their own vehicle rather than taxis goes far beyond the fact the taxi needs a driver.
We're already transitioning to semi autonomous private vehicles. That transition will continue towards potentially fully autonomous private vehicles but the idea everyone will dump their own cars for a taxi is fallacious.
Not if it's cheaper. The cost of the taxi is primarily the driver, and for almost everyone the benefits do not outway that cost.
The costs of robot taxis won't just be cheaper than current taxis - but driving a private vehicle altogether. Reduced maintenance costs, capital costs are shared, parking costs, insurance and so on.
Car clubs are already financially viable for a very large chunk of the population, if you consider annual mileage is only about 8,000 miles. And you still have to drive the damn thing!
We could see leased autonomous cars, indeed that's quite likely
Instead of buying a car outright, you will lease a car for six months, or two years, or whatever. For that period it is yours and yours alone, but the upkeep and maintenance will be done by others, as part of the fee. Again I don't see many people parking them as they do now. The downsides - depreciation, cost, ugliness, driveways, stupid garages, chance of theft or damage - are so much greater than the upsides
This is going to be great for European cities which were never designed for the car. They can go back to their true and beautiful selves
Fuck knows what American cities will do. All those hideous car lots and urban freeways rendered largely pointless
Showing your own lack of logical thinking.
If people switch from private vehicle to taxi then they still need a freeway to get from A to B. They may not need a car lot, but taxis don't fly and still need roads.
Indeed they need them more as rather than parking at A or B, they then need to move towards their next client.
Showing your lack of logical thinking
There will be far fewer cars as so many will be shared, and the cars that exixt will be used MUCH more economically and rationally. So the need for seven lane freeways in the middle of cities will largely disappear. No one likes traffic or car noise or ugly freeways or stupid garages, so they will all go. The opportunity to green our cities will be irresistible
Cars will also downsize, again freeing up space. There is no real need for a front seat in a FSD car. We will see the production of microcars for one or two which will be cheaper to use, like e-tuk-tuks in Phnom Penh, Indeed my stalker predicted all this. He really is a fucking genius. Very good at EXTRAPOLATING
If the same journeys are being made there may be fewer vehicles but only because some vehicles are being driven more regularly rather than idle.
There's no fewer miles being driven. There's actually more miles driven total.
So the need for roads increases, it doesnt decrease.
The need for parking may decrease but people don't park on freeway.
Who wants a longshot bet? You can get 126/1 on Ruben Gallego, the junior senator from Arizona, to win the 2028 US Presidency. He's not even listed on Polymarket for Democratic nominee. But he's telegenic, a good speaker, served in the Marines, and has performed well electorally. A fresh new face?
Absolutely no way I’d get in a driverless car . They should only be allowed for disabled people .
I'm taken back to the countless, "Absolutely no way I'd get a mobile phone..." comments one heard in the mid 1990s.
You’re comparing two things that aren’t comparable. Mobile phones can’t mount a pavement and wipe out a group of pedestrians.
They could, in the 1990s if you listened to fairly sizeable groups of people, fry your brain and shrivel your testes.
The point is that the march of technology almost inevitably involves enormous numbers of people who said they'd never adopt it ending up adopting it. Perhaps reluctantly, perhaps late, but nevertheless.
Mobile phones (or people using them) already cause mass casualties by not looking where they are going.
I don't expect too many mass casualty events from Self Drive Vehicles, more perhaps potentially a lot of minor ones. And a lot of damage collisions - we have cars dumped all over everywhere so it could lead to a general tidy up especiallly in England if we are too backward to deal with ASB parking etc.
In the USA Tesla autopilot has caused a lot of casualties, and our roads are tighter and more complex. I'm not clear whether these stats are USA, and how much of a subcategory they compromise.
As of October 2024, there have been hundreds of nonfatal incidents involving Autopilot[2] and fifty-nine reported fatalities, fifty-one of which NHTSA investigations or expert testimony later verified and two that NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations determined as happening during the engagement of Full Self-Driving (FSD) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tesla_Autopilot_crashes
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
The debate isn't self-driven versus autonomous, the debate is communal taxis versus private ownership.
Cars were a technological leap forward beyond horses. Taxis are not.
Wellll SOME people will own their own driverless cars. But I'd suggest that the costs of doing so will be large: finger in the air, assuming an average 10k miles a year, it will be four, five times more expensive to own your own driverless car than to hail one when you need it: as well as the cost of ownership, you will need to insure it, maintain it, pay for the costs of parking it, fuelling it... You could bear all these, but I'd suggest that for most people the benefits of owning rather than renting would be slight. For most people, you'll be able t o secure a car within 5 minutes of wanting one - that's as long as it takes to get your shoes and coat on. In transport terms, the advantages are nil. There is, of course, the advantage that untidy people like me use their car as an extra store room. If you owned your DC you'd be able to leave your stuff in it rather than clear it all out. But that doesn't strike me as an advantage to pay several thousand pounds a year for.
Owning a car is a terribly poor use of resources. 95% of the time, cars are sat immobile, depreciating.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
Isn't that all part of the Cabbie service?
Might be in your part of the world. Not up here. Most of my cabbies are not white but from overseas. Last chap was an Eritrean. We chatted about the Eritrean church in Gateshead.
Oh, they can still do racism.
I once had a racist cab driver who was so racist he ran out of obvious people to be racist about within about 15 minutes of ranting. So then he started ranting about BELGIANS
Then he briskly exhausted that theme (how many times can you swear about that surrealist c*nt Rene Magritte) so he moved onto PEOPLE WHO TAKE TRAINS
In Greater Manchester, 99% of taxi drivers are Muslim, often with relatively little English. No racism from them. Very little conversation at all. I'd still prefer an automatic car though, if only to avoid the awkwardness about tipping. There is quite a British discomfort about Employing A Man To Do A Thing. I suffer it quite acutely.
Uber drivers neither expect nor accept tips in my experience. It is all done at time of booking via the app.
What? You're expected to tip before receiving the service?
You can tip the Uber driver after the journey via the app when you rate their service.
The catch is that Uber drivers rate their passengers.
Absolutely no way I’d get in a driverless car . They should only be allowed for disabled people .
I'm taken back to the countless, "Absolutely no way I'd get a mobile phone..." comments one heard in the mid 1990s.
You’re comparing two things that aren’t comparable. Mobile phones can’t mount a pavement and wipe out a group of pedestrians.
They could, in the 1990s if you listened to fairly sizeable groups of people, fry your brain and shrivel your testes.
The point is that the march of technology almost inevitably involves enormous numbers of people who said they'd never adopt it ending up adopting it. Perhaps reluctantly, perhaps late, but nevertheless.
Mobile phones (or people using them) already cause mass casualties by not looking where they are going.
I don't expect too many mass casualty events from Self Drive Vehicles, more perhaps potentially a lot of minor ones. And a lot of damage collisions - we have cars dumped all over everywhere so it could lead to a general tidy up especiallly in England if we are too backward to deal with ASB parking etc.
In the USA Tesla autopilot has caused a lot of casualties, and our roads are tighter and more complex. I'm not clear whether these stats are USA, and how much of a subcategory they compromise.
As of October 2024, there have been hundreds of nonfatal incidents involving Autopilot[2] and fifty-nine reported fatalities, fifty-one of which NHTSA investigations or expert testimony later verified and two that NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations determined as happening during the engagement of Full Self-Driving (FSD) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tesla_Autopilot_crashes
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
Isn't that all part of the Cabbie service?
Might be in your part of the world. Not up here. Most of my cabbies are not white but from overseas. Last chap was an Eritrean. We chatted about the Eritrean church in Gateshead.
Oh, they can still do racism.
I once had a racist cab driver who was so racist he ran out of obvious people to be racist about within about 15 minutes of ranting. So then he started ranting about BELGIANS
Then he briskly exhausted that theme (how many times can you swear about that surrealist c*nt Rene Magritte) so he moved onto PEOPLE WHO TAKE TRAINS
In Greater Manchester, 99% of taxi drivers are Muslim, often with relatively little English. No racism from them. Very little conversation at all. I'd still prefer an automatic car though, if only to avoid the awkwardness about tipping. There is quite a British discomfort about Employing A Man To Do A Thing. I suffer it quite acutely.
