Let`s face it, we all spend hours and hours stuck in our cars on SA`s highways, byways and suburban roads. And there are only so many route alternatives.
There is also a limited amount of time that can be dedicated to returning calls on our mobile phones, and then there`s the "to do list" we could mentally write down. After that, there`s only really the number plate game, the one where plates like LNR become learner.
A recent KPMG survey estimated that local vehicle penetration was under a fifth of what it could be. So if we assume - which is always easy using statistics - that about 30 million South Africans are legally old enough to cruise around all day, there would only be six million cars around.
This is a rather frightening thought because it means - theoretically - that there could be another 24 million cars on our roads. While the i-Traffic project could help ease congestion, what we really need is another solution.
A friend of mine has a solution, although it`s not practical for most of us. He sits in the backseat working on a notebook, while his driver - yup - chauffeurs him around town. Maybe not the most cost-effective dilemma-solver, so I have put some wasted time to good use and thought about the problem.
Bits 'n pieces
And I think I may have found the perfect answer.
Every day, we all send e-mails, download programs, send pictures across the world or download them from Web sites. All this information is converted to little noughts and ones.
This is a rather frightening thought because it means - theoretically - that there could be another 24 million cars on our roads.
Nicola Mawson, senior journalist, ITWeb
So, I asked a colleague: why we couldn`t do the same with people? Just turn us into bits and bytes and send us over the Net to our destination. Cheaper, faster, and much less bother.
The problem with voicing our witty concepts to others is that a positive reception is never guaranteed. What, he asked, if the noughts and ones got mixed up with other people`s noughts and ones?
The end result could be a bit more disastrous than when a pic only half downloads. Still, two heads are better than one!
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