Dehumanised society

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Just following on recent debate about staff less libraries, how do people feel about our rapidly dehumanising society? I know it's handy to be able to draw money out of an ATM any time you like, speed through the self service checkouts in supermarkets and buy stuff online.

But where will it end? We've gone from ATMs to banks that provide little or no service whatsoever. Everything is done by computer, and there's little or no human interaction involved.
Will supermarkets go the same way? No check out staff, just rows of self service tills.
Or will we end up with no actual shops at all, because it's more cost efficient to just provide an on-line service? Already, big impersonal stores like Tesco, Lidl and Aldi have forced the closure of small local shops who know their customers by name.

I'm beginning to think we're throwing out the baby with the bath water. Some handy efficiencies are fine. But are we going to end up just doing everything by machine with no need to actually engage with human beings at all?

fleet_admiral

Johnny cab is now a reality

Vinculus

Once we get over the initial panic of the great Internet crash, things will go back to normal... for a period at least.

Graces7

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

Just following on recent debate about staff less libraries, how do people feel about our rapidly dehumanising society? I know it's handy to be able to draw money out of an ATM any time you like, speed through the self service checkouts in supermarkets and buy stuff online.

But where will it end? We've gone from ATMs to banks that provide little or no service whatsoever. Everything is done by computer, and there's little or no human interaction involved.
Will supermarkets go the same way? No check out staff, just rows of self service tills.
Or will we end up with no actual shops at all, because it's more cost efficient to just provide an on-line service? Already, big impersonal stores like Tesco, Lidl and Aldi have forced the closure of small local shops who know their customers by name.

I'm beginning to think we're throwing out the baby with the bath water. Some handy efficiencies are fine. But are we going to end up just doing everything by machine with no need to actually engage with human beings at all?

Depends where you live?
In Killarney, especially in Dunne's, the checkout staff know all the old folk,greet us by name. Always loved shopping there for that

But see also how people walk in the street not seeming even to know there are other people there. That is where it starts. Have had also some good chats in banks with folk waiting for a machine to come free

Up to each of us surely to make contact?

Stone Deaf 4evr

well, they're putting wi-fi in hairbrushes now, so the robot uprising is surely only around the corner.

Boom_Bap

I blame McCains. They started this years ago when they started putting technology into food.

Clarebelly

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

I know it's handy to be able to draw money out of an ATM any time you like, speed through the self service checkouts in supermarkets and buy stuff online.

These give me more time to spend with the human beings that I love.

Noveight

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

Or will we end up with no actual shops at all, because it's more cost efficient to just provide an on-line service?

Man that'd be rough. I love the feel of two €20 notes in your hand over the knowledge of having €40 on your Laser. Cash is king!

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Clarebelly wrote: »

These give me more time to spend with the human beings that I love.

I know what you mean. But I'm just wondering about normal everyday interaction with other members of the community. I remember my late father having a great relationship with the staff in the local library. He couldn't drive much any more so things like that were important. I also know other people who 'just pop down to the shops' more to talk to someone and see other human beings, than because they actually need something.

marvin80

Amazon's new cashier-free convenience store:

https://www.amazon.com/b?node=16008589011

ScumLord

Graces7 wrote: »

Depends where you live?
In Killarney, especially in Dunne's, the checkout staff know all the old folk,greet us by name. Always loved shopping there for that

Automated systems are still better when it comes to efficiency. The shop could still hire locals as a kind of concierge, that could greet people, show them where stuff is, etc..

The upshot of all this tech was supposed to be that we'd have more time outside of work. But instead of taking the time off we try to fill the time with more productivity. Every time we gain we spend those gains to gain more. That's not the techs fault, at any time at all we can go talk to other people, we're all surrounded by thousands of them at any time, so we shouldn't blame the ATM that we won't turn around and talk to the other people in the cue.

Sooner or later our systems will get so efficient that we won't need to do anything at all, we'll have no tech development left to hide behind.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

ScumLord wrote: »

Automated systems are still better when it comes to efficiency. The shop could still hire locals as a kind of concierge, that could greet people, show them where stuff is, etc..

The upshot of all this tech was supposed to be that we'd have more time outside of work. But instead of taking the time off we try to fill the time with more productivity. Every time we gain we spend those gains to gain more. That's not the techs fault, at any time at all we can go talk to other people, we're all surrounded by thousands of them at any time, so we shouldn't blame the ATM that we won't turn around and talk to the other people in the cue.