Uber drivers neither expect nor accept tips in my experience. It is all done at time of booking via the app.
What? You're expected to tip before receiving the service?
You can tip the Uber driver after the journey via the app when you rate their service.
The catch is that Uber drivers rate their passengers.
I know, I have a rating very close to 5.
Uber drivers love me.
I'm 4.78 stars with Uber.
I usually tip the driver a couple of quid.
4.9. One time I was so drunk I forgot how to talk and the guy tried sign language on me. He got a £5 tip for DEI credentials.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
Isn't that all part of the Cabbie service?
Might be in your part of the world. Not up here. Most of my cabbies are not white but from overseas. Last chap was an Eritrean. We chatted about the Eritrean church in Gateshead.
Oh, they can still do racism.
I once had a racist cab driver who was so racist he ran out of obvious people to be racist about within about 15 minutes of ranting. So then he started ranting about BELGIANS
Then he briskly exhausted that theme (how many times can you swear about that surrealist c*nt Rene Magritte) so he moved onto PEOPLE WHO TAKE TRAINS
In Greater Manchester, 99% of taxi drivers are Muslim, often with relatively little English. No racism from them. Very little conversation at all. I'd still prefer an automatic car though, if only to avoid the awkwardness about tipping. There is quite a British discomfort about Employing A Man To Do A Thing. I suffer it quite acutely.
Uber drivers neither expect nor accept tips in my experience. It is all done at time of booking via the app.
What? You're expected to tip before receiving the service?
You can tip the Uber driver after the journey via the app when you rate their service.
The catch is that Uber drivers rate their passengers.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
The debate isn't self-driven versus autonomous, the debate is communal taxis versus private ownership.
Cars were a technological leap forward beyond horses. Taxis are not.
Wellll SOME people will own their own driverless cars. But I'd suggest that the costs of doing so will be large: finger in the air, assuming an average 10k miles a year, it will be four, five times more expensive to own your own driverless car than to hail one when you need it: as well as the cost of ownership, you will need to insure it, maintain it, pay for the costs of parking it, fuelling it... You could bear all these, but I'd suggest that for most people the benefits of owning rather than renting would be slight. For most people, you'll be able t o secure a car within 5 minutes of wanting one - that's as long as it takes to get your shoes and coat on. In transport terms, the advantages are nil. There is, of course, the advantage that untidy people like me use their car as an extra store room. If you owned your DC you'd be able to leave your stuff in it rather than clear it all out. But that doesn't strike me as an advantage to pay several thousand pounds a year for.
Owning a car is a terribly poor use of resources. 95% of the time, cars are sat immobile, depreciating.
Almost everything is sat immobile most of the time.
Yes I keep things in my car that are there all the time, but not because messy but for practical advantahes. My kids car seat. Reusable shopping bags in the boot. So on and so forth. Can't do that in a taxi.
I use my PS5 less than I use my car, I still want to have my PS5 though.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
The debate isn't self-driven versus autonomous, the debate is communal taxis versus private ownership.
Cars were a technological leap forward beyond horses. Taxis are not.
Wellll SOME people will own their own driverless cars. But I'd suggest that the costs of doing so will be large: finger in the air, assuming an average 10k miles a year, it will be four, five times more expensive to own your own driverless car than to hail one when you need it: as well as the cost of ownership, you will need to insure it, maintain it, pay for the costs of parking it, fuelling it... You could bear all these, but I'd suggest that for most people the benefits of owning rather than renting would be slight. For most people, you'll be able t o secure a car within 5 minutes of wanting one - that's as long as it takes to get your shoes and coat on. In transport terms, the advantages are nil. There is, of course, the advantage that untidy people like me use their car as an extra store room. If you owned your DC you'd be able to leave your stuff in it rather than clear it all out. But that doesn't strike me as an advantage to pay several thousand pounds a year for.
Owning a car is a terribly poor use of resources. 95% of the time, cars are sat immobile, depreciating.
Almost everything is sat immobile most of the time.
Yes I keep things in my car that are there all the time, but not because messy but for practical advantahes. My kids car seat. Reusable shopping bags in the boot. So on and so forth. Can't do that in a taxi.
I use my PS5 less than I use my car, I still want to have my PS5 though.
Your PS5 is rather cheaper. For most people, their car is the second most expensive item they own, and is used far less intensively than their most expensive item.
Agree a bit about the advantage of keeping practical stuff in the car - but it's not beyond the wit of the market to provide taxis with child seats.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
Bit weird to work as a hairdresser's receptionist on a Sunday morning.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
The debate isn't self-driven versus autonomous, the debate is communal taxis versus private ownership.
Cars were a technological leap forward beyond horses. Taxis are not.
Wellll SOME people will own their own driverless cars. But I'd suggest that the costs of doing so will be large: finger in the air, assuming an average 10k miles a year, it will be four, five times more expensive to own your own driverless car than to hail one when you need it: as well as the cost of ownership, you will need to insure it, maintain it, pay for the costs of parking it, fuelling it... You could bear all these, but I'd suggest that for most people the benefits of owning rather than renting would be slight. For most people, you'll be able t o secure a car within 5 minutes of wanting one - that's as long as it takes to get your shoes and coat on. In transport terms, the advantages are nil. There is, of course, the advantage that untidy people like me use their car as an extra store room. If you owned your DC you'd be able to leave your stuff in it rather than clear it all out. But that doesn't strike me as an advantage to pay several thousand pounds a year for.
Owning a car is a terribly poor use of resources. 95% of the time, cars are sat immobile, depreciating.
I think all driverless cars should look like these (I remember them as a child). They would add greatly to the gaiety of the nation.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
Maybe but remember many (probably most) drivers enjoy driving. It is fun, like sex is rumoured to be.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
Maybe but remember many (probably most) drivers enjoy driving. It is fun, like sex is rumoured to be.
Sex while driving...now there is the expression too much of a good thing?
Who wants a longshot bet? You can get 126/1 on Ruben Gallego, the junior senator from Arizona, to win the 2028 US Presidency. He's not even listed on Polymarket for Democratic nominee. But he's telegenic, a good speaker, served in the Marines, and has performed well electorally. A fresh new face?
Never heard of him.
Which, as you suggest, might turn out to be a good thing given the current state of the party.
Remember when someone in 2006 tipped an almost unknown junior Senator…
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
The debate isn't self-driven versus autonomous, the debate is communal taxis versus private ownership.
Cars were a technological leap forward beyond horses. Taxis are not.
Wellll SOME people will own their own driverless cars. But I'd suggest that the costs of doing so will be large: finger in the air, assuming an average 10k miles a year, it will be four, five times more expensive to own your own driverless car than to hail one when you need it: as well as the cost of ownership, you will need to insure it, maintain it, pay for the costs of parking it, fuelling it... You could bear all these, but I'd suggest that for most people the benefits of owning rather than renting would be slight. For most people, you'll be able t o secure a car within 5 minutes of wanting one - that's as long as it takes to get your shoes and coat on. In transport terms, the advantages are nil. There is, of course, the advantage that untidy people like me use their car as an extra store room. If you owned your DC you'd be able to leave your stuff in it rather than clear it all out. But that doesn't strike me as an advantage to pay several thousand pounds a year for.
Owning a car is a terribly poor use of resources. 95% of the time, cars are sat immobile, depreciating.
Almost everything is sat immobile most of the time.
Yes I keep things in my car that are there all the time, but not because messy but for practical advantahes. My kids car seat. Reusable shopping bags in the boot. So on and so forth. Can't do that in a taxi.
I use my PS5 less than I use my car, I still want to have my PS5 though.
Your PS5 is rather cheaper. For most people, their car is the second most expensive item they own, and is used far less intensively than their most expensive item.
Agree a bit about the advantage of keeping practical stuff in the car - but it's not beyond the wit of the market to provide taxis with child seats.
It's just a balance of cost and time. I hire specialist DIY tools and white/black tie, but I've also got a kilt and a hammer.
If the car literally rolls up to your door and has 100% availability I would expect 80%+ people to go for the hire model.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
It makes total sense if you think about it. A driverless cab drive is a private experience. You can scratch your crotch, have a wank, surf porn, argue about migrants with your stupid woke wife, no one will see or know or care. Who prefers a human driver? Plus the whole safety thing
Humans driving other humans is a concept on its way out. I wonder if humans even talking to other humans will soon feel dated
THE TRIUMPH OF THE SHY
I sense an email to the Gazette editor is in the offing
The real boon of driverless cars is that it lets normal people experience what’s now only available to the very wealthy, their own personal car and ‘driver’.
