XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: gossg@gossg.org   
      
   Doc O'Leary  wrote:   
   > Greg Goss  wrote:   
      
   >> Generally people on planes either rent   
   >> a car when they get there, or mooch transportation from the people   
   >> that they're visiting.   
   >   
   >> Building a virtual train out of self-driving bits?  That's kinda like   
   >> building an internet by making self-driving packets.  It'll never   
   >> work.   
   >   
   >I don't even understand the analogy you're trying to make.  Self-driving   
   >cars *are* a virtual train.   
      
   It's sarcasm.  The internet works because the packets can travel   
   together without significant wastage, or separate off to different   
   destinations, all with very low overhead.   The "virtual train" model   
   of automated long-distance freeways with local driving at each end   
   done by individual driving makes cars a close analogy to the internet.   
      
   >the more   
   >sensible thing to do would be to use physical rails so that you don't   
   >*need* to waste those resources tackling what is a solved problem.   
      
   I disagree with "physical rails", except for long distances.   
   --   
   We are geeks.  Resistance is voltage over current.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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