Today I read yet another article about how Detroit is out of touch with today's auto market. But instead of dwelling on that, it pointed to exactly the type of business model that will serve as its replacement. Drawing parallels with Apple and its iPod/iTunes business model, this new one also uses today's technology to reinvent a tired, old business model. It's called Better Place and is already on its way to being tested in Hawaii.
Wake up, Detroit. I can totally see this working.
Thursday 11 December 2008
The grass really is greener
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4 comments:
weird... Steve made a blog post....
:P
I equally love and hate this idea. It'll make people think twice about driving everywhere, like 2 blocks away for a jug of milk, but at the same time it takes away from the feeling of freedom when you own a car. My cell phone has unlimited evening and weekend minutes... I won't get that with a car. so it'll suck if I have to make a Long trip. but then, if I keep using skytrain to get to work, I'll never use the car.
It has it's ups and downs, for sure. But it's the best model I've heard of so far... at least for the oil companies to keep getting money. I still like the idea of having them fuck off and die and I just get the power from my electricity provider.
If you end up paying 1/2 as much for gas per km then it doesn't matter if you go on a road trip or not - you still would pay half as much than you would using today's model. It's really the same setup. Today we subscribe to the oil companies and pay the fee every couple weeks at their gas stations no matter how far we drive. There's no freedom. I'd rather the fee was for electrons rather than for hydrocarbons.
I think this idea is great, however the lifestyle aspect of it will slow it down, especially in North America. I can see Europe and Asia using and developing this technology more just because the North American lifestyle is lazy.
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