If my car can drive itself, then it drops me at work in the morning as I read the paper and check emails, goes back and picks up the kids to take them to school, picks up my wife and takes her to her Pilates class then to her coffee morning, picks the kids up from school, picks me up from work and takes me to the pub. Best of all, it then picks me up from the pub at midnight and takes me home.
Yes. It’s basically a chauffeur without all the hassle and expense
As I’ve been saying here for years, to much scorn, driverless cars are the future. The private car will slowly die
Parents with young children may be the last to give up their own cars.
Unless "call me a driverless taxi with car seats fitted for a newborn, two year old and five year old in rural Kent" becomes part of the offering.
The effort of carrying your own seats and fitting them in a car would far outweigh any benefit of not driving unless you're driving to Scotland.
There's also the problem of parking (much of current space is on private land).
I suspect you end up with a hybrid of private and communal cars. But with almost all driverless in any case.
But we won't be there for another decade or two.
I think we'll move from self driven private cars to autonomous private cars. I don't see very much demand for communal use cars and ondemand hailing, it may work in big cities and maybe even smaller ones but out in the countryside people will own their autonomous vehicle just as they own their car today. Even in the city there will be people who will want to own their vehicle rather than share it with strangers.
Why would there be such a clear bifurcation ? Self driving* cars will make car sharing between small groups friends trivially simple, and economically sensible.
*The term "self driving" is reasonably likely to flip in meaning, in due course, as a description for what the few holdouts with their manually operated cars do.
For the same reasons people choose to own their own vehicles rather than taxis today.
Its nice to have your own possessions, set up how you want them.
For people who only care about getting from A to B then a taxi may work.
I’d quite happily have an AI-powered chauffeur for six days of the week, but would definitely keep something fun like an MX-5 or Boxster for Sunday mornings!
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty" - BartholomewRoberts President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.
Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
Maybe but remember many (probably most) drivers enjoy driving. It is fun, like sex is rumoured to be.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
Isn't that all part of the Cabbie service?
Might be in your part of the world. Not up here. Most of my cabbies are not white but from overseas. Last chap was an Eritrean. We chatted about the Eritrean church in Gateshead.
Oh, they can still do racism.
I once had a racist cab driver who was so racist he ran out of obvious people to be racist about within about 15 minutes of ranting. So then he started ranting about BELGIANS
Then he briskly exhausted that theme (how many times can you swear about that surrealist c*nt Rene Magritte) so he moved onto PEOPLE WHO TAKE TRAINS
People who take trains are doing him out of a job.
Tbh, I generally eschew taxis. I reckon I average one every two years. They generally suggest you have failed to plan your journey properly.
People who take trains often get a taxi from the station to their final destination. It is people who drive their own cars that the cabbie should be ranting about.
Can confirm. I work away from home and have done so for many years. I take at least four taxis a week. They are a very necessary function. And although most taxi drivers are safe and fair and above-all silent, some are not and when one goes off on a rant it can add further distress at the end of a long and painful day. I would take a driverless taxi like a shot.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Who wants a longshot bet? You can get 126/1 on Ruben Gallego, the junior senator from Arizona, to win the 2028 US Presidency. He's not even listed on Polymarket for Democratic nominee. But he's telegenic, a good speaker, served in the Marines, and has performed well electorally. A fresh new face?
Absolutely no way I’d get in a driverless car . They should only be allowed for disabled people .
Why not? Genuine question
Are you similarly freaked out by driverless trains like the DLR? Or planes on autopilot?
Auto pilot still has a pilot there. I don’t trust the technology in driverless cars .
Driverless trains?
Do you mistrust your pocket calculator and check all the sums with pen and paper?
See my reply re pavements ! It’s only a matter of time before there’s a mass casualty event because of a driverless car .
As others have noted, this will certainly happen, and it will certainly happen much less often than with human drivers. Because waymos don’t drink. Or sneeze. Or argue. Or look at their phones while driving
People made the same arguments about the first cars and trains. That’s why cars has to be preceded by a man with a red flag, walking
We don’t do that any more do we? We got over it because it was a ridiculous overreaction. You are repeating this fallacious response
A few of my colleagues have used Waymos this year, only one problem, a few times the previous passengers have left the vehicle a mess.
You don’t get that with an Uber Lux.
That’s the one problem with an unmanned taxi. There needs to be a way that the customer can reject the car because if it’s condition, which takes it offline and sends it to a cleaning shop - at the expense of the previous customer if it’s dirty.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Presumably its modelling a Labour recovery and a further Tory decline? Personally I don't see how the LDs maintain vote share or seats at 2024 levels with a stacked field on the left and centre left and no USP, and no GTTO campaign to garner tactical votes. They'll defend a chunk of seats based on incumbent but I'll be backing them going backwards in seat numbers.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
I think it's only a matter of time before YouGov puts Ref on 30%+.
Sure, numbers are going up because people who live in the very restricted areas these cars operate are getting more comfortable using them. But they are not a replacement for manned cabs or private vehicles and won't be until you can get into one and have it take you anywhere.
The day I can step off a train in Glasgow and have a driverless cab take me to my home in the rural wilds is the day they've won. That's still many years away, I believe.
They’ve already “won”. The concept is established and we know it can be done and it turns out these cars are hugely popular - people will wait longer and pay more for a driverless car. That’s how popular they are
So then it’s just a question of how long before this victory is ubiquitous
You present a hard case. A rural drive in Scotland. These will presumably be the last to go
However looking at Genie 3 suggests advances will now come much quicker
I reckon we are now in the final decade of the human driven car. By 2035 they will almost all be gone - but a few will remain for fun and status, the way some people still keep horses or steam engines
Christ knows what 80 million cab drivers will do for a living
" By 2035 they will almost all be gone "
I hesitate to remind you that wall over a decade ago, you 'predicted' that there would be no lorry drivers in the UK within a decade.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
What are the percentages that go with those seat numbers? (I've seen the graph but not sure whether that's the same).
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
On the most anecdotal of levels, this poll reflects what seems to be happening amongst my (admittedly small) circle of family and friends.
The Conservative polling figure is like the waterline on large old Victorian enamelled bath, with the plug pulled out. There is a fair bit of water still in it but its draining steadily away by the minute and the taps are corroded shut.
I honestly now believe my constituency (Con for 50 years with a Lab majority of only 600) will go Reform.
“Sometimes the value of a 'human touch' is negative. People willing to pay 50% more for Waymo than Lyft, despite longer waiting times.”
People will pay more not to be driven by humans. Why? The cars are a bit nicer, the robot won’t rape you, there’s no chance of a racist rant, the drive will be safe and predictable
This here is the doom of the cab driver. It is also a tolling bell for human interaction
And, if you enjoy a racist rant, I suspect that AI can provide that, too.
Isn't that all part of the Cabbie service?
Might be in your part of the world. Not up here. Most of my cabbies are not white but from overseas. Last chap was an Eritrean. We chatted about the Eritrean church in Gateshead.
Oh, they can still do racism.
I once had a racist cab driver who was so racist he ran out of obvious people to be racist about within about 15 minutes of ranting. So then he started ranting about BELGIANS
Then he briskly exhausted that theme (how many times can you swear about that surrealist c*nt Rene Magritte) so he moved onto PEOPLE WHO TAKE TRAINS
People who take trains are doing him out of a job.
Tbh, I generally eschew taxis. I reckon I average one every two years. They generally suggest you have failed to plan your journey properly.
People who take trains often get a taxi from the station to their final destination. It is people who drive their own cars that the cabbie should be ranting about.
Can confirm. I work away from home and have done so for many years. I take at least four taxis a week. They are a very necessary function. And although most taxi drivers are safe and fair and above-all silent, some are not and when one goes off on a rant it can add further distress at the end of a long and painful day. I would take a driverless taxi like a shot.
Reminds me of the barber conversation which I totally agree with:
Absolutely no way I’d get in a driverless car . They should only be allowed for disabled people .
