The motor age and the information age collide

Its hard to be visionary. Its easy to be too far-fetched in looking to the future. Its even easier to lack imagination. “Computers in the future may weigh no more than one and a half tons” – so goes the popularised version of the quote from Popular Mechanics in 1949. Will generations of the future consider today’s prophecies with similar amusement?In this article I reflect on the coming together of the motor age and information age. I consider the interplay between them and whether we might be looking to a world beyond the ‘regime of automobility’ in 2050. Critically, we need to recognise that the technologies affecting transport and travel reach well beyond the preserve of those of the motor industry and the field of Intelligent Transport Systems. The real power of emerging technologies of the information age will be through how they shape social and business practices which then indirectly affect travel patterns. For example the development of assistive technologies may massively affect where and how older people lead their lives and the lives of those around them – with major implications for where, when and how much people will travel. The move, if it happens, of 3D printing from niche novelty to the mainstream could redefine how goods are produced and transform global supply chains and freight travel. Tempted to dismiss this? Think about those one and half tonne computers if so