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> ... which means Dole and Chiquita will have to give up the notion of "basically-free labor". If we can build a self-driving car good enough to carry the rich

> ... which means Dole and Chiquita will have to give up the notion of "basically-free labor". If we can build a self-driving car good enough to carry the rich and famous, a self-picking banana cart is a no brainer. Then nobody will be on the poors' backs. They had better have a service economy ready when it happens.

ktizo 14y ago
Robotic harvesting without damaging the plant is a hell of a lot more difficult than robot cars for highways. For these kind of problems you need walkers and climbers that can deal with a very wide variety of terrain. Will happen eventually, but if you automate all labour I don't see why you should expect the poor to work any more than the rich. Already many of the jobs available in the richer countries are only there to make up the numbers and provide the illusion of employment.
- nickpinkston 14y ago
  Though - the banana-bots would get rid of the biggest problem in the equation: highway laws. Not sure that it'd be that hard technically, but almost certainly more expensive. Even at $50K a bot (that's probably way low) it'd need to be 20x more efficient to even breakeven with cheap labor...
  - ktizo 14y ago
    Could try a completely different tack. Given that all bananas are sterile clones and banana trees can walk, perhaps they would be suitable for risk free genetic engineering so they got themselves to market without any machinery at all.
planetguy 14y ago
It's not like bananas are even one of those crops which requires cheap labour in order to be economical. The Australian banana industry gets by somehow, paying sky-high Australian wages, and you can still buy Australian bananas for no more than you'd pay for an Ecuadorian banana. (At least, in those years when the Australian banana crop hasn't been wiped out by a cyclone.)
- quadhome 14y ago
  Australia has its own cheap labour: working holidays and people (students) who want visa extensions.

ktizo 14y ago

Robotic harvesting without damaging the plant is a hell of a lot more difficult than robot cars for highways. For these kind of problems you need walkers and climbers that can deal with a very wide variety of terrain. Will happen eventually, but if you automate all labour I don't see why you should expect the poor to work any more than the rich. Already many of the jobs available in the richer countries are only there to make up the numbers and provide the illusion of employment.

nickpinkston 14y ago
Though - the banana-bots would get rid of the biggest problem in the equation: highway laws. Not sure that it'd be that hard technically, but almost certainly more expensive. Even at $50K a bot (that's probably way low) it'd need to be 20x more efficient to even breakeven with cheap labor...
- ktizo 14y ago
  Could try a completely different tack. Given that all bananas are sterile clones and banana trees can walk, perhaps they would be suitable for risk free genetic engineering so they got themselves to market without any machinery at all.

planetguy 14y ago

It's not like bananas are even one of those crops which requires cheap labour in order to be economical. The Australian banana industry gets by somehow, paying sky-high Australian wages, and you can still buy Australian bananas for no more than you'd pay for an Ecuadorian banana. (At least, in those years when the Australian banana crop hasn't been wiped out by a cyclone.)

quadhome 14y ago
Australia has its own cheap labour: working holidays and people (students) who want visa extensions.