I'm taken back to the countless, "Absolutely no way I'd get a mobile phone..." comments one heard in the mid 1990s.
You’re comparing two things that aren’t comparable. Mobile phones can’t mount a pavement and wipe out a group of pedestrians.
They could, in the 1990s if you listened to fairly sizeable groups of people, fry your brain and shrivel your testes.
The point is that the march of technology almost inevitably involves enormous numbers of people who said they'd never adopt it ending up adopting it. Perhaps reluctantly, perhaps late, but nevertheless.
Mobile phones (or people using them) already cause mass casualties by not looking where they are going.
I don't expect too many mass casualty events from Self Drive Vehicles, more perhaps potentially a lot of minor ones. And a lot of damage collisions - we have cars dumped all over everywhere so it could lead to a general tidy up especiallly in England if we are too backward to deal with ASB parking etc.
In the USA Tesla autopilot has caused a lot of casualties, and our roads are tighter and more complex. I'm not clear whether these stats are USA, and how much of a subcategory they compromise.
As of October 2024, there have been hundreds of nonfatal incidents involving Autopilot[2] and fifty-nine reported fatalities, fifty-one of which NHTSA investigations or expert testimony later verified and two that NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations determined as happening during the engagement of Full Self-Driving (FSD) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tesla_Autopilot_crashes
If Kemi Badenoch is removed as Tory leader, Boris Johnson is the clear favourite of 2024 Tory voters to succeed her.
Even now Boris is on 17% with 2024 Conservative voters as to who would be best placed to lead their party, just ahead of Kemi on 16%, Sunak on 10% and Jenrick and Cleverly each on 8% and Tugendhat on 5% and Hunt on 4%.
All voters also prefer Boris on 9% to 7% for Kemi and 5% for Jenrick and 4% each for Cleverly and Sunak.
2024 Reform voters though prefer Jenrick, 19% of voters for Farage's party think Jenrick would be the best Conservative leader compared to 14% for Johnson and just 6% for Badenoch, 4% for Patel and a mere 3% each for Cleverly or Sunak, Stride or Tugendhat and just 1% for Hunt
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
I think it's only a matter of time before YouGov puts Ref on 30%+.
Random fluctuation will see that on the current averages. There has been very little movement of anyone since the step change in early May
If Kemi Badenoch is removed as Tory leader, Boris Johnson is the clear favourite of 2024 Tory voters to succeed her.
Even now Boris is on 17% with 2024 Conservative voters as to who would be best placed to lead their party, just ahead of Kemi on 16%, Sunak on 10% and Jenrick and Cleverly each on 8% and Tugendhat on 5% and Hunt on 4%.
All voters also prefer Boris on 9% to 7% for Kemi and 5% for Jenrick and 4% each for Cleverly and Sunak.
2024 Reform voters though prefer Jenrick, 19% of voters for Farage's party think Jenrick would be the best Conservative leader compared to 14% for Johnson and just 6% for Badenoch and a mere 3% each for Cleverly or Sunak, Stride or Tugendhat and just 1% for Hunt
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
On the most anecdotal of levels, this poll reflects what seems to be happening amongst my (admittedly small) circle of family and friends.
The Conservative polling figure is like the waterline on large old Victorian enamelled bath, with the plug pulled out. There is a fair bit of water still in it but its draining steadily away by the minute and the taps are corroded shut.
I honestly now believe my constituency (Con for 50 years with a Lab majority of only 600) will go Reform.
If Kemi Badenoch is removed as Tory leader, Boris Johnson is the clear favourite of 2024 Tory voters to succeed her.
Even now Boris is on 17% with 2024 Conservative voters as to who would be best placed to lead their party, just ahead of Kemi on 16%, Sunak on 10% and Jenrick and Cleverly each on 8% and Tugendhat on 5% and Hunt on 4%.
All voters also prefer Boris on 9% to 7% for Kemi and 5% for Jenrick and 4% each for Cleverly and Sunak.
2024 Reform voters though prefer Jenrick, 19% of voters for Farage's party think Jenrick would be the best Conservative leader compared to 14% for Johnson and just 6% for Badenoch and a mere 3% each for Cleverly or Sunak, Stride or Tugendhat and just 1% for Hunt
Only over 75s, care home residents and immunosuppressed to be given Covid vax this Autumn.
Good morning
My wife and I have had a total of 10 covid vax, had covid itself twice and was really ill, and it looks like more to follow !!!!!!!!!!
The thing is still about. Had COVID last week.
It is indeed. And yet society operates as normal without lockdowns, without masks and with education. Hindsight is easy but I think the argument that we massively overreacted to a relatively moderate virus is now overwhelming. Of course, next time, we will have something far more severe and go the opposite way.
It was frightening how popular lockdowns were with some people.
The best job I ever had, and the Government paid me an absurd amount of money to do nothing.
Everyone on lockdown should have had a weekly living wage repayable over a number of years either through taxation or benefit surcharge. The spend, spend, spend Labour Government were incredibly profligate with our money during lockdowns.
Rumours are flying around Tameside Labour circles that Andy Burnham’s plan to return to Westminster may come sooner than expected. Sources on the ground say Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Gorton and Denton, wants to leave Parliament as soon as he has another job lined up.
He could turn that 36% majority into a hyper marginal I reckon He has the skillz
Burnham and Boris returned as MPs would put Starmer and Badenoch on notice before the Princes over the Water take over and would be a nightmare for Farage as both can appeal to redwall voters he currently leads with
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 22.1% vote share Con 27 17.7% LD 85 12.6% Ref 335 30.0% Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
If Kemi Badenoch is removed as Tory leader, Boris Johnson is the clear favourite of 2024 Tory voters to succeed her.
Even now Boris is on 17% with 2024 Conservative voters as to who would be best placed to lead their party, just ahead of Kemi on 16%, Sunak on 10% and Jenrick and Cleverly each on 8% and Tugendhat on 5% and Hunt on 4%.
All voters also prefer Boris on 9% to 7% for Kemi and 5% for Jenrick and 4% each for Cleverly and Sunak.
2024 Reform voters though prefer Jenrick, 19% of voters for Farage's party think Jenrick would be the best Conservative leader compared to 14% for Johnson and just 6% for Badenoch, 4% for Patel and a mere 3% each for Cleverly or Sunak, Stride or Tugendhat and just 1% for Hunt
Isn't Johnson universally seen as the architect of Britain's recent decline? Obviously not by the Mail, the Telegraph, GBNews and the Spectator, but by everyone else. I am sure the Boriswave won't be an easy sell.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
I remain a Lib Dem sceptic for 2029. Time will tell. I think Holyrood and the Senedd will be illuminating for the big two ability tk actually turn out voters under extreme pressure and give a bit more of a steer on what 2029 may hold
If Kemi Badenoch is removed as Tory leader, Boris Johnson is the clear favourite of 2024 Tory voters to succeed her.
Even now Boris is on 17% with 2024 Conservative voters as to who would be best placed to lead their party, just ahead of Kemi on 16%, Sunak on 10% and Jenrick and Cleverly each on 8% and Tugendhat on 5% and Hunt on 4%.
All voters also prefer Boris on 9% to 7% for Kemi and 5% for Jenrick and 4% each for Cleverly and Sunak.
2024 Reform voters though prefer Jenrick, 19% of voters for Farage's party think Jenrick would be the best Conservative leader compared to 14% for Johnson and just 6% for Badenoch, 4% for Patel and a mere 3% each for Cleverly or Sunak, Stride or Tugendhat and just 1% for Hunt
Isn't Johnson universally seen as the architect of Britain's recent decline? Obviously not by the Mail, the Telegraph, GBNews and the Spectator, but by everyone else. I am sure the Boriswave won't be an easy sell.
No, Boris remains a Saint in the redwall and with most white working class voters, even more than Farage
Rumours are flying around Tameside Labour circles that Andy Burnham’s plan to return to Westminster may come sooner than expected. Sources on the ground say Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Gorton and Denton, wants to leave Parliament as soon as he has another job lined up.
He could turn that 36% majority into a hyper marginal I reckon He has the skillz
Burnham and Boris returned as MPs would put Starmer and Badenoch on notice before the Princes over the Water take over and would be a nightmare for Farage as both can appeal to redwall voters he currently leads with
FWIW on the FoW poll mentioned above, according to Baxter (I know but...) Reform take the Gorton seat with an 11 point majority
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
On the most anecdotal of levels, this poll reflects what seems to be happening amongst my (admittedly small) circle of family and friends.
