5 ms·

These airtaxis are in my opinion just another gimmick. Something in the future, but just around the corner, politicians can point to, which will "solve all traf

by V__ 3y ago

These airtaxis are in my opinion just another gimmick. Something in the future, but just around the corner, politicians can point to, which will "solve all traffic problems" thus making public transport investments right now unnecessary or unattractive. Hyperloop, Vegas tunnel, airtaxis. I wonder what will be next. Maybe a monorail?

staplers 3y ago
Not a single video of this thing flying.
hef19898 3y ago
Regarding monorail, some are already ahead of you... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=magnetschwebebahn+deutschland+nahverkehr&t=fpas&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=magnetschwebebahn+deutschland+nahv... Among others, Nürnberg and Berlin...
- jijijijij 3y ago
  Hysterically enough, Berlin's current mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) wants to, again, build a monorail in the city. This pipedream evergreen is probably inspired as yesterday's modernity fiction accompanying the ideological deconstruction of recently built bike lanes, which may indeed prove euphoric to his senile voter base struggling to recall it as an already tried, and/or failed concept. Of course, like with the paper reactor, hypoloop and hot air taxi, no politician really gives a shit, if it's a scam or not. It's just the car on a shtick to drag horse and the buggy in aromatic circles towards their post-politics career...
xnx 3y ago
Like electric cars, electric air taxis aren't for every application, but for specific uses, they have some huge advantages: safer, quieter, more reliable, cheaper to operate, easier to fly. Electric air taxis could open up whole new areas that would've been infeasible before for air ambulance and short commuter flights. Compare how much more aerial photography and videography we have now with drones compared to when manned helicopters were the only option. This is not vaporware. Joby is currently testing in NYC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD_dF8YngpA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD_dF8YngpA
- hef19898 3y ago
  >> safer, quieter, more reliable, cheaper to operate, easier to fly. Electric air taxis could open up whole new areas that would've been infeasible before for air ambulance and short commuter flights Could be straight from some of those start-ups marketing material. Safety, noise, cost all have to be proofen, right now those are just claims.
  - xnx 3y ago
    > Safety, noise, cost all have to be proofen, right now those are just claims. True, air taxis don't have decades of real-world use, but the claims are not without basis. Quieter operation has already been verified. Better safety and operating costs are highly likely due to the dramatic reduction in complexity/moving parts (similar to electric cars) and redundancy.
    - dr_kiszonka 3y ago
      I don't know anything about air taxis. Wouldn't they be harder to operate than cars and possibly fall straight down if there is a malfunction? (And use more energy than cars?)
      - xnx 3y ago
        Correct. Definitely inherently more complicated and energy intensive to operate than cars, but much less complicated to operate than helicopters.
        hef19898 3y ago
        I know a bit about both, helicopters and eVtols. Let's just say that all claims regarding cost, simplicity, redundancy and safety regarding eVtols are just that for now: claims.
pdoub 3y ago
Except for politicians and VCs (that each have their very own agenda), airtaxi enthusiasts give me the same vibe as "crypto enthusiasts" (not: the overly sales-y type) - I get and agree that the general, naive value proposition is "great", but it's just not feasible and there's so many lower hanging fruit that could be adressed in the meantime. And no one seems to address the often brought-up hard questions: - Look at the (often) questionable security theater at airports and tell me how you'd scale it down to airtaxis? - The people that for the foreseeable future will be able to afford airtaxis? Celebrities and enterprise C-level persons, not _you_ - Even if "free sky cars that run on zero energy" popped up from nowhere? The average person has a hard time navigating in 2D and can barely leave their hands off their cellphone - "AI will fix it"? Sure, dream on.
anon-sre-srm 3y ago
Flying cars and VRs are zombie sci-fi technologies that rear their ugly heads every 10 years. Moller is still working on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moller_M400_Skycar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moller_M400_Skycar

by V__ 3y ago

staplers 3y ago

Not a single video of this thing flying.

hef19898 3y ago

Regarding monorail, some are already ahead of you... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=magnetschwebebahn+deutschland+nahverkehr&t=fpas&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=magnetschwebebahn+deutschland+nahv... Among others, Nürnberg and Berlin...

jijijijij 3y ago
Hysterically enough, Berlin's current mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) wants to, again, build a monorail in the city. This pipedream evergreen is probably inspired as yesterday's modernity fiction accompanying the ideological deconstruction of recently built bike lanes, which may indeed prove euphoric to his senile voter base struggling to recall it as an already tried, and/or failed concept. Of course, like with the paper reactor, hypoloop and hot air taxi, no politician really gives a shit, if it's a scam or not. It's just the car on a shtick to drag horse and the buggy in aromatic circles towards their post-politics career...

xnx 3y ago

Like electric cars, electric air taxis aren't for every application, but for specific uses, they have some huge advantages: safer, quieter, more reliable, cheaper to operate, easier to fly. Electric air taxis could open up whole new areas that would've been infeasible before for air ambulance and short commuter flights. Compare how much more aerial photography and videography we have now with drones compared to when manned helicopters were the only option. This is not vaporware. Joby is currently testing in NYC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD_dF8YngpA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD_dF8YngpA

hef19898 3y ago
>> safer, quieter, more reliable, cheaper to operate, easier to fly. Electric air taxis could open up whole new areas that would've been infeasible before for air ambulance and short commuter flights Could be straight from some of those start-ups marketing material. Safety, noise, cost all have to be proofen, right now those are just claims.
- xnx 3y ago
  > Safety, noise, cost all have to be proofen, right now those are just claims. True, air taxis don't have decades of real-world use, but the claims are not without basis. Quieter operation has already been verified. Better safety and operating costs are highly likely due to the dramatic reduction in complexity/moving parts (similar to electric cars) and redundancy.
  - dr_kiszonka 3y ago
    I don't know anything about air taxis. Wouldn't they be harder to operate than cars and possibly fall straight down if there is a malfunction? (And use more energy than cars?)
    - xnx 3y ago
      Correct. Definitely inherently more complicated and energy intensive to operate than cars, but much less complicated to operate than helicopters.
      - hef19898 3y ago
        I know a bit about both, helicopters and eVtols. Let's just say that all claims regarding cost, simplicity, redundancy and safety regarding eVtols are just that for now: claims.

pdoub 3y ago

Except for politicians and VCs (that each have their very own agenda), airtaxi enthusiasts give me the same vibe as "crypto enthusiasts" (not: the overly sales-y type) - I get and agree that the general, naive value proposition is "great", but it's just not feasible and there's so many lower hanging fruit that could be adressed in the meantime. And no one seems to address the often brought-up hard questions: - Look at the (often) questionable security theater at airports and tell me how you'd scale it down to airtaxis? - The people that for the foreseeable future will be able to afford airtaxis? Celebrities and enterprise C-level persons, not _you_ - Even if "free sky cars that run on zero energy" popped up from nowhere? The average person has a hard time navigating in 2D and can barely leave their hands off their cellphone - "AI will fix it"? Sure, dream on.

anon-sre-srm 3y ago

Flying cars and VRs are zombie sci-fi technologies that rear their ugly heads every 10 years. Moller is still working on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moller_M400_Skycar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moller_M400_Skycar