Why would Amazon want to invest in AI, which would help their customers find what they want to buy, when they make all their profit from showing their customers what they don’t want to buy with monetized search?
Readit NewsNoblePublius commented on Amazon has mostly sat out the AI talent war businessinsider.com/amazo... · Posted by u/ripe
NoblePublius commented on Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express thetransitguy.substack.co... · Posted by u/FinnKuhn
>its people have the freedom to choose personal transportation.
A lot of American choice is an illusion. The national expressway network was created to serve national security purposes. Beloved trolley systems in medium density cities were unceremoniously ripped out. Car and tire companies pushed the bus-ification of public transport in order to kill any notion that it should offer comfort and reliability.
The American government refuses to invest in density because its sees sprawl as a deterrant against nuclear threat. (A threat that it takes an active role in escalating, mind you.)
>It’s because Americans, even poor Americans, overwhelmingly choose personal transportation.
If you take notice, much of the most expensive and valuable property in this country is in dense regions where it is possible to live without a car. If Americans truly had a choice, they'd pick the kinds of walkable communities they can only experience now on university campuses and in theme parks.
It’s funny to me that you think people were forced to by cars by “ripping out trolleys” when it was the buying of cars that did that.
NoblePublius commented on Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express thetransitguy.substack.co... · Posted by u/FinnKuhn
Timeline is wrong. Most of the European rail infrastructure (and indeed American) was built before WW1, quite a lot before WW1.
The critical ingredient wasn't wealth per se but oil. Which also determined the lines of attack and victory in the war.
America built train tracks at the same time and the rail
Operators went bust post WW2 because Americans stopped taking trains.
NoblePublius commented on Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express thetransitguy.substack.co... · Posted by u/FinnKuhn
> It’s not because American government doesn’t invest in public transit. It’s because Americans, even poor Americans, overwhelmingly choose personal transportation.
If there is no usable public transit then people have to use cars. But if they have cars then there isn't the will for the public transit. A vicious circle.
Public transit does need to be built somewhat on a "if you build it they will come" philosophy, which is hard when people want immediate returns on investment.
Again, you have it backwards. Penn Station went bankrupt in the 1960s because rail passenger volume didn’t match the projections made in the 40s and 50s. Most American, even poor Americans, could afford cars, so they bought them. The only way mass transit (it doesn’t have to be public) works is either in dense urban environments or with a society too poor to afford alternatives. I’m not making a pro car argument or anti transit market. I’m just pointing out the actual forces that influence the creation and usage of all transit.
NoblePublius commented on Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express thetransitguy.substack.co... · Posted by u/FinnKuhn
Certainly there's an element of personal choice. I currently live in a town of 3,000 in a rural state that was previously served by trains. Once cars became accessible to the masses, that train service was no longer sustainable.
But in actual US metro areas where much of the country lives, land use choices were made to enhance moving cars at the expense of other modes of transport. Urban areas were bulldozed to funnel cars into downtowns from far-flung suburbs. Amsterdam, on the other hand, was once a car-loving city, but has chosen to redevelop streets for transit and active transportation. Personal choice matters, but how much is driven by incentives?
“Land use choices” are downstream of what residents want less what they can afford. You have it backwards.
NoblePublius commented on Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express thetransitguy.substack.co... · Posted by u/FinnKuhn
“ I love Disney and I love Dolly Parton, but it says something deeply broken about our national priorities when their theme park trains outclass public infrastructure in billion-dollar economies. Be serious.”
Europe has lots of train infrastructure because it was very poor after WW2, and its people could afford nothing but train fare.
America has lots of car infrastructure because it was very rich after WS2, and its people have the freedom to choose personal transportation.
Over 90% of American households have at least one car. It’s not because American government doesn’t invest in public transit. It’s because Americans, even poor Americans, overwhelmingly choose personal transportation.
Dead Comment
NoblePublius commented on 2M users but no money in the bank exercism.org/blog/septemb... · Posted by u/leandot
Crazy idea: charge $1
A lot of words to say second place
NoblePublius commented on Tesla's FSD – A Useless Technology Demo tomverbeure.github.io/202... · Posted by u/nxten
Well, don’t you have to look at the road all the time?
No!