On the Bus in L.A.

On the Bus in L.A.. Total Experience: Total Experience examines and comments on the emerging practice of experience design: the systematic product of experiences to alter individuals' and groups' perceptions, cognition, understanding, and action.

While I was working at GRTA(GA) I was told the latest metro buses ( second hand) cost about $750,000 = I was quite amazed. I calculated that for the same cost you could by more seats in stretched limousines.

We where looking for ways to encourage more public transit use in Atlanta and I playfully suggested that while no one it Atlanta would willingly get the bus ( if they could afford it ) everyone would be willing to take ( and share ) the limousines to work:-)

I also promoted access to the internet with a wireless Internet internally on the longer distance commute busses as a way of expanding the usage out to a larger community.

While financially you get more for you money (capital/pollution and running costs ) in stretched limousines, the big counter cost was in driver time. One thing GRTA did do was implement a minibus share system. A group of people could get a minibus and share the driving ( eliminating the driver cost). I still think it would have done better with shared limousines.

Solar Dryer

The solar dyer concept emerged from a dream I once had.

In the dream I was showing ruth a glass box and getting to guess what it was. The box was about the size of a washing machine. It was glass with curved vertical edges*.

The top was a glass lid which would lift up. The back and bottom of the box where mat black plates. One part of the front was a small solar cell.

In the glass box was a large wire drum on the inside.

Ruth still could not guess what it was for. The glass box had a thick padlock and cable attached. There where some small holes in the top and bottom for ventilation.

Ruth could not guess so I put some damp cloths in, then she guessed.

The idea was that the glass box sits outside in the garden near the house in some front facing location. The solar cell turns a small motor like a slow second hand of a clock ( one rotation every few minuets ). If the sun shines then the glass box is heated. This helps to dry the cloths quickly. If the box gets too hot then perhaps a solar cell also powers a fan to extract out the heat.

why not use a cloths line ?

I asked Ruth about it? Firstly convenience a tumble dryer is fire and forget. You don't have to go out if it looks like rain. Nothing ends sticking on it. You just load the dryer up and pick it up when dry. Secondly and far more importantly Ruth feels that cloths come from the cloths line like stiff cardboard. This is most important for washable nappies ( of which we have a lot).

What troubles me about a tumble dryer is the electricity needed to run it ( plus the noise a bit).

I belive a solar cloths dryer would be convenient enough ( ok you have to go outside ) to make a general eco back up to a normal tumble dryer. Perhaps this would fall between markets. Most green people like the hair shirt ( and cloths line )approach. Most convenience people hate anything green. Best way to check would be to make one and sell it. I'm on the look out for garden cloches.


*not totally relevant to a working version.

Ipod with blue tooth.

Simple but obvious one.

I'm sure Apple will design an Ipod which has a blue tooth connection. This way your music can both be down loaded from your computer to your pod and you can transmit muisc live to a blue tooth head set.

Headless Book company.

I've been reading about the use of 'the wisdom of crowds'. Apprently if you get a lot of people to view the weight of a animal at an agricultural show the average of the whole crowd is more accurate than any individual guess.

Another way of doing this is to establish a 'futures' market in that prediction. For example one has been done on the outcome of elections and who wins what at the Hollywood Oscars - which is more accurate apparently than doing a pole.

I like the notion that a flock/crowd can be collectively smart.

I've been wondering what would happen if a large company used its collective intelligence to figure out what the best next product to produce was.

I imagine something like an intranet web application. It would display several alternative products. A bonus ( money ) would be then used to trade on what the company would invest in next.

For example imagine a large publishing company or a small one with a number of 'external content consultants'. They have twenty or so books they want to decided how much effort to put effort (marketing and preordering so on) into. They set up a collective market (via internal intranet) and then on the basis of the results assign efforts/budgets accordingly.


It makes sense if you have read 'the wisdom of crowds'.

I like the idea that eventually the company is run collectivity ( but no one in the company knows it). The company executives are just dead meat.