Letters to the Editor – 10/02 – No more strikes, Falling giant, Best of Twitter
No more strikes
[Re: Politicians must end tube chaos, Friday]
There is another way. In an era when huge ships plough the ocean, and vast aircraft fly the skies under the control of automated systems, just how difficult would it be to automate trains running along fixed tracks? Already US firms are trialling automated cars, which have to cope with a much more complex set of variables. Sticking to a system of drivers in cabs can only be regarded as Luddite. True, the level of skills of the few remaining control staff would have to be an order of magnitude higher than at present, but the benefits otherwise are legion: one being no strikes.
Name Withheld
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Falling giant
[Re: Bill Gates is gone and the dot-com era is over: It’s only the end of the beginning, Friday]
The first wave of the dot-com era is over, and the consequences for the original tech giants, primarily Microsoft, will be far-reaching. The company’s sheer size seems to have held it back relative to its more innovative rivals, and its consumer-facing products continually fail to excite. Already the firm faces pressure from investors to focus on the predictable revenues of enterprise technology. This would see it go the way of IBM, which former Microsoft chief Steve Balmer described as an “irrelevant” firm.
Andrew Safo
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BEST OF TWITTER
Soft January employment data will not dissuade policymakers from current tapering course.
@Lavorgnanomics
Looking at Spanish 10-year bond, have to go back to 2006 to find yields lower than today’s 3.59 per cent.
@LorcanRK
Germany’s Angela Merkel has been in office for 3,000 days. She has an approval rating of 70 per cent.
@GABaines
First Ghana then Ukraine – capital controls are spreading. Bad news!
@MaMoMVPY