Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

911–920 of 1001 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#911

Post by zagfai »

paulywog wrote: post #701
jrussino wrote: post #578

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the recent electric scooter boom and subsequent pushback by communities shows that: - There is (IMHO huge ) pent-up demand for last-mile style electric transportation: scooters, bicycles, etc. - The electric drive technology is starting to reach a point where it can support a whole new space of designs that make this sort of transportation appealing to a wide variety of users (i.e. not just fit young adventur…

If you're ever in San Francisco, Miami, or NYC, check out what Revel is doing. Electric mopeds that rent for $0.50/min! They're such an excellent way to get around and see the city (at least in San Francisco where I ride them)

It is soooo expensive what was about $1/hour in China.

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#914

Post by dustractor »

Kyragem wrote: post #382

Food waste contributes 7% to global warming. We need to figure out how to make food last longer.

I agree on the issue but not 100% behind the solution. Making food last longer is something we've already optimized with hundreds of years of innovation so it seems like it would be better to focus on other aspects of the issue. Do you mean: Better preservatives? Better packaging? Better Refrigeration? Transportation?

Here's a small example:

An intact cabbage kept in a cool dark place will last orders of magnitude longer than the same cabbage, pre-shredded, in a plastic bag. The intact cabbage needs NO ENERGY INPUT whereas the cabbage that's been shredded and bagged needs CONSTANT ENERGY INPUT. The benefits of shredded versus intact cabbage come in terms of the employer being able to externalize a small amount of labor cost, at the expense of a small amount of extra plastic waste and an inferior product.

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#915

Post by pantojax45 »

w10-1 wrote: post #699

Deconstruction of discourse: the vast majority of humans out of the decision loop. All the main online sources are moving to subscription models with higher subscriptions for the real information. Only those with money will have access to information that informs decisions. At the low end, information is bundled only for its entertainment or propaganda value. At the same time, decisions are increasingly automated as…

Pre-internet, everyone had to pay for access to information… how is that different from what’s happening online now?

Maybe it was a uniquely open time and we are reverting to what it was like in the past?

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#916

Post by fy20 »

e_joules wrote: post #60
abetusk wrote: post #28

Energy? I feel like it's been talked about a lot but maybe not? Solar panels are dropping in cost at an exponential rate [0]. As of this writing, consumer "new" panels are $0.75/W and used are at around $0.30/W right now (I won't give a link as a Google search will do). Battery technology is also dropping at an exponential rate. I believe, with a little effort, one can purchase batteries at about $0.08/Wh. Taken toge…

Something about this cannot be right, surely? You are saying one can invest in a solar setup and have 7+ years of free electricity, and all that starting after 3.5 years?

I'm not sure about the US as installation costs there are very expensive, but in my part of Europe I had 10kW of roof mount solar installed for €10,800 at the end of last year.

The calculations I did for it in 2020 were that the payback period would be 7 years, or 6 with government incentives. That was when electricity was 15c/kWh though... if energy prices stay at the current level I will break even in less than 4 years. I generate around 8000kWh a year, which at current prices is €3200.

The panels should last forever (assuming no physical damage from hail storms etc), they just decrease in efficiency. The inverter should last at least 10 years, but that's easy to replace as it's not on the roof.

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#917

Post by fullstackchris »

april_22 wrote: post #809
VogonPoetry wrote: post #781

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half width vehicles ignores the following issues. - Busses. How do you make them half width? (or perhaps, uncharitably, do you think public transportation is worthless?). If busses stay the same width how do you write the driving regulations for mixed width vehicles and retrain the driving public so that fatalities do not skyrocket. - Bulk delivery vehicles. Same as above. - Half width means less vehicle stability at…

very unsure if half width vehicles will become a thing, but what's for sure is that micromobility will expand. We will see more electric scooters, ebikes etc. They solve so many traffic and environmental problems in cities.

but this is just a bandaid on a much larger problem: our cities and highway system were designed and built in eras where the amount of cars on the road was a fraction of what it is now. I-95 has become a complete abomonation, and some e-scooters and bikes wont fix that

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#918

Post by fullstackchris »

ptman wrote: post #771
O__________O wrote: post #627

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Halving” vehicles has been possible for long time, also seen it mentioned numerous times over the years. Unless large & small vehicles never use the same roads, ever, it will never happen; imagine being in a small car and being hit by a large car, odd of person in small car dying are much higher. Basically, something like this will only have a chance in an authoritarian society. As for the RV, you still need parking…

Too true. It not possible to reach any sensible climate goals by replacing all gasoline cars with EVs. We need to rethink mobility. And we need smaller vehicles in order to optimize battery-weight/transported persons/goods. And we need new solutions to safety instead of adding bulkier safety devices, which drag down transportation efficiency. Limit top speed?

commented further up with a similar sentiment but i'll comment here too. "rethinking mobility" will not fix how idiotically layed out most of our existing infrastructure exists today - especially large sprawling haphazardly built cities like LA and Austin

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#919

Post by bmitc »

stocknoob wrote: post #901
bmitc wrote: post #891

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Decentralization has never worked in the history of mankind. I don't know why people continue to get hyped up about decentralization topics.

The internet?

It was created as a decentralized network, but is it now? It may be in some technical sense, but for all practical purposes, it's collectively centralized.

One interesting documentary on this topic is Adam Curtis' All Watched Over by Machines of Every Loving Grace.

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#920

Post by fullstackchris »

dirkg wrote: post #904
ortusdux wrote: post #89

WLAN sensing. Off the shelf mesh wifi systems are capable of sensing people reliably. This includes qty, position, motion, & gestures. Here is the IEEE spec due for approval in a year or two: https://www.ieee802.org/11/Reports/tgbf_update.htm I have mixed feelings on the tech. The home security implications are amazing, and things like automatic fall detection for the elderly would be a literal lifesaver. Small busin…

I had no idea about this and the implications are truly terrifying and amazing. Its not just wifi at home the entire world is now a big mesh network. So theoretically it means literally everything everywhere which has wifi coverage can now be tracked with amazing accuracy. Quite possibly the most scary/invasive tech.

meh, the FBI, CIA, and all big tech already know you are at home... does it really matter if they know you are on the couch or at your dining room table?
Post reply on HN