The Conservative polling figure is like the waterline on large old Victorian enamelled bath, with the plug pulled out. There is a fair bit of water still in it but its draining steadily away by the minute and the taps are corroded shut.
I honestly now believe my constituency (Con for 50 years with a Lab majority of only 600) will go Reform.
North Somerset?
Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable. The Conservative vote all but halved here from 2019 (28,300) to 2024 (14,300).
It's vote is still in free fall imho and Reform will be the anti-LABOUR alternative come 2029, The Conservatives have essentially vacated the field here.
Rumours are flying around Tameside Labour circles that Andy Burnham’s plan to return to Westminster may come sooner than expected. Sources on the ground say Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Gorton and Denton, wants to leave Parliament as soon as he has another job lined up.
He could turn that 36% majority into a hyper marginal I reckon He has the skillz
Burnham and Boris returned as MPs would put Starmer and Badenoch on notice before the Princes over the Water take over and would be a nightmare for Farage as both can appeal to redwall voters he currently leads with
FWIW on the FoW poll mentioned above, according to Baxter (I know but...) Reform take the Gorton seat with an 11 point majority
Not big enough to be sure given the likely Burnham bounce in a Greater Manchester seat and the 22% combined Green and LD vote for Burnham to squeeze to tactically vote for him to keep out Reform
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
These are the 27 Tory seats
North Somerset Earley and Woodley Tatton Croydon South Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Chester South and Eddisbury Leicester East Epping Forest Windsor Runnymede and Weybridge Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner East Grinstead and Uckfield Rutland and Stamford Arundel and South Downs Richmond and Northallerton Hendon Chelsea and Fulham Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Keighley and Ilkley Stockton West Wetherby and Easingwold Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Chingford and Woodford Green Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Hertsmere Harrow East
Sure, numbers are going up because people who live in the very restricted areas these cars operate are getting more comfortable using them. But they are not a replacement for manned cabs or private vehicles and won't be until you can get into one and have it take you anywhere.
The day I can step off a train in Glasgow and have a driverless cab take me to my home in the rural wilds is the day they've won. That's still many years away, I believe.
They’ve already “won”. The concept is established and we know it can be done and it turns out these cars are hugely popular - people will wait longer and pay more for a driverless car. That’s how popular they are
So then it’s just a question of how long before this victory is ubiquitous
You present a hard case. A rural drive in Scotland. These will presumably be the last to go
However looking at Genie 3 suggests advances will now come much quicker
I reckon we are now in the final decade of the human driven car. By 2035 they will almost all be gone - but a few will remain for fun and status, the way some people still keep horses or steam engines
Christ knows what 80 million cab drivers will do for a living
" By 2035 they will almost all be gone "
I hesitate to remind you that wall over a decade ago, you 'predicted' that there would be no lorry drivers in the UK within a decade.
As I've often admitted on here, I get over-excited. This is because 1. I can extrapolate better than god but 2. I have a tendency to favour the wild, dramatic and explosive, as I hate being bored
This means I am usually right, directionally, but my timelines are often stupidly optimistic. A good rule of thumb is to double any predicted timeline I suggest. A bit like the great Elon Musk. And yes, an example is FSD lorries
HoweverI might remind you that you used to claim machines would never replace humans in translation even as I scoffed at you. And now?
If Kemi Badenoch is removed as Tory leader, Boris Johnson is the clear favourite of 2024 Tory voters to succeed her.
Even now Boris is on 17% with 2024 Conservative voters as to who would be best placed to lead their party, just ahead of Kemi on 16%, Sunak on 10% and Jenrick and Cleverly each on 8% and Tugendhat on 5% and Hunt on 4%.
All voters also prefer Boris on 9% to 7% for Kemi and 5% for Jenrick and 4% each for Cleverly and Sunak.
2024 Reform voters though prefer Jenrick, 19% of voters for Farage's party think Jenrick would be the best Conservative leader compared to 14% for Johnson and just 6% for Badenoch, 4% for Patel and a mere 3% each for Cleverly or Sunak, Stride or Tugendhat and just 1% for Hunt
Isn't Johnson universally seen as the architect of Britain's recent decline? Obviously not by the Mail, the Telegraph, GBNews and the Spectator, but by everyone else. I am sure the Boriswave won't be an easy sell.
No, Boris remains a Saint in the redwall and with most white working class voters, even more than Farage
There's no accounting for taste. I suppose Trump could be the dry run for Johnson. How is that looking?
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
These are the 27 Tory seats
North Somerset Earley and Woodley Tatton Croydon South Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Chester South and Eddisbury Leicester East Epping Forest Windsor Runnymede and Weybridge Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner East Grinstead and Uckfield Rutland and Stamford Arundel and South Downs Richmond and Northallerton Hendon Chelsea and Fulham Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Keighley and Ilkley Stockton West Wetherby and Easingwold Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Chingford and Woodford Green Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Hertsmere Harrow East
That includes a Tory gain in Chelsea and Fulham and Hendon
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
These are the 27 Tory seats
North Somerset Earley and Woodley Tatton Croydon South Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Chester South and Eddisbury Leicester East Epping Forest Windsor Runnymede and Weybridge Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner East Grinstead and Uckfield Rutland and Stamford Arundel and South Downs Richmond and Northallerton Hendon Chelsea and Fulham Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Keighley and Ilkley Stockton West Wetherby and Easingwold Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Chingford and Woodford Green Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Hertsmere Harrow East
That includes a Tory gain in Chelsea and Fulham and Hendon
That's a weird name for a seat, and candidly, it sounds a bit gerrymandered.
If Kemi Badenoch is removed as Tory leader, Boris Johnson is the clear favourite of 2024 Tory voters to succeed her.
Even now Boris is on 17% with 2024 Conservative voters as to who would be best placed to lead their party, just ahead of Kemi on 16%, Sunak on 10% and Jenrick and Cleverly each on 8% and Tugendhat on 5% and Hunt on 4%.
All voters also prefer Boris on 9% to 7% for Kemi and 5% for Jenrick and 4% each for Cleverly and Sunak.
2024 Reform voters though prefer Jenrick, 19% of voters for Farage's party think Jenrick would be the best Conservative leader compared to 14% for Johnson and just 6% for Badenoch, 4% for Patel and a mere 3% each for Cleverly or Sunak, Stride or Tugendhat and just 1% for Hunt
Isn't Johnson universally seen as the architect of Britain's recent decline? Obviously not by the Mail, the Telegraph, GBNews and the Spectator, but by everyone else. I am sure the Boriswave won't be an easy sell.
No, Boris remains a Saint in the redwall and with most white working class voters, even more than Farage
There's no accounting for taste. I suppose Trump could be the dry run for Johnson. How is that looking?
Trump has just returned after a period out of power to be re elected for a second term?
Sure, numbers are going up because people who live in the very restricted areas these cars operate are getting more comfortable using them. But they are not a replacement for manned cabs or private vehicles and won't be until you can get into one and have it take you anywhere.
The day I can step off a train in Glasgow and have a driverless cab take me to my home in the rural wilds is the day they've won. That's still many years away, I believe.
They’ve already “won”. The concept is established and we know it can be done and it turns out these cars are hugely popular - people will wait longer and pay more for a driverless car. That’s how popular they are
So then it’s just a question of how long before this victory is ubiquitous
You present a hard case. A rural drive in Scotland. These will presumably be the last to go
However looking at Genie 3 suggests advances will now come much quicker
I reckon we are now in the final decade of the human driven car. By 2035 they will almost all be gone - but a few will remain for fun and status, the way some people still keep horses or steam engines
Christ knows what 80 million cab drivers will do for a living
" By 2035 they will almost all be gone "
I hesitate to remind you that wall over a decade ago, you 'predicted' that there would be no lorry drivers in the UK within a decade.
As I've often admitted on here, I get over-excited. This is because 1. I can extrapolate better than god but 2. I have a tendency to favour the wild, dramatic and explosive, as I hate being bored
This means I am usually right, directionally, but my timelines are often stupidly optimistic. A good rule of thumb is to double any predicted timeline I suggest. A bit like the great Elon Musk. And yes, an example is FSD lorries
HoweverI might remind you that you used to claim machines would never replace humans in translation even as I scoffed at you. And now?