Sooner or later our systems will get so efficient that we won't need to do anything at all, we'll have no tech development left to hide behind.

We should also be able to work from home more. But managers are still reluctant to agree to this. It kind of misses the point of a lot of the new technology that has been developed.

Shenshen

I don't think it's dehumanising, it's simply a way of making services more accessible and available around the clock. If that had to be done with human staff, we wouldn't want to (or be able to) carry the costs.

And as someone who used to work in a library - sometimes you'd welcome a chat, but most times you're being friendly while sitting on hot coals because you need to finish a number of tasks before your assigned break, or it IS already your assigned break and you know you'll have to rush lunch, or you know you're going to get an earful from the next person waiting for advice for taking so long chatting...
Public funding is low, and a library can't afford to have staff on stand-by to chat with a lonely person for an hour.

Parchment

I take an issue with the self service checkouts - i dont work for Tesco or wherever. Same with banks - at this stage i work for BOI, i do all my banking myself yet pay fees.

4068ac1elhodqr

Paying double to get a pint of milk and loaf of bread, hand-packed in a brown paper bag along with a 10-mins chit-chat at the local store is a very well and charming.

But by 2030 'half of ALL current jobs' will be lost to automation, this will naturally make most material things cheaper and easier to get for everyone.

From a humanistic perspective there will be plenty of roles available, specifically in non-ai based care interfacing.

Also high demand is expected, in human roles such as: 'well-being consultants' (specalising in omnipotence delimitisation), 'personal avatar meme agent representors' along with the opposite of this, 'privacy consultants' will become very important.

Many people will shun technology, and as such the 'robotic auto-ai-devices avoidance intermediaries' will fill that role, as go-betweens for the organic people and Skynet's bot services.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Daxton Greasy Nutshell wrote: »

Paying double to get a pint of milk and loaf of bread, hand-packed in a brown paper bag along with a 10-mins chit-chat at the local store is a very well and charming.

But by 2030 'half of ALL current jobs' will be lost to automation, this will naturally make most material things cheaper and easier to get for everyone.

From a humanistic perspective there will be plenty of roles available, specifically in non-ai based care interfacing.

Also high demand is expected, in human roles such as: 'well-being consultants' (specalising in omnipotence delimitisation), 'personal avatar meme agent representors' along with the opposite of this, 'privacy consultants' will become very important.

Many people will shun technology, and as such the 'robotic auto-ai-devices avoidance intermediaries' will fill that role, as go-betweens for the organic people and Skynet's bot services.

I don't doubt it. But at what other cost?

ScumLord

Parchment wrote: »

I take an issue with the self service checkouts - i dont work for Tesco or wherever. Same with banks - at this stage i work for BOI, i do all my banking myself yet pay fees.

When a business finds a technology that cuts costs it's generally going to cover increasing costs rather than give them more profit. Costs are forever going p in any business and it's very, very difficult for any business to increase the cost of their product, the markets just won't accept that.

Many businesses wouldn't bother with the investment of technology unless they really had to, it can cost a lot of money and disruption to introduce a new technology. So it often tends to be a last resort rather than a preemptive move.

4068ac1elhodqr

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

I don't doubt it. But at what other cost?

Economies of scale combined with process cost efficiency will drive price-points very low. The one thing that will go up in price is water, pure clean water.

seamus

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

I don't doubt it. But at what other cost?

Such as?

alchemist33

Don't know about anyone else but I've never sped through the self-service in a supermarket. Every single time something goes wrong and I have to wait for a human.

suicide_circus

Clarebelly wrote: »

These give me more time to spend with the human beings that I love.

Do they? Do we today spend more time with our families and loved ones than people did 30/40/50 years ago? In fact I think we've gone precisly the other way.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

seamus wrote: »

Such as?

Community, social contact, the development of family businesses etc.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

suicide_circus wrote: »

Do they? Do we today spend more time with our families and loved ones than people did 30/40/50 years ago? In fact I think we've gone precisly the other way.

