Print Email RSS RSS  Share del.icio.us Facebook Twitter
Info & Answers
4 Technologies Worse Than Their Predecessors
Innovation isn't always a good thing. Here are four technologies that are worse than what they replaced.
image
Slideshow
image
View Slideshow

November 09, 2009 | by Jason Knott

The world lives, eats and breathes for new technology. It’s what CE pros and enthusiast consumers do every day.

The pursuit of technology is relentless. Everyone wants the latest in electronics, from flat panels to iPhones.

It’s great news for integrators because it means upgrades, upgrades, upgrades. But are some of those upgrades even worse than the previous technology?

A recent study revealed that in an effort to save fuel, trans-Atlantic freighters have cut their average speed to 10 knots. But cargo sailing ships from 100 years ago averaged 13 knots. A single modern container ship emits the same amount of pollution as 50 million cars. Is that better?

Here are four technologies that aren’t better than their predecessors. Can you think of any other dodo bird technologies out there?

Click here for 4 Technologies Worse Than Their Predecessors.



Article Topics
What's Related
Popular Tags
Social Bookmark   less


Comments (2) Most recent displayed first.
Posted by rod weeks  on  11/12/09  at  03:38 PM

To the author:
You are an idiot who obviously does no research.
Heres the hard facts and math on that “50 million cars” statement you made.

Lets look at the Emma Maersk, one of the largest cargo ships in the world, versus a typical mid size car:

The ship uses about 100,00 HP to cruise at 31 MPH, while carrying about 308.000.000 pounds of cargo.  That works out to about 8720 gal of diesel per hour.  The ship therefore has a transport efficiency of about 1,094,954 pound-miles per gallon.

The car runs at 60 MPH while moving about 1000 lbs.  The fuel burn is about 2 gallons per hour.  This gives a transport efficiency of 30,000 lb-miles per gallon.  The ratio is only 36 to one.  How do you explain the 50 million to one ratio? The raw fuel burn ratio between the two vehicles is only 4500 to one.  To hit your ratio, the ship would have to produce 11,111 times more pollution per gallon of fuel.

Tthe math doesn’t lie.  The press nearly always does.

Posted by Doug  on  11/09/09  at  12:52 PM

Is that for the same amount of freight transported the same distance?  I really doubt it.



Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.