THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Thursday, June 4, 1896:
Henry Ford took his car out for a trial drive around the streets of Detroit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Quadricycle
"Ford sold his first Quadricycle for $200 in 1896 to Charles Ainsley. He later built two more Quadricycles: one in 1899, and another in 1901. He eventually bought his first one back for $60."
"The transmission had only two gears (first for up to 10 mph (16 km/h), 2nd for up to 20 mph (32 km/h)), but did not have a reverse gear."
What would the world be like today if not for Henry Ford's invention? How much different would it be, if everyone were still using Horses to get around and to pull farm equipment? Would we still think that another way was impossible?
Without cars, people would rarely travel long distances. There might not be any suburbs nor highways as we know them today. Food would be more expensive, and have to be grown locally, luxuries like spices and numerous varieties of food might never be tasted by most.
Good luck in an emergency, you would not be able to call an ambulance, you'll have to wait for the casket to arrive by buggy. Would there even be global trade? The train would probably be the preferred mode of transportation, any of the above mentioned might be shipped by rail.
Although those early Model T's were somewhat unreliable and required constant repair and maintenance, over the past 100 years the design and engineering has improved dramatically. We can hardly imagine a world without the automobile! Would there still be airships? Would people ride bicycles, or walk most places? How would our health suffer, or be improved by such a traditional world? Could other innovations have been created instead?
Will our future shift towards having personal robots, using remote-presence, having heavy duty utility machines that manufacture our complex needs right at home, or custom software for our needs? Will we assign tasks to our robotic assistants like employees, getting things done mainly though thought? Will the idea of manual labour be obsolete, like the idea of running a farm with the family is today? Kids have no interest in gardening, when their food comes from the convenience store, or by delivery man. Certainly the delivery man will be out of a job, or be repairing the drones.
The speed of society is unlikely to slow down, I heard from an elderly fellow recently how the main highway used to be just 50km/hr maximum, and the roads were quite rough. Now, they have increased the limit to 120km/hr and in most places that is the speed most travel. If the limits are increased, due to improved vehicle safety or terrain, to 200km/hr one day, will it even be possible to slow drivers down to caution them? Everything is moving towards immediacy. We have no patience to wait for anything, so it will likely be the services which cater to the instantaneous delivery of gratifications that succeed in the next century. What can you not live without?
We seem to adapt to technology so much that we stop seeing it as innovative, but as reality. New inventions arrive and redefine what is normal for the next generation, and we move into the preceding century expecting more of the same, but also new things better faster and stronger!
Someone from 1825 would be astonished to see indoor lighting at the flick of a switch, instant communication across the sea, refrigerators, and freezers keeping food preserved for months. All the air travel that never seems to stop, taking people across the world night and day in just hours. And especially access to all of human knowledge through a device that you can hold in your hand.
In the future they will wonder, why did people drive themselves? Why was sickness allowed to be ignored for years without proper treatment? Why did people waste so much time watching the same old stories on repeat? Why was there misunderstandings between people with different cultures who spoke different languages? Why did people have to work jobs that were repetitive or lacked value for society? One thing we can learn from the Model T quadracycle is that, it is not a perfect invention that changes the world, but perhaps an imperfect one that keeps improving.
What do you think the world in 2200 will be like, and what will people be unable to live without?