I totally agree. People are leaving earlier for work, getting home later, sitting in separate rooms watching programmes on separate gadgets, heating up dinners in the microwave and eating them at different times, engaging with 'friends' on facebook instead of chatting to family members, and are expected to be contactable at all times to answer work related calls and emails, even if they're meant to be doing something with their kids and spouse..

_Brian

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

Just following on recent debate about staff less libraries, how do people feel about our rapidly dehumanising society? I know it's handy to be able to draw money out of an ATM any time you like, speed through the self service checkouts in supermarkets and buy stuff online.

But where will it end? We've gone from ATMs to banks that provide little or no service whatsoever. Everything is done by computer, and there's little or no human interaction involved.
Will supermarkets go the same way? No check out staff, just rows of self service tills.
Or will we end up with no actual shops at all, because it's more cost efficient to just provide an on-line service? Already, big impersonal stores like Tesco, Lidl and Aldi have forced the closure of small local shops who know their customers by name.

I'm beginning to think we're throwing out the baby with the bath water. Some handy efficiencies are fine. But are we going to end up just doing everything by machine with no need to actually engage with human beings at all?

Go to any public place, restaurant, coffee shop, waiting room, literally anywhere people are put together.. And there they are intentionally on their little devices avoiding interacting with other people who are literally just beside them for the same reason..
And yet you chose to blame the obvious commercial implementations of technology for dehumanising our society..

Its the people's choice to move to this style of society..

ScumLord

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

Community, social contact, the development of family businesses etc.

AI and automation would be great for family businesses, it would allow them to focus entirely on nepotism. No need to look outside the family at all.

suicide_circus

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

I totally agree. People are leaving earlier for work, getting home later, sitting in separate rooms watching programmes on separate gadgets, heating up dinners in the microwave and eating them at different times, engaging with 'friends' on facebook instead of chatting to family members, and are expected to be contactable at all times to answer work related calls and emails, even if they're meant to be doing something with their kids and spouse..

"Progress"

skankkuvhima

Here's why automation is brilliant

I don't have to

1. Queue to lodge or withdraw money from the bank
2. Queue to pay my motor tax
3. Wait in a doctors surgery for a hour to see a doctor
4. Get pissed off because the person in dominos took down my order wrong
5. Queue to pay my bills

I can

1. Work from anywhere (once I have internet connectivity)
2. Easily arrange holidays, trips, tickets

There must be more advantages, must think of some...

4068ac1elhodqr

VR, which is about to kick off could be the final nail in this 'progress' towards the 4th Ind Rev.
Instead of couples checking their InstaFaceTweets separately, they'll be in 'immersive headset wearing altered states'.

Yes things will be cheaper, better, faster and more accessible, but there will always be a demand for organic life matter interaction.
As such 'robotic-auto-ai-devices avoidance intermediaries' (human direct services) will be in great demand in this tech-future.

gctest50

alchemist33 wrote: »

Don't know about anyone else but I've never sped through the self-service in a supermarket. Every single time something goes wrong and I have to wait for a human.

need this, 1 hour later your stuff gets delivered :

seamus

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

I totally agree. People are leaving earlier for work, getting home later, sitting in separate rooms watching programmes on separate gadgets, heating up dinners in the microwave and eating them at different times, engaging with 'friends' on facebook instead of chatting to family members, and are expected to be contactable at all times to answer work related calls and emails, even if they're meant to be doing something with their kids and spouse..

Some people are.

Don't make the mistake of thinking, "this stuff is strange and scary to me" means, "this stuff is bad for everyone".

I personally am in far more contact with everyone; friends, family and colleagues; than I would ever have been previously.

Problems that people describe aren't caused by technology, technology is simply a new way of expressing those problems.

For instance, complaining about someone looking at their phone when they're supposed to be spending time with their kids/spouse. There didn't exist some magical time previously where the same person gave 100% undivided attention to their family.
Before the smartphone, this was the person who sat down on a bench and read the paper, or just daydreamed while they told the kids to go off and stop bothering them.
The smartphone isn't causing disconnection from people around you, just providing something else to focus on while you wilfully ignore those around you.

Studies have come out in recent time which indicate that a correlation between activity on facebook, and loneliness and self-esteem. That is, the more active you are on facebook, the more likely you are to be lonely and suffer from low self-esteem.

