# Age of Automation: Fantasy or coming reality? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 21, 2016, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490 "2016-08-21T12:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/21 "2016-08-23T00:08:20Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > What good would that accomplish? I saw a headline earlier today that Bill Gates hit a new record of personal fortune. He’s now (allegedly) worth $90 BILLION. That’s an astounding amount of money for one person to have, but, if we killed him in the street and took his entire fortune, it’d fund the current federal government for just over a week. If we distributed his fortune to all Americans equally, we’d all get $275. Bill Gates is the only rich person in the US? Huh. I wonder what happened to the rest of them. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/22 "2016-08-23T00:20:29Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Bill Gates is the only rich person in the US? Huh. I wonder what happened to the rest of them. No, of course not, it was just one example, meant to be illustrative. He’s the richest. Last I heard, the Forbes 400 list, combined, had about $2 trillion. Most people who talk about killing the top 1% usually aren’t talking about the fast food restaurant owners, the guys running plumbing businesses, etc. that actually make up most of the 3+ million people in “the 1%”, or at least I don’t think they realize they’re talking about those people, but maybe Bosda was … who knows? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/23 "2016-08-23T07:07:44Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > What’s scary about this? If people prefer Netflix to Comcast, or Spotify to CDs, why is that “really scary”? Seems like the customers are just being presented with additional options: that’s usually a good thing in most people’s eyes. This is just further application of the Rent vs. Buy for housing. The cost of rent will rise The cost of Uber rides will rise The cost of ISP will rise The price of Music streaming will rise The price of video streaming will rise At some point, your income tops out. You are now too old to work. How will you pay for your life? Just as the young now resent the old for taking their money (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) YOUR kids will resent your benefits. IOW: SS ain’t going to cover your current lifestyle. Ask a homeless person how they ended up on the street/in a shelter ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/24 "2016-08-23T07:52:19Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > This is just further application of the Rent vs. Buy for housing. > > The cost of rent will rise > The cost of Uber rides will rise > The cost of ISP will rise > The price of Music streaming will rise > The price of video streaming will rise > > At some point, your income tops out. > > You are now too old to work. How will you pay for your life? > > Just as the young now resent the old for taking their money (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) YOUR kids will resent your benefits. > IOW: SS ain’t going to cover your current lifestyle. > > Ask a homeless person how they ended up on the street/in a shelter This is just nonsense. Back in the 60s and 70s, you could buy a new car for $2500 and a new house for 40K. You act as if income is a fixed thing that never changes through out the ages. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/25 "2016-08-23T22:58:56Z")
The old rule for “How Much House Can You Afford” was: Annual Salary\* \* 3. The idea of “Hey! What if we BOTH work and put the kid in Daycare?” resulted in TWO salaries to multiply by 3. Where do you want to live? Palo Alto? Sunnyvale? San Jose? SF? NYC? SCal coast (anywhere)? Portland? Seattle? (the first 3 are “Silicon Valley” cities) Your double income times three = what? House prices are what? Even taking account for the now-standard double incomes, people are spending 50% of combined income to rent. Incomes are falling further and further behind the curve. I own about 200 hours of music (vinyl, CD - let’s forget the 8 Track and cassettes discarded). I may get sick to death of the selection, but at least I have that. When the person who rents everything awakens in excruciating pain which does not go away and is never going to work her current job or even “Fries with That?”, what are they going to do for housing, transportation, entertainment? - - salary - an ancient concept of long-term, steady and usually increasing assured income. Hustles not required, all taxes paid by employer, and get this - it even included Health Insurance! Ask your grandpa about it. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/26 "2016-08-23T23:14:44Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Ask a homeless person how they ended up on the street/in a shelter I have volunteered in homeless shelters. In my anecdotal experience I’d say 80% were there because of booze, another 15% for drugs, and the last few because of mental illness. I never met one homeless person who wasn’t there for one of those reasons. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/27 "2016-08-23T23:52:21Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I own about 200 hours of music (vinyl, CD - let’s forget the 8 Track and cassettes discarded). > I may get sick to death of the selection, but at least I have that. > > When the person who rents everything awakens in excruciating pain which does not go away and is never going to work her current job or even “Fries with That?”, what are they going to do for housing, transportation, entertainment? I own my house. Well, the bank owns it. Twenty years from now, I guess it will technically be mine. But not really, because if I can’t scrounge up enough money to pay the taxes on it, the city can take it away from me. Renters who can’t pay their rent close up their apartments and move somewhere else. Homeowners who can’t pay their mortgage get foreclosed on and move somewhere else. Guess which one ends up grieving the most over all they’ve lost? Guess which one usually has the most regrets? You know what makes moving a giant pain the ass? Having to lug around crates of dusty albums and CDs. A streaming music service is the ramblin’ man’s best friend. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/28 "2016-08-24T08:44:21Z")
If all the folks who can no longer afford the ever-increasing rent happily move on, why does ‘Rent Control’ exist? Because the folks who moved into that apartment 20 years ago still want to keep it. And the local politicians agreed that they _should_ be able to keep it. So they limit the rent hikes. And, given the USA’s love affair with Capitalism, the idea of telling an owner what they can charge for a product is not an idea which springs immediately to mind. Your retirement income is much more likely to cover taxes, utilities, insurance, and maintenance than it is to cover the rent - esp. when a new generation is eager to move into your space - and can out-bid you. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/29 "2016-08-24T13:50:34Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > I keep hearing about how automation is going to change our lives but I don’t buy it, I still have to go to work everyday and bust my ass, how is it making/going to make my life better? Two words: Self Driving Cars. Not here yet, but soon to be. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/30 "2016-08-25T00:03:12Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > When you see those robots reaching inside the car body and making momentary sparks on the seams, they are putting spot welds in places no human could. Isn’t that what children are for? Pfft, kids today… no work ethic. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490/31 "2016-08-25T01:54:02Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Two words: Self Driving Cars. > > Not here yet, but soon to be. [Theyyyyyy’rrrrrre heeeeerrrre! Well… they’re in Singapore… starting tomorrow (Thursday 25 August 2016): > [@](#): > > The world’s first self-driving taxis will be picking up passengers in Singapore starting Thursday. > > Select members of the public will be able to hail a free ride through their smartphones in taxis operated by nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup. While multiple companies, including Google and Volvo, have been testing self-driving cars on public roads for several years, nuTonomy says it will be the first to offer rides to the public. It will beat ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, by a few weeks. ]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US\_AUTONOMOUS\_TAXIS\_SINGAPORE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-08-24-21-32-45](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AUTONOMOUS_TAXIS_SINGAPORE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-08-24-21-32-45)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/age-of-automation-fantasy-or-coming-reality/763490.md?page=1)