The Tech Building Blocks of City 2.0 70
CWmike writes "Sci-Fi writers call it Utopia, the glorious City of the Future. But short of downtown atriums being guarded by invisible walls and flying cars, City 2.0 is not as far off as you may think, writes John Brandon. Ubiquitous wireless networks are already available in Baltimore and Minneapolis, Thomson Reuters has sustainable data centers that sell power back to the local utility, the smart energy grid is well on its way, and city-provided social networks are common. While the concept of City 2.0 is monumental, these key technology advancements are already helping pave the road to the next-generation city. The next steps toward the city of tomorrow are all about integrating these services cohesively, making them widely available across the entire metropolis and managing the services more efficiently. 'The reality is that the city of the future will likely have many aspects of a contained and managed ecosystem,' says analyst Rob Enderle."
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Not until City 3.0. Please be patient.
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I'll wait for City 17
Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen
Can't be Done With Proprietary Stuff (Score:2)
Re:Can't be Done With Proprietary Stuff (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course it can be done with proprietary gear. That's what the proxy or bridge patterns are for: commonize the interfaces so that Fred's Electric Controllers and Barney's Electric Controllers both have a common ElectricController interface.
Retail did that 15 years ago with the Unified POS device standards. Every barcode scanner out there has a different interface: different commands to turn it on and off, different electrical requirements, etc., but every scanner ultimately does the same task - it reads a barcode. So 15 years ago the retail industry said "we're sick of this" and developed a de facto standard that became UPOS. All a vendor has to do is wrap their device driver in a little proxy layer so it meets the common UPOS interface standard, and any cash register can use it (yes, UPOS today is limited to Windows and Java implementations.)
It doesn't matter if it's a Microsoft WindowsCE electric controller or an Open Source GNU electric controller. As long as the cities arrive at a common interface spec for what a core electric controller does, this can work.
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Turns out it's patented, by a fun stealth patent.
What's a "stealth patent"?
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See also Rambus vs. JEDIC, or the much more overt rand terms on patents in ISO standards.
rand = "reasonable and non-discriminatory' = give me all your cash and I'll sneer derisively while stifling a laugh, no matter who you are.
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This made me piss myself with laughter. Certainly the last part did. I don't think either you or those who have modded you up have quite grasped tha last thi
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You've totally painted over the computer industry's failure on that front
TCP IP, UDP, PCI, ISA, USB, SATA, IDE, ASCII TXT.
These are some pretty big non-failures of open standards that allow any implementation of various devices and data to interact and communicate successfully. While I have no doubt that there are examples of failures, as well, the fact that I can read what you write on my computer, made by a different manufacturer, to different specs, with different architecture from yours says that inter
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The fact that you laughably talk about WindowsCE and 'Open Source GNU' even leads me to believe that you're a bit of a shill who's still trying to peddle that 'Open standards and not open source' crap that Microsoft in particular has been trying to get over. Sorry, but open source guarantees open standards because everyone is going to know how your stuff works anyway.
You're making crap up. I never said anything about closed source. The patterns OPOS so successfully established were indeed open source. They are used to proxy the closed-source proprietary device drivers.
I've been using OPOS for 14 years. None of the hardware scanner makers, Symbol, Norand, Welch-Allyn or PSC created it. They were perfectly happy to have vendor lock-in where we could only replace one Symbol scanner with another Symbol scanner. Instead, competitors in the retail software business,
The building blocks.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The building blocks.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless its a city without traffic, pollution, gangs, poverty and the homeless its going to look pretty much the same to me. Getting rid of cars, trucks, and sirens would be the biggest step to a Utopian city I can think of assuming you replace it with effective transit, kinder gentler taxis, an effective logistics mechanism to replace trucks and effective emergency services without sirens.
I recall reading recently there is a 2 mile square suburb in Germany which was designed to ban cars. They have communal garages on the edge for your cars. Rail service to commute to jobs in the city. Stores are designed to be walked to. Its bikes and pedestrians only in the interior. That is pretty close to Utopia for me.
If people in businesses like IT, finance, etc and can telecommute effectively that would also be a huge step. Commuting alone make urban/suburban design an unavoidable living hell.
