Google ends plans for smart city in Toronto

Post by scarface74 » Thu, May 07, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #269

nostromo wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> got shut down by the locals That's not what happened though. Google was free to continue the project but decided not too, using Covid-19 as a fig leaf. I agree with the thrust of your comment (we need more experimentation with cities, not less) but this is Google doing what Google does: changing it's mind and abandoning projects.

Google abandons projects when they don't make business sense. Or perhaps you think Google is a charity that just keeps randoms apps running on servers? Maybe it should be funded with tax-dollars then.

Post by CPLX » Thu, May 07, 2020, 10:22 PM UTC

zaidf wrote: post #284

Analemma_ wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most businesses do not have tax and police authority and must face the market test on a daily basis. The only thing that keeps businesses from claiming tax and police authority is the government monopoly on violence; they'd happily take if they could. Same goes for having to face the "market test": businesses certainly don't want to that and would happily get rid of it if governments allowed them to (or did not exi…

Wouldn’t governments also do all sorts of bad things if they were allowed to? History is full of examples and there are far more examples of rogue governments doing bad at scale than private businesses. If there was something that inherently made governments to be “good” actors more than a person or a business, we wouldn’t need checks and balances.

Post by matheusmoreira » Thu, May 07, 2020, 10:24 PM UTC

greendave wrote: post #40

> An independent panel was set up to scrutinise its plans and released a report suggesting some of its ideas were "tech for tech's sake", and potentially unnecessary. I wonder what could have given them that idea. > In his blog, Dan Doctoroff said the firm continued to invest in start-ups "working on everything from robotic furniture to digital electricity". Oh, right.

Post by tomjakubowski » Thu, May 07, 2020, 10:30 PM UTC

reportingsjr wrote: post #30

donpdonp wrote: post #6

$50M and two years later - where are the conclusions? The results? A blog post of what happened? Two years seems like enough time to say we tried some amazing things and this is how it did or did not work.

Two years is nothing when it comes with planning and development in the US, unfortunately. A little anecdote, here in Cincinnati I was peripherally involved with a local nonprofit taking over management of an abandoned bit of city part to build new multi-use trails. It took 20 years for the park board to even listen, then once an agreement was reached it took another /year and a half/ to get the paperwork to the poin…

Post by asdff » Thu, May 07, 2020, 10:32 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #233

true_religion wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There would probably be an exception for people in the military or government service. If on the other hand you spent 6 months in the US working for a private business like Google, then it would be fair to tax you.

Setting aside fairness, how would the government work out whether I am gone or not? Lots of people go away for several months. Policing the system becomes impossible, which is why I described vancouver's system as voluntary.