[audiobook] Experimental Flowers in Watercolour by Ann Blockley in Arts-Photography

Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Great little car - but will I get to work quicker?By Tom KaneWhat would cars be like if they were optimized for urban use; taking maximum advantage of technology? They would be much smaller; designed for the typical load of one or two people. They would be safe due to sensors and software and would lack the heavy "armor" of crumple zones and steel cages. They would be energy-efficient zero-emission electric vehicles. They would be as helpful and informative as iPhones. The authors make a convincing case that these cars are possible with todays technology; and that cities would be cleaner; safer; and would need less space dedicated to parking lots and roads.The problem with this "small is beautiful" vision is that it will be hard to sell it to most Americans; who are used to getting more; not less. But what if these little cars actually got you to your destination sooner; because they could go on tracks that bypassed intersections and congestion; and because they could augment their battery with power supplied by the road? In that case; even a Texan might want one. The Third Generation Roadway by Roger Davidheiser describes such a system; based on the same small cars described in "Reinventing the Automobile" but with the addition of an interface for a dedicated track; or "Roadway." I recommend that these two books be read together.Their styles are different. "Reinventing the Automobile" reads like a PowerPoint presentation by a design professor; and "The Third Generation Roadway" reads like a masters thesis by an engineer. Neither asks nor answers the difficult and divisive question; "Do these improvements in auto technology negate the need for more investment in trains and buses in American-style cities?" But both are important and stimulating attempts to imagine how we will get around in the cities of the fairly near future.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Refreshingly out-of-the-box thinking. A must read!By Emc2Excellent book; refreshingly out-of-the-box thinking; and not so futuristic after all; as three GM EN-V prototypes (Xiao - Laugh; Jiao - Pride; and Miao - Magic) are now being exhibited in Shanghai; and the MIT CityCar prototype is being built in Spain; due for field testing next year in five cities around the world; and already scheduled for mass production by late 2012. The electric driverless car is just around the corner.In quite a masterpiece of original thinking; the authors deliver a solution for our current model of unsustainable cities by proposing a reinvented automobile; with a new DNA; combined with Mobility Internet and smart clean energy. They proposed ultra-small vehicles (USV) as a solution; an urban car designed for megacities; as opposed to the 20th century solution of designing and adapting cities and their landscape around cars. USVs and their wireless capabilities would allow electronically managed variable pricing systems for roads (congestion pricing); parking; car sharing and even auto insurance. But the most promising new concept is "mobility-on-demand" systems; to efficiently complement public transportation by providing a personal mobility service for the "first mile" and "last mile" of urban trips. Certainly the combination of the proposed schemes would result in a safe; environmentally friendly; affordable; and sustainable solution for the personal mobility needs in urban environments.Despite the books futuristic view; Chapter 9 is a must read for both urban planners and traffic engineers; and particularly for the laymen. This chapter presents the best collection of evidence I have seen (presented in very nice graphs and figures that deliver a crystal clear message) demonstrating the unsustainability of our current model of automobile travel (in the U.S and around the world); not only because of the well known traffic congestion problems; death toll due to accidents; air pollution and waste of time and fossil fuels; but also because of all the indirect negative impacts (externalities in more technical jargon). This chapter makes an excellent case for getting rid of the internal combustion engine and to move on asap to more sustainable and more efficient means of transportation; whether you believe in global warming or not; whether you are concerned about energy independence or not.This book is a must read for scholars and practitioners of city planning and urban transportation; as well as the serious fans of electric cars and all city dwellers concerned about the negative impacts of urban transportation.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The 240 pages could probably easily be written in 75-100 pages without any significant loss ...By Jan KrokenThe content is interesting; but the book is overly verbose and repetitive. The 240 pages could probably easily be written in 75-100 pages without any significant loss of information.