Solving the homeless problem a lot harder. You can't just cage them, can't just ship them somewhere else, and you can't just wave a wand and solve the drug abuse, mental illness, criminal records, hatred for the man and hatred for 40 hour work weeks in factories and offices that made them the way they are.
Here is an interesting article on CounterPunch with Alex Rivera, an indie sci fi film producer from Peru about his dystopian film, Sleep Dealer [counterpunch.org]. It raises some interesting issues. One of the premises is based on a future sealing of the border to illegal immigrants who will instead continue to work in the U.S. through virtual links, like driving Taxi's, assembly line work in factories through robots, mowing lawns, etc. Its the ultimate continuation to outsourcing and globalization.
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"I recall reading recently there is a 2 mile square suburb in Germany which was designed to ban cars. They have communal garages on the edge for your cars. Rail service to commute to jobs in the city. Stores are designed to be walked to. Its bikes and pedestrians only in the interior. That is pretty close to Utopia for me."
We call it a "mall" in the U.S. I don't think it's a utopia. Given your statement I think you would be in heaven if you went to the Mall of America. ;)
queue angelic theme... aaaaaahaaa
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Actually no, its the exact opposite of a mall. Malls are usually completely pedestrian hostile to get to. I think I'm talking about old fashioned corner grocery stores with lots of fresh produce out front. Malls also demand a huge population to support them meaning many of them travel long distances to get to it.... in cars.
Core changes... (Score:3, Interesting)
1: Walkable cities; http://www.newurbanism.org/ [newurbanism.org]
Everything I need should be no more than 10 minutes walk. Why should I have to get in a car/bus/train to get the stuff I want. East Kilbride, Cumbernauld [wikipedia.org] ... disasters.
2: PRT: http://www.atsltd.co.uk/media/ [atsltd.co.uk]
Solves much of the traffic and logistic problems for those areas you can't walk to.
3: Reform of the monetary system; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFb26u9g8 [youtube.com] and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxdPIOUTd2k [youtube.com]
Lending money into existence is the cause of a lot of
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Unless its a city without traffic, pollution, gangs, poverty and the homeless its going to look pretty much the same to me.
Traffic and pollution can be solved by technical means, but the rest I don't think are solvable without resorting to some kind of draconian measures, like taking homeless people to concentration camps. You could solve those problems in some places by having a relatively affluent population (like some small countries do now), but this usually means that poor people and mentally imbalanc
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"Of course, the anti-car people usually tell me that I should simply go shopping at the corner market every day, or even better, just eat out all the time."
That is exactly what you should do and the "anti-car" people are right. If you shop every day or two for smaller quantities of groceries it means you can have more fresh bread, fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. Your food would taste better and be better for you than living off frozen food and out of cans.
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That's idiotic. I don't have time to waste going to the grocery store every single day. I have better things to do with my time than that.
As for frozen food and cans, I guess you've never heard of an invention called the "refrigerator". It keeps my fruits and vegetables quite fresh, so I don't have to go shopping more than once a week.
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"videoconferencing isn't a replacement for the face-to-face interaction these people want. Personally, I have little interest in face-to-face interaction with my coworkers, but the people who write my paycheck aren't like that; they're extroverts, and that's why telecommuting hasn't really taken off that much."
I think those people are just dinosaurs. VoIP and video conferencing is a completely sufficient replacement for communicating everything that needs to be communicated in a business once you acclimate
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I think those people are just dinosaurs. VoIP and video conferencing is a completely sufficient replacement for communicating everything that needs to be communicated in a business once you acclimate to it. I imagine the only thing you are losing is time wasting BS'ing at the "water cooler", eavesdropping on others BS'ing, office politics, getting drunk after work, and the hitting on your coworkers, all of which are probably a net negative to actual productivity.
You can think that way all you want, but are
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draconian measures, like taking homeless people to concentration camps
Switzerland seems to have solved the problem of homeless people by giving them a place to live and taking care of their health problems. It's actually quite humane. I haven't seen a single homeless person in the three years I've been here.
A lot of this can be done by moving to a proper rapid transit system. Such a thing doesn't exist yet...
Actually, Switzerland does have an excellent nationwide transit system. It's an integrated network of trains and buses that you can use to go literally anywhere in the country. All decidedly low tech (except for the networking that keeps everything in sync) but quite effective.
