SMART CITY FANATIC

 Short answer: NOTHING! I know. Controversial. But: consider that answer in the context of tech. The whole process of technology has in effect shifted, changed, destroyed, dismantled and reinvented the old service vs product paradigm. Think of it, this way: 1: An 'app' is all well and good.   Download it to phone. Use. Cue millions, even billions in revenue for the creators and an easier life for users.  But: HOW to USE it? In effect, the app requires its own training regimes. 'How to' guides etc. Has to be part of the whole package. Equally, chances are, said application, be it mapping, social, whatever, is connected TO service provision.  2:   If I create the ultimate transport aid, to rival City-Mapper et al?   It is yes, prima facie, a kind of 'product'. At the same time, however, I am thereby commenting on, interacting with and growing from a SERVICE. As in, the service of transport or whichever sector my app targets?  3:  Flip that logic for...

Cars are BACK on roads. Well, they have been, for quite some time, in fact.  But: did you notice, when the pandemics and lockdowns were on? That it just felt a tad easier to simply walk down a street? There was quiet. You could actually hear the birdsong. And yes, above all? One could BREATHE, unfettered. Now, I do not wish to be some gloom merchant, stressing an end of the world forecast here. One gets enough of that, c/o imminent war predictions, worldwide financial meltdown prophecies and so on.  But what is, unavoidable,  alas, is that there is no escaping the fact, that it is indeed, harder to simply BREATHE, on roads. Why is that? Some of it might be psychosomatic. You are back in a crowded traffic jam. Stuck in an enclosed space, in a car? There are endless cyclists and now SCOOTERS using paths, instead of ROADS.  JOGGERS brush past with you, exuding a whiff of sanctimonious entitlement as they sniff their brand of bespoke, healthier air. And so on. I get it....

  Ok, yes, that is a leading headline. It is what GOOGLE thinks you want to hear, right?  But what if I told you that travel apps are already facing extinction? Yes, they will always exist in some iteration. But the paradigm is shifting. Incrementally yet dramatically. Implicitly yet definitely. Here's why: 1: Tech changes, frequently.  The moment a new application launches? It has a thousand counterpart competitors, waiting in the wings. What you must ask yourself, therefore, is whether you, as a user want to invest time and perhaps 'fremium' monies, in a tool whose redundancy is all but inbuilt?  2: There are STILL things that apps cannot, or at least do not, as yet 'do'!  Sure, things have improved. An app can tell me at each stage of a journey, which direction / route/method to deploy. Yes, there is indeed, up to the minute updating available when delays or cancellations occur. But why stop there?  When was the last time an app gave you a PRECISE read o...