30/04/2017
US entrepreneur Elon Musk is the closest we will get to a real world version of Tony Stark. However, his Instagram followers recently expressed concern that their tech hero had started replacing photos of rockets and geeky tech with selfies and photographs with Amber Heard.
Just like the fictional character from the Iron Man movies, it seems that Elon Musk is capable of flirting with cringe by embracing the cliche of the tech poster boy. But, in all honesty how many of his critics would not do the same given half a chance?
During a Friday morning TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) talk, the king of tech revealed how his latest new venture, The Boring Company, had big plans to get around the notorious traffic problems in Los Angeles.
The vision involves elevators collecting Tesla Owners and transporting them away from the smog-ridden streets of to an underground network of tunnels equipped with maglev technology. An animated video brings the vision to life, and the elevator might even bring back memories of the Fisher-Price Little People garage.
Once the elevator doors open, cars are pulled into metal containers and zipped to their destination at speeds of 200km/hour on a network of quiet underground roads.
As an example, it is hoped the initiative could dramatically cut down the 40 minute Westwood to Los Angeles International Airport journey down to only 6 minutes. When asked why his ironically titled Boring Company are concentrating on underground roads rather than introducing flying cars, Musk wryly replied: “If there are a whole bunch of flying cars that’s not an anxiety-reducing situation.”
Much of Musk's success can be attributed to thinking about traditional problems differently from everyone else. But, does the prospect of our future roads being free of traffic and sunlight excite you or feel reminiscent of a dystopian vision in a science fiction movie?
As with any long-term vision, the concept of an underground road system is many years away from becoming a reality. The announcement did leave more questions than answers, especially with Musk confirming that he would only be investing 2 or 3 percent of his time working on tunneling plans. But, there is no faulting Musk for both thinking differently and unquestionably bigger.
https://youtu.be/xNQeqlzPDGE
The frustration we experience with our growing list of first world problems is often blamed for our bad moods or even ruining our day. What sets apart the likes of Elon Musk or Steve Jobs is that the same frustration delivers ideas and a determination to remove any friction or pain points from the old way of doing things.
Maybe, we could all learn to turn negatives into positives like these serial innovators that we place on virtual pedestals. However, they do say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and Musk's latest concept is not without its critics.
There is an argument introducing technology for technology's sake is ultimately meaningless. Former City of Vancouver planner Brent Toderian went as far as to call the idea dumb and dangerous. Toderian advised, "It shows a profound lack of understanding about cities, about traffic, about people and probably about geology too."
Musk could be accused of being a little naive in believing that you can introduce simple fixes to solve very complex problems. Although we are a little light on the details at the moment, the most exciting talking point here is we are starting to think bigger and realize that there is no such thing as an unsolvable problem.
Despite the recent headlines, it seems that Musk is not the arrogant pl***oy that the tech press would have you believe. By contrast, he came across remarkably humble during an interview where simply stated:
I am not trying to be anyone's savior, I just want to think about the future and not feel sad.
If that doesn't epitomize how we should be using technology to solve our problems, I don't know what does. It seems that many are secretly wishing for a Musk narrative of him evolving into a rich supervillain. But maybe the genius billionaire, philanthropist, and dare I say Pl***oy is the role he was born to play with style.
Let me know your thoughts and insights by commenting below.
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Written by
Neil Hughes
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Neil C.Hughes is a tech columnist, freelance writer, blogger, ghostwriter and podcaster who writes engaging. Latest advancements in technology.
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