Sounds great, until you need to get some groceries. I don't know about you, but when I go shopping, I'm not capable of carrying a couple hundred pounds of goods home with me in two arms.
I guess that you live in some primitive society without shopping carts and conveniently located stores... (Carts...not the kind you find in grocery stores but the kind you use to pull your stuff home... Easily handle a full weeks shopping. We also have internet shopping and delivery at quite reasonable prices.
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If people in businesses like IT, finance, etc and can telecommute effectively that would also be a huge step
Telecommuting is being killed by MBAs and other ignorant management types who are able to judge effectiveness only by who shows up at 8:00 am and sits in their cubicle all day looking busy. The problem IMHO is that MBAs and other business majors are taught that just about everything in a modern business, and especially with the right technology, can be precisely measured and controlled. Unfortunately, the real world is rarely so precise and it takes the sort of creative thinking and problem solving skills t
Utopia (Score:3, Insightful)
Dumb and dumber. (Score:5, Interesting)
Imagine it. a quarter million devices connecting to your wireless "cloud".
None of which were spec'ed or validated by you or your group.
Tech support nightmare. Not to mention maintaining all the access points.
This is not "Utopia". This is WiFi. A means of connecting wireless devices (most of them) to services (most of the time).
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We're hit with media stories every day, and it's important to build a set of add-on attachments for your Bullshit Meter.
The one on display here is "if the source is using an exciting fantasy to sell you on their premise, there might be bullshit"
Also, "If the source is speaking in general terms about technology, there might be bullshit"
Mandatory punishment (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Mandatory punishment (Score:5, Funny)
I disagree. I think you can combine "2.0" and "paradigm" to instantiate their synergy to create a diverse empowerment of all stakeholders. As long as you don't brick society in the process. Call it "English 2.0".
Brett
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I disagree. I think you can combine "2.0" and "paradigm" to instantiate their synergy to create a diverse empowerment of all stakeholders. As long as you don't brick society in the process. Call it "English 2.0".
Brett
Wow. You better hope the Buddhists aren't right, otherwise your next life is going to suck a lot for that one.
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Are you suggesting I am recycling comments from a prior existence?
Yet another bad article. (Score:5, Informative)
The reality is that the city of the future will likely have many aspects of a contained and managed ecosystem
is just retarded, as anyone who has ever been anywhere near a city realizes that none of them are remotely resemble contained ecosystems, no matter how much solar power and internet you add.
media does not a city make (Score:4, Interesting)
Like all the cities of the past, media was not high on the list of necessities. In fact, it wasn't on the list because te technology didn't exist. And media won't be high on the list in the future, either.
To quote Brecht:
You gentlemen who think you have a mission
To purge us of the seven deadly sins
Should first sort out the basic food position
Then start your preaching that's where it begins.
You lot who preach restraint and watch your waist as well
Should learn for once the way world is run
Whatever words you twist or lies you tell
FOOD is the first thing - morals follow on.
So first make sure that those
Who are now starving
Get proper helpings when we all start carving!
What keeps mankind alive?
WHAT KEEPS MANKIND ALIVE?
The fact that millions
Are daily tortured stifled punished silenced and oppressed.
Mankind can keep alive
Thanks to its brilliance
In keeping its humanity repressed.
And for once you must try not to shirk the facts:
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts.
The average city of 2050 will more resemble Calcutta than Dubai.
Word.
RS
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My future city (Score:3, Insightful)
I want my city to have a Steel Pipe Snow Melting System. [heatinghelp.com] And underground freight tunnels. [wikipedia.org] And a Continuous Transit System with Sub-Surface Moving Platforms. [jolomo.net] And rooftop heliports. [wikipedia.org] And skyscraper restaurants. [archive.org]
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2. No need, most freight moves around cities, not through.
3. Might work in cartoons.
4. I'll care when I can afford a helicopter. If everyone owns one, where do they all park?
5. They already exist.
Oh jesus christ! (Score:3, Insightful)
Enough with the 2.0 bullshit! This isn't City 2.0! this is City 11,050,523.6.15 RC4.
Unfortunately, this is exactly like when they used to call shit "So and So 2000" or "So and So Xtra". I guess the 2.0 will stop whenever they have a new futuristic-sounding moniker.
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Once the political machine get's involved, 2.0 will probably be the appropriate term. Of course we all know what an x.0 version is like. The smart people wait for x.1.