Et voila
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Вот и всё
ها هو ذا
ほら、できた！
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აი ის არის
Ma ei vaja automaattõlget, et aru saada, et see on täielik jama.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
These are the 27 Tory seats
North Somerset Earley and Woodley Tatton Croydon South Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Chester South and Eddisbury Leicester East Epping Forest Windsor Runnymede and Weybridge Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner East Grinstead and Uckfield Rutland and Stamford Arundel and South Downs Richmond and Northallerton Hendon Chelsea and Fulham Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Keighley and Ilkley Stockton West Wetherby and Easingwold Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Chingford and Woodford Green Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Hertsmere Harrow East
That includes a Tory gain in Chelsea and Fulham and Hendon
One thing about this meeting is that it effectively says that they're not going to prosecute anyone else over Epstein, if the AG, deputy and FBI director are at an administration strategy meeting over the issue.
It would be wildly prejudicial to any prosecution subsequently launched.
White House chief Susie Wiles, JD Vance, AG Pam Bondi, FBI Dir Kash Patel & Deputy AG Todd Blanche are expected to meet Wed evening at Vance’s residence to discuss the Trump admin’s strategy relating to Epstein case https://x.com/alaynatreene/status/1952899871666508042
What we can expect is selective disclosure of anything embarrassing to Democrats, plus a few randoms for good measure.
The whole arrangement, with Trump's lawyer interviewing Maxwell in private, is massively corrupt, on its face.
The obvious deal is Maxwell gets a pardon and spills the beans on mostly Dems, a handful of minor Republicans, gives Orange a pass and exagerrates the f*** out of anything to do with the Clintons. Not sure why it is taking so long, perhaps being timed for the mid terms.
On the other hand, if Bill Clinton goes to jail it will be very funny. And possibly a just and righteous outcome
Possibly, but there is zero chance of that happening if the key evidence against him is the word of convicted criminal, Ghislaine Maxwell, given to secure a pardon from Donald Trump. That's all just too trivially easy to discredit.
Depends how debased the US legal system is by then. Could be summary executions by presidential decree and Trump naming a Shetland pony as a replacement for Bondi at that point.
Leon is falling for the fallacy of thinking everyone wants a taxi and prefers a taxi.
If people only wanted cars as glorified taxis there wouldn't be so many to choose from.
There may be a few people happy to dump their own vehicle for taxis but the idea everyone will is silly.
I'd say at least two-thirds of the people I know hate owning a car. They hate paying for it, the hate driving it on congested roads full of lunatics, they hate the stress when it breaks down and needs repaired, they hate trying to park at busy times. And if you're young there's the nightmare of trying to get a driving licence.
They don't want a own a car, they just need a way of getting around that doesn't involve trains or buses.
When driverless cars are common owning your own car will be like owning a Ferrari or McLaren now; it makes no practical sense and is financially idiotic, but a few people will still do it. Everyone else will just have an InstaCar subscription, when you need to go somewhere just request a car and it appears at your door in a few minutes.
Another advantage will be the range of vehicles. Need a van to shift stuff, or a wheelchair adapted car, or a car with child seats? Just order it and it'll come.
This future isn't imminent, but I'm in my early 50s and I fully expect this to be reality well within my lifetime.
Driverless taxis and non-driverless taxis will live alongside each other for a very long time.
Demand for transport is not evenly spread out over the day. Some people's labour is worth a lot of money, some is worth very little. And some places have lots of people in them, and others do not.
If you work at a factory in rural Iowa, and all 300 of you end your shift at the same time, then there's not going to be 300 Waymo's all ready in that rural location for you. Your time is cheap. That'll be peak demand for Waymos. And they'd have to drive a long way to get to you.
The business model doesn't work.
But in cities, Waymo (and other driverless taxi services) will dominate, albeit still supplanted by people renting out their own vehicles. (Why? Baseload vs peaking. Baseload is Waymo. Peaking is people renting out their own vehicles. It's not worth Waymo having a vehicle with 1% utilisation.)
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
These are the 27 Tory seats
North Somerset Earley and Woodley Tatton Croydon South Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Chester South and Eddisbury Leicester East Epping Forest Windsor Runnymede and Weybridge Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner East Grinstead and Uckfield Rutland and Stamford Arundel and South Downs Richmond and Northallerton Hendon Chelsea and Fulham Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Keighley and Ilkley Stockton West Wetherby and Easingwold Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Chingford and Woodford Green Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Hertsmere Harrow East
That includes a Tory gain in Chelsea and Fulham and Hendon
5 gains
At second glance yes Middlesborough S and E Cleveland and N Somerset and Earley and Woodley would also be Tory gains
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
On the most anecdotal of levels, this poll reflects what seems to be happening amongst my (admittedly small) circle of family and friends.
The Conservative polling figure is like the waterline on large old Victorian enamelled bath, with the plug pulled out. There is a fair bit of water still in it but its draining steadily away by the minute and the taps are corroded shut.
I honestly now believe my constituency (Con for 50 years with a Lab majority of only 600) will go Reform.
The simplest explanation (and consistent with Occam's razor) for Labour and Tory performance since July 2024 is that both parties have decided to let Reform win the next election.
Driverless taxis and non-driverless taxis will live alongside each other for a very long time.
Demand for transport is not evenly spread out over the day. Some people's labour is worth a lot of money, some is worth very little. And some places have lots of people in them, and others do not.
If you work at a factory in rural Iowa, and all 300 of you end your shift at the same time, then there's not going to be 300 Waymo's all ready in that rural location for you. Your time is cheap. That'll be peak demand for Waymos. And they'd have to drive a long way to get to you.
The business model doesn't work.
But in cities, Waymo (and other driverless taxi services) will dominate, albeit still supplanted by people renting out their own vehicles. (Why? Baseload vs peaking. Baseload is Waymo. Peaking is people renting out their own vehicles. It's not worth Waymo having a vehicle with 1% utilisation.)
And that peak issue is why privately owned vehicles will remain popular too.
Taxis may be popular in cities, but they're niche everywhere else.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
These are the 27 Tory seats
North Somerset Earley and Woodley Tatton Croydon South Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Chester South and Eddisbury Leicester East Epping Forest Windsor Runnymede and Weybridge Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner East Grinstead and Uckfield Rutland and Stamford Arundel and South Downs Richmond and Northallerton Hendon Chelsea and Fulham Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Keighley and Ilkley Stockton West Wetherby and Easingwold Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Chingford and Woodford Green Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Hertsmere Harrow East
That includes a Tory gain in Chelsea and Fulham and Hendon
5 gains
At second glance yes Middlesborough S and E Cleveland and N Somerset and Earley and Woodley would also be Tory gains
Driverless taxis and non-driverless taxis will live alongside each other for a very long time.
Demand for transport is not evenly spread out over the day. Some people's labour is worth a lot of money, some is worth very little. And some places have lots of people in them, and others do not.
If you work at a factory in rural Iowa, and all 300 of you end your shift at the same time, then there's not going to be 300 Waymo's all ready in that rural location for you. Your time is cheap. That'll be peak demand for Waymos. And they'd have to drive a long way to get to you.
The business model doesn't work.
But in cities, Waymo (and other driverless taxi services) will dominate, albeit still supplanted by people renting out their own vehicles. (Why? Baseload vs peaking. Baseload is Waymo. Peaking is people renting out their own vehicles. It's not worth Waymo having a vehicle with 1% utilisation.)
You see this to an extent now: how important is it that you have a vehicle on tap now? If you live in Central London, the answer is "well, I have one on tap via Uber and Black cabs, and there's also public transport, and where would I park it?". If you live in a smaller city, then the answer might be "public transport is OK, but I have space for my own parking, and I like not being dependent on others when I need to get to Sainsbury's". And if you live in a rural area, the answer is "public transport is non-existent, taxis are slow and at peak times I would need to have prebooked one, so I need a car."
Sure, numbers are going up because people who live in the very restricted areas these cars operate are getting more comfortable using them. But they are not a replacement for manned cabs or private vehicles and won't be until you can get into one and have it take you anywhere.
The day I can step off a train in Glasgow and have a driverless cab take me to my home in the rural wilds is the day they've won. That's still many years away, I believe.