Those skeptical of technology are likely to point to this as proof that technology is making people shallow and disconnected.
But there's a much more obvious explanation - people who are lonely and insecure are using facebook as a means to try and make themselves feel better. They weren't less lonely or insecure before smartphones came along. They were just using other methods to try and ease their loneliness.

Whether the technology makes that suffering better or worse is a different matter. But there's a lot of people, like yourself, who use anecdotes of people "not talking" as evidence that technology is hurting relationships and damaging society. There's no evidence at all that this is happening. And just as many anecdotes and indications that communication and human interaction is increasing & improving as a result of technology.

Of course, no good pro-technology rant would be complete without this image of technology ruining society by making people anti-social.

briany

seamus wrote: »

Of course, no good pro-technology rant would be complete without this image of technology ruining society by making people anti-social.

From that photo can we conclusively say that these men weren't chatting to one another?

razorblunt

Daxton Greasy Nutshell wrote: »

Paying double to get a pint of milk and loaf of bread, hand-packed in a brown paper bag along with a 10-mins chit-chat at the local store is a very well and charming.

But by 2030 'half of ALL current jobs' will be lost to automation, this will naturally make most material things cheaper and easier to get for everyone.

From a humanistic perspective there will be plenty of roles available, specifically in non-ai based care interfacing.

Also high demand is expected, in human roles such as: 'well-being consultants' (specalising in omnipotence delimitisation), 'personal avatar meme agent representors' along with the opposite of this, 'privacy consultants' will become very important.

Many people will shun technology, and as such the 'robotic auto-ai-devices avoidance intermediaries' will fill that role, as go-betweens for the organic people and Skynet's bot services.

Agreed, half of all jobs will be gone.
I'm especially afraid for the jobs of folk who make up stats on the spot, apparently 68% of them will be out of work replaced by the AbsoluteBóllix3000 who can make them up 5 times as fast with 100% more accuracy on the inaccuracy of the facts.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

_Brian wrote: »

Go to any public place, restaurant, coffee shop, waiting room, literally anywhere people are put together.. And there they are intentionally on their little devices avoiding interacting with other people who are literally just beside them for the same reason..
And yet you chose to blame the obvious commercial implementations of technology for dehumanising our society..

Its the people's choice to move to this style of society..

I used them as examples of how services are all being switched to technological delivery. At no point did I say or imply that mobile phones etc were not an issue also.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Sounds great TBH

ScumLord

It's entirely possible that the generation growing up 20 years from now will be so bored with social technology they'll reject it and make an effort to meet people face to face as a trend.

It's also possible that they will see things made and served by humans as desireable.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

seamus wrote: »

Some people are.

Don't make the mistake of thinking, "this stuff is strange and scary to me" means, "this stuff is bad for everyone".

I personally am in far more contact with everyone; friends, family and colleagues; than I would ever have been previously.

Problems that people describe aren't caused by technology, technology is simply a new way of expressing those problems.

For instance, complaining about someone looking at their phone when they're supposed to be spending time with their kids/spouse. There didn't exist some magical time previously where the same person gave 100% undivided attention to their family.
Before the smartphone, this was the person who sat down on a bench and read the paper, or just daydreamed while they told the kids to go off and stop bothering them.
The smartphone isn't causing disconnection from people around you, just providing something else to focus on while you wilfully ignore those around you.

Studies have come out in recent time which indicate that a correlation between activity on facebook, and loneliness and self-esteem. That is, the more active you are on facebook, the more likely you are to be lonely and suffer from low self-esteem.

Those skeptical of technology are likely to point to this as proof that technology is making people shallow and disconnected.
But there's a much more obvious explanation - people who are lonely and insecure are using facebook as a means to try and make themselves feel better. They weren't less lonely or insecure before smartphones came along. They were just using other methods to try and ease their loneliness.

Whether the technology makes that suffering better or worse is a different matter. But there's a lot of people, like yourself, who use anecdotes of people "not talking" as evidence that technology is hurting relationships and damaging society. There's no evidence at all that this is happening. And just as many anecdotes and indications that communication and human interaction is increasing & improving as a result of technology.

Of course, no good pro-technology rant would be complete without this image of technology ruining society by making people anti-social.

Where did you take that from my post? I asked if the gradual switching of more and more services from human beings to machines was leading to a dehumanising of society and social contact. I didn't say that all technology was bad. In fact, the expression I used was 'throwing the baby out with the bath water'.

