XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: droleary@8usenet2013.subsume.com   
      
   In article ,   
    Bernard Peek  wrote:   
      
   > You could possibly take the level of abstraction one step further and   
   > consider a system analogous to container freight. The object of the   
   > exercise is not to get a vehicle from A to B, it is to get a passenger   
   > from A to B. Moving the vehicle too is wasteful.   
   >   
   > Build a small short-range shuttle capable of collecting a passenger pod.   
   > Deliver the pod to a hub where it can be loaded on to a train, or plane   
   > as appropriate. The same system could handle some freight.   
      
   Heh.  I actually *did* imagine such a system many years ago.  Back when   
   SyFy was called SciFi, they were casting a reality show called Brain   
   Trust, where they were looking for people to solve crazy problems with   
   crazy solutions.  I submitted an entry where I talked about how close we   
   could come to a "transporter" model of travel, which essentially worked   
   like the containerization scenario you describe (i.e., you go into a   
   "room" at one location, and when you exit it you're at a different   
   location).  I don't think they ever made the show; I certainly didn't   
   get on it.  :-)   
      
   The bigger the room/pod, the less efficient it gets, though.  But there   
   *is* something to be said about having a vehicle that is simply a   
   platform for moving anything, and then you fit it with modules that suit   
   it to the particular purpose of packages or people or whatever.  Such   
   ideas are considered too wacky for most people, I guess.   
      
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