Let's talk today about a technology which is available right now. And about something which fits really well with this weblog's motto: how new technologies affect our lives.
Imagine you're in Paris and that you need a taxi. You can go outside and try to find one which is available: good luck -- especially at night or when it rains. Or you can pick your phone and call a taxi company, waiting half an hour while listening to *bad* music before talking to someone. And, of course, you'll have to wait again for your taxi.
Now, imagine yourself in South Australia, where you soon will be able to use your cell phone.
Travellers will soon be able to order taxis via SMS, if a South Australian wireless communications company has its way.
ABM Industries has developed SmartMove, which uses the GPRS network and GPS system to accept bookings and direct them to the nearest taxi. Alex Mezhvinsky, managing director of ABM Industries, told ZDNet Australia the new technology would decrease waiting times and be less expensive to run than the current two-way radio assignation system.
ABM Industries also envisions an improved system.
In a year or so, Mezhvinsky hopes to be using a system being trialled [Note: is this an Australian spelling?] by Telstra and Optus that will allow them to use the mobile network to pinpoint the location of a caller.
"When the customer initiates an SMS call for a taxi the system will locate him automatically," said Mezhvinsky. "It will give him a choice of three intersections (because it can't locate him precisely) and when he chooses which one the taxi will be sent there."
This could lead to some trouble like in the old days. With so many cell phones in our big cities, it's highly possible that several customers call the same company from the same location, after a film or a play for example. And several customers will fight for a single taxi.
Anyway, I hope other companies in Europe or in the U.S. will soon pick up this idea and use this technology.
Source: James Pearce, ZDNet Australia, October 28, 2002
6:18:57 PM
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