I Don’t Have To Wait For Buses in the Cold or Rain Anymore
London is introducing a system called Countdown. It allows you to look at your local bus stop and see how long you’ll have to wait for the next bus. Tonight, a friend came for supper and I was able to turn up at the stop just as her bus arrived. We also timed it right, so that we walked to the stop to get there, just as her bus arrived for London Bridge.
The system has a few bugs in that for instance 21 buses aren’t shown for some reason, but it works very well. You can also get it on a smart phone, if you have one. I think it’s only problem is that it might encourage people to travel by bus too much and London will need to buy more buses.
As an example, my friend had come in to Euston on a train from Manchester. She’d then waited for a 30 bus, so that she didn’t get too wet. But with wi-fi on the trains or a good mobile signal, she could have checked where the bus was as she approached Euston.
I often take one bus and then swap to another route, when they are running together, as the 141 and 341 do going to IKEA. You could use your mobile device to find out how long you have to wait.
It all goes to show how technology can improve something supposedly low-tech like a humble bus.
This system will see a lot of development in the next few years.
Imagine someone is coming to meet you on a bus. THey would text you the bus serial number and you would then display its position on your computer, so you could meet the actual bus at the right time and place. Or you could get an automatic text message a minute before the bus arrives.
The possibilities are endless.
One Problem With Televising Courts
This is a true story and some would think it would be good television. I don’t! But it illustrates the fact that a lot of cases contain things that really shouldn’t be broadcast. After all, our court system is open and anybody can go and look if they are interested.
My late wife was a barrister and once she was prosecuting a man for a sexual assault. She could hear a rustling behind her in the public gallery and quick look confirmed that a teacher was bringing in a class of school children to see how the court worked. She carried on, but her next question to a witness was not very appropriate. “When did you first notice that the defendant had an erection?” She then heard shrieks of laughter from behind her and then a lot of whispering as the children were quickly escorted out.
I bet those kids never forgot their first day in court!
She would repeat this story every time, televising courts was mentioned, to show how you can never be sure what will happen and how do you ensure that justice is fair and correct to all parties.
Who Would Want To Watch Court TV?
Having seen the odd case in a Court of Law, I can’t understand why anybody would want to watch it on television. It must only be for the same freak show reasons, that people watch crap like Big Brother, Britain’s Got Talent, basketball and American football. I’m thinking of setting up a channel where you can watch kettles boil or paint dry. It would be a lot more exciting!
I suppose if it was funded by advertising, Court TV might get them out of programs worth seeing.
But I won’t be watching!
The Anonymous Widower 