Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-ncis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU!gwills%maths.tcd.ie
From: gwills%maths.tcd.ie@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: cars as horseless carriages
Message-ID: <8901161008.aa028291@hamilton.maths.tcd.ie>
Date: 16 Jan 89 08:08:31 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
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Yes, as soon as I sent that one in I thought about it a bit more...

I actually don't think the *distance* matters very much - it doesn' create
a *fundamental* change, it merely allows people to travel further; it allows
the suburbs to be further out (there were suburbs in horse 'n' carriage days).
The key word in your letter was "average". It's the fact that the average person
today has a mode of transport that has caused the revolution. Whereas previously
   only a small percentage could travel more than 3-5 miles without relying on v
   eryinfrequent public transport, now most people can. This has lead to the cur
   rent
revolutionised transport and cultural situation.

BTW, I liked the 100 mile / 100 year quote. I (an Englishman) certainly *DO*
think 100 miles a long way (Why... Dublin and Belfast are that far apart and
thats a *long* way... :-) ), but when I think about some government decision,
I do wonder what its long term effects will be.

- Graham.