Automobile Era
by
, 08-03-2019 at 04:12 PM (3789 Views)
I just red an article from the New Yorker, "Was the Automotive Era a Terrible Mistake?" By Nathan Heller.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...GSe6mI5KV2vtJk
I don't think the automobile era was a mistake, but that article was, for the most part. Private transportation has been around for as long as there are records; although at the beginning of that era shank's mare was the primary mode of transportation. Being able to go where one wants or needs to go and bringing along passengers and/or freight is and long has been important and useful. Where and how people live is partly determined on what they have for transportation. Whether one uses a horse, bicycle, automobile, buggy, or whatever, being able to go to an emporium, buying what one needs, loading it into the transportation, and bringing it back to one's place of residence is a good thing. Public transportation has its place, but it is inconvenient when one is hauling a trunk-load of goods.
There have always been problems with private transportation. People are imperfect, so they bump their units of transportation into each other, and have been doing that for thousands of years. Sometimes the horses get spooked and run off with the wagon, and sometimes they suffer a medical problem, and sometimes a car or truck smacks into another, and so on. It happens, and we can't fault anything for it.
The last century has been dominated by internal combustion engines that are complicated and expensive. The world would be a better place, if steam engines had become the rule, but greed and economics decided otherwise; although we could switch back very easily. The problem was that the manufacturers of steam automobiles tried to make more money on each unit sold, while Henry Ford decided to make and sell lots of low priced units and make a little bit on each one. In the early 1920's Ford was selling car for about $1000, while Doble was selling something of similar utility for about $5000. The drive trains for both cost about the same, actually, the Doble had a simpler drive train without a transmission, so it probably was cheaper to make, but the Doble had a large chassis and body that was the expensive part. Well, Ford is still around and has never gone into bankruptcy, which is unique in that business, while Doble folded in the mid 1920's, even though they had a superior product. If you have a superior product tat people do not buy, then there is something wrong. Ford had an inferior product that was so cheap that people bought it even though it wasn't very good.
That New Yorker article seemed to suggest that the automobile era may be ending. I think that there will be demand for versatile individually owned and controlled vehicles for a long time to come. There are reasons for self-driving cars, but those are and will continue to be of limited utility; although they might be a good idea on crowded highways, and after the grand pandemic there will be reasons for having vehicles deliver goods without human involvement, the way that horse drawn wagons could.
One development that hasn't really caught on is the small enclosed vehicle. Motorcycles have some appeal, but four wheels are more stable than two, and have space for hauling goods is desirable. The Smart for Two is an example of what could be done, but there are other configurations that are possible. And keep in mind that much of the body of an automobile is simply for appearance; bodies could have thinner skins without the user losing anything, except weight and cost. I can envision a steam power train weighing only a couple hundred pounds and putting out more than adequate power and costing a fraction of what a similar sized gasoline engine and transmission would cost.
Regardless of what kind of personal transportation machinery will be available, the versatility of private vehicles is necessary and will continue to be necessary until humans stop moving from one place to another. Someday we will switch to matter transmitters like the transporter on the USS Enterprise, but that won't be available for a fairly long time. For long distances I am looking forward to time machines along the lines of the Travellers in Harry's Time Tours, but they aren't available right now.
Unless you plan to grow roots and never travel, then personal transportation machinery is not a mistake; although many people think the Edsel was a mistake.