Channelzero’s Dan Machen (pictured below) appears to be the busiest person at SXSW at the moment. Here’s his (albeit rather brief) take of day three of the planet’s biggest futuristic, techy love-in…
Ironically, one of the daftest things at SXSW this year are these little beauties – the gaggle of electric scooters available on the UBER app.
Not since the start of the BBC’s Casualty has there been such a mass accident waiting to happen in Austin this year.
The UX is a pain in the arse to get on one. Most people don’t wear helmets, often ride them when boozed up and, spilling forth from completely overloaded bicycle lanes, they weave in and out of massive American trucks, clearly delighted by their presence.
Future of transport my arse. This is tomorrow’s short-form transport, trolling today. These scooters will be littering street corners, just as sure as flocks of hapless hipsters will wang their way to a post-digital Darwin award, or a trip to the local ER.
No surprise then that some venues are already banning them. It’s a classic tech clusterF***. Launch it badly, see who gets hurt, then do it again – properly, but at twice the price with half the impact.
