Technologies in Developement

•    Out of the six emerging technologies discussed in the article the one I think is less likely to happen is the Flying Cars idea.  They may be able to make them but more than likely the price of them will be very high which means only wealthy people would be able to buy them.  Not only would the flying cars themselves be pricey but it would also cost quite a bit to fuel them.  A flying car would need a lot of fuel and from experience two people I know own a mini helicopter and it costs them around $750.00 just for fuel to go for a 1 hour drive.  If they don't make many sales off them then chances are they won't make that much of a profit and will just stop making them.   

• Out of the six emerging technologies discussed I think the electric battery charging car will have the biggest impact on society.  With electric cars that means instead of having just gas stations you now will have Car-charging stations.  They are working on lowering the price for Li-on batteries.  One possibility for cost reduction is the further development of lithium-polymer batteries, which could potentially be lighter, more adaptable, more rugged and cheaper to produce.  Battery operated cars are going to have a big impact because you will no longer need gas which means you'll no longer need fossil fuels and it will be easier to just charge your car overnight and head out the next day.  Also with the cost of battery power possibly lowering battery powered cars could possibly be cheaper especially without having to pay for gas all the time.

• Out of the 6 emerging technologies discussed, I think that the almost reality one is the Autonomous Cars. There are already a lot of technologies that are similar to this technology such as cruise control and Ford's self parking cars. I think science is getting quite close to mastering a car that can drive itself so, I believe that in the near future an Autonomous Car might hit the general population.

• I think this new technology that Ford is working is pretty great. "The Drivers Workload Estimator" is going to be very useful to drivers someday. With this technology it can take some pressure off of drivers and help them to be less stressed by delaying calls. In situations where drivers are under a lot of pressure, the added stress that phone calls and text messages bring could cause accidents very quickly. With this new technology, drivers and their passengers can stay much more safe by not having extra pressures. This helps the driver be able to return back to a normal thought process and be able to avoid potential accidents that could be caused by added pressures in very testing driving situations like big cities or icy road driving.

• My thoughts on the flying automobile are it seems like a great idea and it looks like a lot of fun.  However my only concerns are if something were to go wrong, even a tiny little thing then your life is at stake.  It would need to be checked by an engineer quite frequently.  Also it would be very expensive, something most likely only wealthy people could afford which means not as many people will buy them as the company may expect.  It probably costs a lot to make the cars and if they make more than people buy than chances are they aren't going to make as much money as they will hope off them.  The flying automobile may cause a lot of accidents resulting in deaths due to being high off the ground or someone making a mistake and bumping into someone else.  The cost will not only be pricey for the product itself but to gas it will be pretty pricey as well.

 

• I think that a self driving car would also be an awesome thing to experience but, I think after awhile it would get kind of boring. They would take away the fun from driving experience. Personally I cannot wait to legally drive, I want a fun driving experience so I wouldn't want to have to switch over to a self driving car.  I enjoy driving, i find it amusing so a self-driving car isn't for me.  Driving something some people have a huge passion for and shouldn't be taken away from them. Although they might cut down on accidents, I just think we should take that as it is and move on without the self driving car. Not all change is good and i don't think a self driving car would be good for the populations mental health.

Automobile Timeline

1908- Henry Ford begins making the Model T.  What I found interesting was they made 10 660 cars in their first- year production.  It's interesting because that's a lot of cars made in their first year.

1911- Electric Starter Introduced.  This is interesting and very important because without Charles Kettering's invention of the electric starter we would probably still be starting our cars by hand cranking or some other way.  Electric starters are simple and easy to use, they're also very quickly and comfortable.

1935- Flashing turn signals introduced.  This is important for safety because when you use signal lights you're letting others know ahead of time when you're about to turn off somewhere so they know to slow down.  Also it's interesting because if the Delaware company didn't invent them then we could possibly be all still using hand signals or signal lights wouldn't be as advanced.

1939-  First air conditioning system added to automobiles.  I find this interesting because without the first air conditioner, there wouldn't be much chance of us having air conditioners now.  

My Video Selections

The Ford Edsel

• Named after Henry Ford's only son
• Edsel was ridiculed for and was called the "horse car" or commonly known as the "toilet seat".
• Ford's cost for marketing and building the Edsel cost somewhere between $250 000 000- $350 000 000.
• After 3 years the Edsel was declared one of the auto industry's biggest flop.

The invention of the automobile

• The early automobiles originally used the steam engine as their main source of power, they were slow and uncomfortable for passengers.
• Henry Ford was inspired by an early steam engine.
• By the early 1900's a lot of companies had began to make automobiles but Henry Ford brought it toward the public eye.

Henry Ford and the Model T

1.  The assembly line was changed by suggestions of 3 of his employees to not just have an assembly line where the workers moved down the line but to have the line move while the workers stayed in one place instead.  That way people could major in one skill and do that all day.  The skill of holding a wrench and turning a bolt all day could be taught very easily to unskilled people.

2.  Workers tended to stay longer and be more committed to Henry Ford's company than other companies at that time because he wanted to be fair with the wages he gave.  He gave really liveable wages to his employees.

3.  The Model T cost a little over $1000.  It was manufactured for the common man.

4.  The Model T's price dropped to $800 and then dramatically dropped to a little over $365.  I think the price dropped because of all the Model T's that were made, which they needed to be sold and because of how the times were, many people couldn't afford the higher prices.

5.  As the Model T became the main mode of transportation, the automobile offered people the freedom to travel.  They could go wherever they wanted whenever they wanted to.  People could travel for fun and not have to rely on railroad lines.

Video Assignment

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w-dWgduafyhlwCm0gZk0FqnkrwIXyA-uh6fU2zjQ1Cw/edit?usp=sharing

Looking at the History of the Automobile

                                                                             Carl Benz

1. The automobile has been around for 120 years.
2. A patent is a government authority or licence conferring a right or title for a set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention.  3. When Carl Benz obtains a patent in January of 1886 for his invention he described the automobile as a "vehicle with gas engine".
4. In August of 1888 Carl's wife, Birtha and his two eldest sons test drive his automobile, without him knowing.  The first petrol station is born from this.
5. The "axial pivot steering system" helps with the problem of not being able to steer the front two wheels simultaneously. 
6. When the two automobile companies are merged it is called "Mercedes Benz"
7. As a pioneer in technology what Benz experienced that many other pioneers will never experience is that he lived to see his dream come true, which was the breakthrough of the automobile. 

How Computers Work

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iQjMb3ON2TsD4c0WAZI_t-lgaPPRz4oJh6rmtQHbl0g/pub