The_Mac

Half the people in this thread sound like my grandmother. You'd swear a young person texting their friends on Whatsapp was the death of social contact for the rest of eternity.

C. Montgomery Gurns

Daxton Greasy Nutshell wrote: »

Paying double to get a pint of milk and loaf of bread, hand-packed in a brown paper bag along with a 10-mins chit-chat at the local store is a very well and charming.

But by 2030 'half of ALL current jobs' will be lost to automation, this will naturally make most material things cheaper and easier to get for everyone.
.

Sure we were meant to be a cashless society by now.

I honestly think driverless technology is an unrealistic white elephant designed to do nothing more than scam investors. How are things such as driverless public transport and dirverless buses even meant to work? What does the robot driver do when people are smoking heroin on the top deck. What does the robot do when it is finishing time on the Nitelink and someone is fast asleep upstairs? What does the driverless taxi do when someone throws up on the back at the start of the Saturday night shift. Scumbags already rob food delivery men the odd time- can you imagine the amount that will happen if, rather than assaulting a pizza man and stealing his vehicle and food, kids simply have to swipe the pizza from the slot before the buyer can reach it? The vandalism against these vehicles would be unprecedented.

4068ac1elhodqr

C. Montgomery Gurns wrote: »

Sure we were meant to be a cashless society by now.

I honestly think driverless technology is an unrealistic white elephant designed to do nothing more than scam investors. How are things such as driverless public transport and dirverless buses even meant to work? What does the robot driver do when people are smoking heroin on the top deck. What does the robot do when it is finishing time on the Nitelink and someone is fast asleep upstairs? What does the driverless taxi do when someone throws up on the back at the start of the Saturday night shift. Scumbags already rob food delivery men the odd time- can you imagine the amount that will happen if, rather than assaulting a pizza man and stealing his vehicle and food, kids simply have to swipe the pizza from the slot before the buyer can reach it? The vandalism against these vehicles would be unprecedented.

2021 is the proposed timeframe for driverless cars to become mainstream purchase options. If you haven't noticed RFID (tap and pay) is a very real thing (that wireless icon on most cards), reducing the need to carry any cash. Cheques are becoming obsolete quickly. And if you haven't accidentally made it onto CCTV doing anything outside of the house today, I'd be very surprised. the latest cameras will carry multiple sensors and have facial recognition abilities, and if anyone walks funny or behaves outside of set patterns that will be noted also.

C. Montgomery Gurns

Daxton Greasy Nutshell wrote: »

2021 is the proposed timeframe for driverless cars to become mainstream purchase options. If you haven't noticed RFID (tap and pay) is a very real thing (that wireless icon on most cards), reducing the need to carry any cash. Cheques are becoming obsolete quickly. And if you haven't accidentally made it onto CCTV doing anything outside of the house today, I'd be very surprised. the latest cameras will carry multiple sensors and have facial recognition abilities, and if anyone walks funny or behaves outside of set patterns that will be noted also.

I think a good barometer would be whether taxi drivers, truckers and bus drivers are granted mortgages if they meet the deposit and 3.5 rule. If they are the bank obviously sees a future in these careers for the next 30 years, no? For those who say that property prices can only go up and the bank wouldn't cop a major loss, with the hopeful building acceleration between now and 2021 the price of existing housing could flatline or even fall.

Zubeneschamali

Ingrid Blue Menu wrote: »

are we going to end up just doing everything by machine with no need to actually engage with human beings at all?

I hope so.

NIMAN

Where were the robotic bar men when I needed them in my drinking days?

Many a night I stood at the bar, six deep, for guts of 20mins trying to get served. If only we had machines serving us then I could have got drunker quicker.

4068ac1elhodqr

C. Montgomery Gurns wrote: »

I think a good barometer would be whether taxi drivers, truckers and bus drivers are granted mortgages if they meet the deposit and 3.5 rule. If they are the bank obviously sees a future in these careers for the next 30 years, no? For those who say that property prices can only go up and the bank wouldn't cop a major loss, with the hopeful building acceleration between now and 2021 the price of existing housing could flatline or even fall.

It's a bit more complicated than that as mortgages are usually a dual-income event. It should be on the radar of lending institutions that the face of employment will change by 2030.

