It was not so long ago that walking along the streets was an exercise in olfactory sensitivity. Mankind’s only source of transport was via horse and horse emissions were kinda crap.
The doomsayers, the “it will never work” camp were up in arms when Henry Ford got going with his “You can have it in any colour so long as it’s black” campaign to sell cars to every man and his dog.
Somehow – the farmers, the saddle makers, the cart creators, the crap sweepers, the feed merchants, the leather goods makers and all the other merry people that made a living off of equine transport survived. A little bit of skills training and the former crappy jobs turned into the “American Dream”.
“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.” reportedly said by the President of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer, Horace Rackham, not to invest in the Ford Motor Company.
Chart the progress through the years – with every introduction of new technology one always got the early adopters, the enthusiasts, the looneys the passionate advocates, the doomsayers, the naysayers. As each technology matured the most compelling reason for mass adoption reared it’s head – cheaper, more pervasive and better.
Woe is the ‘sage’ who predicted that the European market for computers was only for 3 machines. Professor Douglas Hartree, in 1951, said that, in his opinion, all the calculations that would ever be needed in this England could be done on the three digital computers which were then being built – one in Cambridge, one in Teddington, and one in Manchester. No one else, he said, would ever need machines of their own, or would be able to afford to buy them.
Woe is the sage who predicted; “Well informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires…” Half right I suppose as we now transport voice through air as well.
Poor Lord Kelvin is on record saying; “Radio has no future.” Quick, someone tell Algoa FM!
Woe to the people that continue to believe that Port Elizabeth IS the Windiest City in South Africa.
Charlie Chaplin once said; “The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.”
Bill Gates, at the World Economic Forum in 2004 put his foot firmly in it when he said; “Two years from now, spam will be solved.” Which just goes to prove that Nigerians are smarter than Bill.
Woe the dozy fellow who said this; “Electricity is a specialty product. It’s not appropriate for transportation. It looks cheap at this time, but that’s because it was designed for toasters, not transportation.” I would like to show him the world’s largest truck in the world which weighs a modest 360 tons when empty, or up to 800 tons. The GVW BelAZ 75710 is a mining truck and it uses the power of four electric motors. Or the holder of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Speed Record currently held by Romain Dumas in a VW I.D. R electric race car in a time of 7 minutes 57.148 seconds – the first car to break the 8 minute barrier with an average speed of 90.538 miles per hour.
Economies of Scale are dropping faster than emissions from a horse and the early adopters are becoming the sages of the millennium as the groundswell from renewable energy builds up to a tidal wave of warm and fuzzy feelings.
If you find yourself in an industry totally reliant on ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) NOW is the time to learn a new skill, NOW is the time to explore ‘cleaner’ avenues of making money, NOW is the time to ride the wave.
You can help the quiet revolution along by installing an EV Charging station outside your Guest House, Hotel, Coffee Shop, Restaurant, Shopping Centre or in your forecourt. Contact Straton Electrical for EV Charging Station options.
Read More articles about EV’s and Renewable Energy here: Join the Quiet Revolution and here: MyNMB.
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Alan Straton
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