http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car
http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/541.html
There is much more info out there. I've seen a paper somewhere involving Google, truck companies, Tesco (Or one of the major supermarkets) and logistics outfits that state that 2017 will see the first point to point driverless artics on UK motorways. Foresight, a government sponsored organisation is pressing for changes in the law to allow "autonomy".
Loading/unloading will also be fully automated. Amazon's Swansea plant is supposedly already geared up for this.

Edited to correct typos

Edited by Deadbeat (Sun 29-Apr-12 10:27:11)

Well I hope the Google geniuses know we drive on the left hand side of the road when they write the software !!

Edited by deleted (Sun 29-Apr-12 08:49:07)

FTTP on Demand http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5016-fttp-on-dema...

In 2013, if you can get FTTC you will have the option to pay for the install and get full fibre, might cost you £1000 or more though.

FTTC VDSL2 will get Vectoring in a few years, giving speeds of over 100 Mbps for some, and boosting those down at the 30 to 40 Meg by perhaps 20 to 50%.

Give it 20 years then full fibre will become more common, for now the cost to install is whats holding it back.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

In 2013, if you can get FTTC you will have the option to pay for the install and get full fibre, might cost you £1000 or more though.

I don't know whether I would be willing to pay that but if the cost was spread out over a time frame (as the article says) then I might consider it.

Don't suppose you have heard anything about when wider trials might be starting ?

If you mean FTTP on demand, no sorry.

how fast do most people really need?
i got 4megabits, sure I would not mind a bit more speed, but I have no need for 20,30, 40 or more megabits to be honest.,

I think some people just think they need the extra speed.
FTTP no doubt will come to more people, but I think it will take time.

Generally I get 6.5 Meg, and am hoping I'll get 12-13 Meg with ADSL2+

In my mind I won't need any more, as most of my usage is burst, rather than maxing out the pipe. Occasionally if there's a Beeb or YouTube stream my connection copes fine, even with 1080p on the latter site.

I'd be at a loss to need more than 20 Meg down and 5 Meg up, even if I downloaded more often. Rock solid connection with very low pings would be my priority.

Folk forget about site upload speeds, contention and FUPs when thinking about FTTx.

I should add that I believe that the powers should be aiming for 4 Meg / 1 Meg as a minimum for all users though. The modern web requirements means that suppliers need to have new minimum standards and definitions for broadband.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

how fast do most people really need?
i got 4megabits, sure I would not mind a bit more speed, but I have no need for 20,30, 40 or more megabits to be honest.,

I think some people just think they need the extra speed.
FTTP no doubt will come to more people, but I think it will take time.

I agree. I was happy with 12Mb/s most of the time. I went for 40/10 because the cabinet was there and it wasn't much more money - plus the upload increase is nice. I'm about to go to 80/20 but only because the upgrade is free. Even with a family I think I'd be hard pressed to find a genuine need for anything more than 40Mb/s.