That sounds great until you go to a facility where it is near impossible to speak to an actual person. A few years ago I was at such a facility and needed to ask a question. When I finally located a human they told me to use the iPad near what was once a reception desk.
Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of the whole “replace people with technology” approach; I much prefer technology as a partner to people- whether it’s people as an adjunct or vice-versa, both need to be present for proper customer service.
Anyway, all I was getting at is that in a lot of ways, having access to our data and systems has made a lot of stuff much easier and convenient in many ways. I mean, it’s super cool that if I type in my phone number at my local grocery store and pay with cash, that I can still get a printed receipt later through their systems. Technologically that’s not much of a stretch at all, but in terms of convenience, it’s amazing. Or the various subscription models for buying common stuff like laundry detergent and dog food. That’s something that’s a definite time and trouble saver for me.
Heck, my port is a huge improvement over getting a plain IV for every chemo session. Numb & disinfect and insert IV needle and boom! You’re ready to go.
Contact lenses have become much more comfortable to wear and less prone to falling out.
In the next few years more and more cars and trucks will have pedestrian detection technology with automatic braking. It won’t eliminate vehicle/pedestrian collisions, but I suspect the number will go dramatically down.
Anything but better driver training. /sarcasm
Better drivers would be nice, but even halfway good drivers make mistakes, or have the sun in their eyes or can’t see a pedestrian on a dark and rainy morning.
I **loved **my port. It was the only way I could get stuck and not pass out. I had it taken out when I finished chemo but it was a blessing while I had it.
Automatic pedestrian detection & braking can go a long way to preventing car-ped collisions. For the case where the ped steps out in front of a car at a decent distance.
Even with a computer on the job to apply the brakes instantly, cars do not stop moving instantly. Oblivious peds can still step out in front of cars too close for even HAL to prevent the collision.
I think I probably participated in an auto-save of a ped (me) just today. I was also saving myself at the same time, so the car only gets partial credit. But it totally does deserve partial credit.
I’m crossing a suburban thoroughfare in a crosswalk at a traffic light. In the direction I’m crossing there’s a middle island then 3 lanes with traffic approaching from my right: must turn left, must go straight, must turn right. I have the green light and the white walk sign. Nobody is waiting at the light in any of those lanes.
As I’m stepping off the island a car is coming up in the right lane and slowing appropriately to make their right on red after not-quite stopping as we all do. If we both keep moving as we are, I predict I’ll end up just in front of her as she makes her turn & I get squished. I’m looking right at the driver and can see her face is mostly hidden behind her A-pillar. Meaning she probably can’t see me hidden behind the pillar from her POV. As I continue walking we’re getting closer together, but she’s still fully behind the A-pillar. I’ve had some close calls as the driver in that A-pillar hiding scenario and it’s one I’m hypervigilant about whether driving or walking.
As we’re down to maybe 6 feet apart with me still not into her path she brakes more. Which I interpret as evidence she sees me and will stop short so I can proceed.
A step or two later it’s obvious she’s not stopping and if I take 2 more steps to get in front of her, I’m gonna get squished a moment later. So I stop walking which would let her pass harmlessly by a couple feet in front of me. And just as I freeze I hear an insistent BEEPBEEPBEEP and her brakes lock up. As this is going on the geometry is changing so her startled face appears from behind the A-pillar. Then turns to look at me. It’s 100% obvious she’d had not seen me and was startled by her car halting for no apparent reason. I’d misinterpreted her earlier braking change as being for me; it wasn’t. Yikes.
To her credit she looked horrified as she quickly figured out what must have just almost happened. I smiled and waved then deviated around behind her car as she then continued her turn.
Had she not had auto-stop and had I been obliviously glued to my phone, I’d be in a hospital now instead of at home.
@LSL Guy, I’m glad you didn’t get run thru by that driver.
Agree it won’t prevent “dart out” cases. But in my experience those are rare. I’ve been involved in about 6 pedestrian cases, all could have been prevented by this technology.
The good news is, yes, modern jet airliners are quieter than they used to be. The bad news is, air traffic is higher than ever.
When I lived in The Big City, jet noise was just a constant din. I lived in a “good” part of the city, meaning far from the airport and well east of it, so that with prevailing westerlies, at least the overflying aircraft would be on a landing approach. But when the winds shifted in bad weather, oh, man, the takeoffs were LOUD, even though the airport was at least 30 miles away!
The only real improvement for me was getting the hell out of the city and into a distant suburb, where I hardly ever hear the cursed things. I say “hardly ever” because even out here I sometimes (maybe once every couple of months) hear the faint steely whine of a jet that is apparently either lost or on an unusual path.
You can choose to live with Santa Claus at the North Pole and still be plagued by jet airliners following “over-the-top” polar routes. The only way to completely get away from the fuckers is to live on the moon.
How about airline travel in general? I’m still not a fan of the process, but it’s gotten less painful over the years.
(Using TSA PreCheck and Global Entry certainly factor into this)
Oh man, my brain can still taste Tab if I think about it for a moment. Vile, indeed.
mmm
Apparently you’ve been acclimatized to normalized contemporary bullshit. I remember a time when getting on a plane involved parking my car, walking over to the the plane, climbing the little “airstairs”, and sitting down.
You’e really exemplifying how much worse things have become!
Yep, I get that. I do believe it has improved over the recent past.
Keep your shoes on your feet, swipe your own passport and you’re through the gate, pre-selecting your seat, etc.
Now, if we can do something about that lack of legroom.
mmm
Or: bribe some politicians to divert airplane traffic away from the Amish-type community you created in a nature preserve outside Philadelphia (The Village in which you raise your kids to believe it’s still the 1800s so as to protect them from the evils of the modern world) 
Yeah- bad movie but worth a reference