What a lousy article... (Score:3, Insightful)
Lets take it from the top:
1) They quote Rob Enderele. A "I know something about everything" 'IT consultant'. Also known for rendering his expert opinion on topics such as "Open Source and the Fools Who Use It". Thought the SCO Group had an open and shut case.
2) Okay, a few example projects for the SmartGrid stuff. However, modulating electric use during peak periods is several decades old.
3) Blogs! Chat! Wikis! Buzzword-driven crap. We already have things like Newspapers! Telephones! Websites!... the "Web 2.0-ish" stuff is hardly a revolution.
4) For a high-tech city, San Jose sure does have a primitive airport. You get to board a jetliner using a set of roller-stairs after passing through the '50s area terminal. I think a child with an Erector Set could have built their new Terminal faster.
5) We quote a product manager at Intel for information on how great WiMax is. Gee, there's an impartial source. Too bad WiMax has yet to get significant traction in the market. Clearwire is badly struggling and isn't very good.
6) After more worthless jabber from Enderele... A data center w/ backup batteries! A technological miracle! If needed, they can run the data center off the diesel generators! Morons... small diesel generators are so damn expensive to run, it would rarely, if ever, make sense to crank them except during a power outage.
7) More quotes from another Buzzword Generator, the Yankee Group. How do I become an "IT Consultant" of this type?
SirWired
enderleisanidiot (Score:1)
No, utopia would really be like... (Score:2)
I think a more realistic vision of utopia would involve better battery technology (to allow for less noisy and cheaper running engines), nuclear power, and solar panel tech (someone mentioned those in a recent story actually). And OLED screens to allow for GIANT screens. Solve those four, and the sky's the limit.
Speaking of which, it would help if standard urban and residential surroundings were built like holiday resorts (with a focus towards zero maintenence). Also 'multiple levels' such as ziggurats, mul
Metro Wifi is unfair and arguably illegal (Score:4, Interesting)
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Ubiquitous my ass (Score:1)
I live in Baltimore city, and there ain't no "Ubiquitous wireless networks" around any of my coffeeshops, dammit.
Two-Point-Oh (Score:1)
Am I the only one sick of two-point-oh? Seriously, just stop.
Cities need to be organic (Score:5, Insightful)
Cities need to grow and evolve "organically". All of this new technology is wonderful and awesome, but if imposed from above by planners, will only result in distortions and unintended consequences. City planning beyond a local neighborhood level just doesn't work well. We don't like to admit it, because we've been taught since childhood that central planners are quasi-omniscient, but it's true. Cities are just too complex.
That doesn't mean that cities don't get planned, they do. Cities are an emergent order. No one person (or committee) can possibly plan an efficient healthy city, but the voluntary interactions of a hundred thousand inhabitants can give rise to one. The information needed to run a city is extremely dispersed and constantly changing, so that it cannot be codified into a static plan. This is about Hayekian information coordination. It's something every city manager needs to understand. Only then will City 2.0 be open to us.
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False dichotomy. There is no such thing as a planned city (versus an unplanned city). It's all a question of degree.
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I meant "centrally planned". Is there an individual or committee that imposes its plan on everyone from the top, or does the city arise from the interaction tens of thousands of individuals each with their own personal plans? Cities are an emergent order, and pure central planning cannot work any more than pure communism can work. It's against human nature.
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Always! That's why cities have water, sewer, roads, waste disposal, etc. available.
They don't go through and upgrade the infrastructure every time a new house is built. There is always a central authority planning ahead.
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You've completely misunderstood my point.
Take roads for an example. Many roads arose purely organically, with no planning, central or otherwise. They just happened to be where people walked and beat down a trail. Or where people decided to build their houses back centuries ago. Others follow the courses of rivers and streams. Once laid down, a curve in a road can remain long after the obstacle that was in its way is gone. Europe is a great example. Nearly all of the small towns are completely unplanned. Eve
Thomson Reuters? (Score:2)
Same Thomson Reuters that's currently suing its own customers [google.com] for reverse engineering their proprietary file formats?
Pneumatic tubes (Score:1)
Baltimore (Score:2)
We need to go backward in the future city (Score:1)
tOM
2.0, really? (Score:1)
Just more standards (Score:1)