2021 may be the start of advertisements for new AI-vehicles, but that change over will span up to 20yrs, only when it becomes a feasible option (cost and insurance push), to 'upgrade' someones old 1.4 Corolla, to driver-less capability will it become a majority event.

Rubberchikken

Give me self service any day over standing in a queue while someone searches for money as though they'd never been in a sho before and were surprised they had to pay.
Local, artisan shops are great but who could seriously afford them all the time.
Funnily enough i never buy anything off the net. Still prefer to actually see what i'm buying

kirving

Daxton Greasy Nutshell wrote: »

It's a bit more complicated than that as mortgages are usually a dual-income event. It should be on the radar of lending institutions that the face of employment will change by 2030.

2021 may be the start of advertisements for new AI-vehicles, but that change over will span up to 20yrs, only when it becomes a feasible option (cost and insurance push), to 'upgrade' someones old 1.4 Corolla, to driver-less capability will it become a majority event.

It's far closer than 20 years, like like 5. And I know people have been saying this for years and years, but a good portion of the technology is now available to the public already. Think how far smartphones have come in 5 years.

You can buy a Mercedes today, that will do a very significant amount of the driving by itself, for not that much extra cost on the standard car. I don't know the exact figure but it's in the thousands, not tens of thousands. A huge percentage of cars today come with adaptive cruise control and braking too.

For the likes of Uber, who are heavily involved in this technology, a self driving taxi would pay for itself in a matter of months when you remove the cost of a driver, and the ability to run 24 hrs a day non stop.

NIMAN

Kevin Irving wrote: »

It's far closer than 20 years, like like 5. And I know people have been saying this for years and years, but a good portion of the technology is now available to the public already. Think how far smartphones have come in 5 years.

You can buy a Mercedes today, that will do a very significant amount of the driving by itself, for not that much extra cost on the standard car. I don't know the exact figure but it's in the thousands, not tens of thousands. A huge percentage of cars today come with adaptive cruise control and braking too.

For the likes of Uber, who are heavily involved in this technology, a self driving taxi would pay for itself in a matter of months when you remove the cost of a driver, and the ability to run 24 hrs a day non stop.

How would it refuel? At present it would need a human to do that?
I don't think cars would last too long if they ran 24/7 without any break?
What about maintenance?

4068ac1elhodqr

Kevin Irving wrote: »

It's far closer than 20 years

Yes 2021 availability expected for cars to be advertised and sold as 'driverless' but even then there may be some small print and many conditions of use.

Naturally not everyone is going to buy a new car on 2021, and the upgrade costs mightn't suit everyone, the crossover point will be 51% or more adaption or deployment, for say 95% of conditions, then its use rapidly accelerate.

Nissan is the latest to take this seriously, they're hoping for 2020.

kirving

My car runs for 10,000km between services, some run up to 30k km. Obviously services would have to take place, but the actual mechanics of modern day cars are so good that the downtime for servicing and maintenance will be negligible.

As for refueling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM0lRfX6YI

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not a fan boy of this tech without paying any attention to the deficits. There will be issue with it, technical, legislative, and of course social. I actually think Trump's proposed robot tax is a great idea, if of course the money is ringfenced for re-training and education. Which being Trump, it won't be unfortunately.

What I'm really saying is that the likes of Taxi drivers are going to be replaced at a much faster rate than they expect, quicker than they could even complete a college course if they start today.

For Forks Sake

ScumLord wrote: »

It's entirely possible that the generation growing up 20 years from now will be so bored with social technology they'll reject it and make an effort to meet people face to face as a trend.

It's also possible that they will see things made and served by humans as desireable.

Skynet will have become self-aware and enslaved us all before then anyway

alb

Kevin Irving wrote: »

My car runs for 10,000km between services, some run up to 30k km. Obviously services would have to take place

Actually if you see what's in an electric car there's not much to service. There's no engine in the conventional sense, just a load of batteries on the bottom of the chassis and a small electric motor mechanism between the wheels, so they'll likely need much less maintenance and much less frequently.

4068ac1elhodqr

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Skynet will have become self-aware and enslaved us all before then anyway

Probably, but there will also be great demand for privacy consultants and products to enhance privacy. RFID Wallets (blockers) seem to be in great demand at the moment to prevent 'close proximity skimming'.