They’ve already “won”. The concept is established and we know it can be done and it turns out these cars are hugely popular - people will wait longer and pay more for a driverless car. That’s how popular they are
So then it’s just a question of how long before this victory is ubiquitous
You present a hard case. A rural drive in Scotland. These will presumably be the last to go
However looking at Genie 3 suggests advances will now come much quicker
I reckon we are now in the final decade of the human driven car. By 2035 they will almost all be gone - but a few will remain for fun and status, the way some people still keep horses or steam engines
Christ knows what 80 million cab drivers will do for a living
" By 2035 they will almost all be gone "
I hesitate to remind you that wall over a decade ago, you 'predicted' that there would be no lorry drivers in the UK within a decade.
As I've often admitted on here, I get over-excited. This is because 1. I can extrapolate better than god but 2. I have a tendency to favour the wild, dramatic and explosive, as I hate being bored
This means I am usually right, directionally, but my timelines are often stupidly optimistic. A good rule of thumb is to double any predicted timeline I suggest. A bit like the great Elon Musk. And yes, an example is FSD lorries
HoweverI might remind you that you used to claim machines would never replace humans in translation even as I scoffed at you. And now?
Et voila
E vaquí (Occitan)
Dêr is it (Frisian)
Avoilà (Walloon)
Otena (Bemba)
Ndiyo hiyo (Swahili)
Tadaaa (Romani)
Näkemiin se on (Karelian)
Ihme on siinä (Finnish Kainuu dialect)
Zde je to (Silesian)
Tenei rā (Māori)
Вот и всё
ها هو ذا
ほら、できた！
Ահա՛ քեզ բան
აი ის არის
My late dad boasted that he could say goodbye in 37 languages. But he claimed not to be antisocial.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
On the most anecdotal of levels, this poll reflects what seems to be happening amongst my (admittedly small) circle of family and friends.
The Conservative polling figure is like the waterline on large old Victorian enamelled bath, with the plug pulled out. There is a fair bit of water still in it but its draining steadily away by the minute and the taps are corroded shut.
I honestly now believe my constituency (Con for 50 years with a Lab majority of only 600) will go Reform.
The simplest explanation (and consistent with Occam's razor) for Labour and Tory performance since July 2024 is that both parties have decided to let Reform win the next election.
SDP 51%. They are planning for the fight in three or four years time. There is absolutely zero point having a great run of opinion polls now. Spend the time getting doorstep feedback, planning a campaign and working out your firewall and areas to work hardest based on council performance. Reform won't be floating on clouds forever
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
These are the 27 Tory seats
North Somerset Earley and Woodley Tatton Croydon South Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Chester South and Eddisbury Leicester East Epping Forest Windsor Runnymede and Weybridge Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner East Grinstead and Uckfield Rutland and Stamford Arundel and South Downs Richmond and Northallerton Hendon Chelsea and Fulham Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Keighley and Ilkley Stockton West Wetherby and Easingwold Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Chingford and Woodford Green Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Hertsmere Harrow East
Nice to see Epping on the list. My decent MP, Neil Hudson, got ousted on a boundary change in favour of an idiot so was forced to go carpet bagging, and ended up in Epping. His old seat - Penrith - went crashing to Labour in 2024 to nepo baby Campbell-Savours and next time will crash further to Reform. Karma.
Others 7% (including 12% 18 to 29 y.o. and 10% in the London subsample)
Changes from 30th July [Find Out Now, 6th August, N=2,627]
No sign that Reform has peaked. Slow decline of Lab and Con. I have a detailed model by constituency. It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East. Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Sorry. Found a major bug! Swapped the Labour and Tory previous share around! Should be: Lab 137 Con 27 LD 85 Ref 335 Green 9 SNP 35 PC 4 NI 18
Most of those 27 Tory seats will probably be in the Harrow/Ruislip/Hertsmere/Beaconsfield/Runnymede general area I assume.
These are the 27 Tory seats
North Somerset Earley and Woodley Tatton Croydon South Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Chester South and Eddisbury Leicester East Epping Forest Windsor Runnymede and Weybridge Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner East Grinstead and Uckfield Rutland and Stamford Arundel and South Downs Richmond and Northallerton Hendon Chelsea and Fulham Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Keighley and Ilkley Stockton West Wetherby and Easingwold Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Chingford and Woodford Green Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Hertsmere Harrow East
That includes a Tory gain in Chelsea and Fulham and Hendon
Yes
Labour's share has dropped by 36% (from 34.7% to 22.1%) Conservative's share has dropped by 28% (from 24.4% to 17.7%)
The result is that the Labour majority of just 15 in Hendon becomes a Tory majority of 490. A similar effect in Chelsea.
Driverless taxis and non-driverless taxis will live alongside each other for a very long time.
Demand for transport is not evenly spread out over the day. Some people's labour is worth a lot of money, some is worth very little. And some places have lots of people in them, and others do not.
If you work at a factory in rural Iowa, and all 300 of you end your shift at the same time, then there's not going to be 300 Waymo's all ready in that rural location for you. Your time is cheap. That'll be peak demand for Waymos. And they'd have to drive a long way to get to you.
The business model doesn't work.
But in cities, Waymo (and other driverless taxi services) will dominate, albeit still supplanted by people renting out their own vehicles. (Why? Baseload vs peaking. Baseload is Waymo. Peaking is people renting out their own vehicles. It's not worth Waymo having a vehicle with 1% utilisation.)
You see this to an extent now: how important is it that you have a vehicle on tap now? If you live in Central London, the answer is "well, I have one on tap via Uber and Black cabs, and there's also public transport, and where would I park it?". If you live in a smaller city, then the answer might be "public transport is OK, but I have space for my own parking, and I like not being dependent on others when I need to get to Sainsbury's". And if you live in a rural area, the answer is "public transport is non-existent, taxis are slow and at peak times I would need to have prebooked one, so I need a car."
Horses for courses.
Absolutely, try getting any car, driverless or not, over a 3 bar gate.
Comments
Trump names himself chair of L.A. Olympics task force, sees role for military during Games
https://x.com/latimes/status/1952927643235459238
Dime shop dictator.
If people only wanted cars as glorified taxis there wouldn't be so many to choose from.
There may be a few people happy to dump their own vehicle for taxis but the idea everyone will is silly.
Instead of buying a car outright, you will lease a car for six months, or two years, or whatever. For that period it is yours and yours alone, but the upkeep and maintenance will be done by others, as part of the fee. Again I don't see many people parking them as they do now. The downsides - depreciation, cost, ugliness, driveways, stupid garages, chance of theft or damage - are so much greater than the upsides
This is going to be great for European cities which were never designed for the car. They can go back to their true and beautiful selves
Fuck knows what American cities will do. All those hideous car lots and urban freeways rendered largely pointless
Upcoming on the mainland:
Bicester Village to Milton Keynes via Bletchley (hopefully open December)
Tram from Wednesbury to Dudley (probably early 2026 now)
If people switch from private vehicle to taxi then they still need a freeway to get from A to B. They may not need a car lot, but taxis don't fly and still need roads.
Indeed they need them more as rather than parking at A or B, they then need to move towards their next client.
Interested in what others think.
I've now booked in this trip with my daughter. But for next time? Yes, I'm using that
Rumours are flying around Tameside Labour circles that Andy Burnham’s plan to return to Westminster may come sooner than expected. Sources on the ground say Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Gorton and Denton, wants to leave Parliament as soon as he has another job lined up.
https://order-order.com/2025/08/07/revealed-inside-andy-burnhams-search-for-commons-seat/
https://x.com/AaronBlake/status/1953420933365928379
He has the skillz
BartholomewRobertsPresident of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford.Self-driven cars will end up like horses.
There will be far fewer cars as so many will be shared, and the cars that exixt will be used MUCH more economically and rationally. So the need for seven lane freeways in the middle of cities will largely disappear. No one likes traffic or car noise or ugly freeways or stupid garages, so they will all go. The opportunity to green our cities will be irresistible
Cars will also downsize, again freeing up space. There is no real need for a front seat in a FSD car. We will see the production of microcars for one or two which will be cheaper to use, like e-tuk-tuks in Phnom Penh, Indeed my stalker predicted all this. He really is a fucking genius. Very good at EXTRAPOLATING
Cars were a technological leap forward beyond horses. Taxis are not.
And flew over all 48 contiguous states on a 14 hour mission.
https://www.twz.com/air/inside-the-u-2s-record-setting-70th-anniversary-mission-with-one-of-its-most-experienced-pilots
...if we did this again next week, we could go out and fly further, longer and higher...
On a connected note, The Boys in the Boat is a surprisingly good film based on true story of US college team that became the US row team for the Olympics in Nazi Germany. After watching it, I thought well I bet a load of that wasn't true, it seems far to unbelievable, checks up true story, the main character is even more crazy impressive than portrayed in the film.
It's just that fewer people are now arguing that it will never happen.
There's no fewer miles being driven. There's actually more miles driven total.
So the need for roads increases, it doesnt decrease.
The need for parking may decrease but people don't park on freeway.
I don't expect too many mass casualty events from Self Drive Vehicles, more perhaps potentially a lot of minor ones. And a lot of damage collisions - we have cars dumped all over everywhere so it could lead to a general tidy up especiallly in England if we are too backward to deal with ASB parking etc.
In the USA Tesla autopilot has caused a lot of casualties, and our roads are tighter and more complex. I'm not clear whether these stats are USA, and how much of a subcategory they compromise.
As of October 2024, there have been hundreds of nonfatal incidents involving Autopilot[2] and fifty-nine reported fatalities, fifty-one of which NHTSA investigations or expert testimony later verified and two that NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations determined as happening during the engagement of Full Self-Driving (FSD)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tesla_Autopilot_crashes
There is, of course, the advantage that untidy people like me use their car as an extra store room. If you owned your DC you'd be able to leave your stuff in it rather than clear it all out. But that doesn't strike me as an advantage to pay several thousand pounds a year for.
Owning a car is a terribly poor use of resources. 95% of the time, cars are sat immobile, depreciating.
I usually tip the driver a couple of quid.
Yes I keep things in my car that are there all the time, but not because messy but for practical advantahes. My kids car seat. Reusable shopping bags in the boot. So on and so forth. Can't do that in a taxi.
I use my PS5 less than I use my car, I still want to have my PS5 though.
Agree a bit about the advantage of keeping practical stuff in the car - but it's not beyond the wit of the market to provide taxis with child seats.
Which, as you suggest, might turn out to be a good thing given the current state of the party.
Remember when someone in 2006 tipped an almost unknown junior Senator…
If the car literally rolls up to your door and has 100% availability I would expect 80%+ people to go for the hire model.
I have a detailed model by constituency.
It currently shows the Tories with just one seat. Harrow East.
Lab with 276 seats and Reform with 244. LD with 87.
Personally I don't see how the LDs maintain vote share or seats at 2024 levels with a stacked field on the left and centre left and no USP, and no GTTO campaign to garner tactical votes.
They'll defend a chunk of seats based on incumbent but I'll be backing them going backwards in seat numbers.
I hesitate to remind you that wall over a decade ago, you 'predicted' that there would be no lorry drivers in the UK within a decade.
The Conservative polling figure is like the waterline on large old Victorian enamelled bath, with the plug pulled out. There is a fair bit of water still in it but its draining steadily away by the minute and the taps are corroded shut.
I honestly now believe my constituency (Con for 50 years with a Lab majority of only 600) will go Reform.
“How would sir like his hair cut?”
“In silence.”
Compromise / comprise.
Even now Boris is on 17% with 2024 Conservative voters as to who would be best placed to lead their party, just ahead of Kemi on 16%, Sunak on 10% and Jenrick and Cleverly each on 8% and Tugendhat on 5% and Hunt on 4%.
All voters also prefer Boris on 9% to 7% for Kemi and 5% for Jenrick and 4% each for Cleverly and Sunak.
2024 Reform voters though prefer Jenrick, 19% of voters for Farage's party think Jenrick would be the best Conservative leader compared to 14% for Johnson and just 6% for Badenoch, 4% for Patel and a mere 3% each for Cleverly or Sunak, Stride or Tugendhat and just 1% for Hunt
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/boris-johnson-slight-favourite-public-if-kemi-badenoch-falters-half-say-none-above-or-dont-know
Everyone on lockdown should have had a weekly living wage repayable over a number of years either through taxation or benefit surcharge. The spend, spend, spend Labour Government were incredibly profligate with our money during lockdowns.
Should be:
Lab 137 22.1% vote share
Con 27 17.7%
LD 85 12.6%
Ref 335 30.0%
Green 9
SNP 35
PC 4
NI 18
I think Holyrood and the Senedd will be illuminating for the big two ability tk actually turn out voters under extreme pressure and give a bit more of a steer on what 2029 may hold
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yp8l3z0g5o
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=N&CON=16&LAB=20&LIB=12&Reform=32&Green=9&UKIP=&TVCON=&TVLAB=&TVLIB=&TVReform=&TVGreen=&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=&SCOTLAB=&SCOTLIB=&SCOTReform=&SCOTGreen=&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=&display=OneSeat®orseat=Gorton+and+Denton&boundary=2024base
It's vote is still in free fall imho and Reform will be the anti-LABOUR alternative come 2029, The Conservatives have essentially vacated the field here.
North Somerset
Earley and Woodley
Tatton
Croydon South
Harborough, Oadby and Wigston
Chester South and Eddisbury
Leicester East
Epping Forest
Windsor
Runnymede and Weybridge
Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
East Grinstead and Uckfield
Rutland and Stamford
Arundel and South Downs
Richmond and Northallerton
Hendon
Chelsea and Fulham
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
Keighley and Ilkley
Stockton West
Wetherby and Easingwold
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Chingford and Woodford Green
Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
Hertsmere
Harrow East
This means I am usually right, directionally, but my timelines are often stupidly optimistic. A good rule of thumb is to double any predicted timeline I suggest. A bit like the great Elon Musk. And yes, an example is FSD lorries
HoweverI might remind you that you used to claim machines would never replace humans in translation even as I scoffed at you. And now?
Et voila
E vaquí (Occitan)
Dêr is it (Frisian)
Avoilà (Walloon)
Otena (Bemba)
Ndiyo hiyo (Swahili)
Tadaaa (Romani)
Näkemiin se on (Karelian)
Ihme on siinä (Finnish Kainuu dialect)
Zde je to (Silesian)
Tenei rā (Māori)
Вот и всё
ها هو ذا
ほら、できた！
Ահա՛ քեզ բան
აი ის არის
They don't want a own a car, they just need a way of getting around that doesn't involve trains or buses.
When driverless cars are common owning your own car will be like owning a Ferrari or McLaren now; it makes no practical sense and is financially idiotic, but a few people will still do it. Everyone else will just have an InstaCar subscription, when you need to go somewhere just request a car and it appears at your door in a few minutes.
Another advantage will be the range of vehicles. Need a van to shift stuff, or a wheelchair adapted car, or a car with child seats? Just order it and it'll come.
This future isn't imminent, but I'm in my early 50s and I fully expect this to be reality well within my lifetime.
Demand for transport is not evenly spread out over the day. Some people's labour is worth a lot of money, some is worth very little. And some places have lots of people in them, and others do not.
If you work at a factory in rural Iowa, and all 300 of you end your shift at the same time, then there's not going to be 300 Waymo's all ready in that rural location for you. Your time is cheap. That'll be peak demand for Waymos. And they'd have to drive a long way to get to you.
The business model doesn't work.
But in cities, Waymo (and other driverless taxi services) will dominate, albeit still supplanted by people renting out their own vehicles. (Why? Baseload vs peaking. Baseload is Waymo. Peaking is people renting out their own vehicles. It's not worth Waymo having a vehicle with 1% utilisation.)
Taxis may be popular in cities, but they're niche everywhere else.
Horses for courses.
They are planning for the fight in three or four years time. There is absolutely zero point having a great run of opinion polls now. Spend the time getting doorstep feedback, planning a campaign and working out your firewall and areas to work hardest based on council performance.
Reform won't be floating on clouds forever
Labour's share has dropped by 36% (from 34.7% to 22.1%)
Conservative's share has dropped by 28% (from 24.4% to 17.7%)
The result is that the Labour majority of just 15 in Hendon becomes a Tory majority of 490.
A similar effect in Chelsea.