Traditional Thinking to Transformative Technology Adoption Perspectives from the Journey Transformative innovations are justifiably creating hope, optimism and a good news story in some circles. There are also the predictable commentaries along the line of Oh wait, - Ive managed to find a downside . . . , no matter how irrelevant or minuscule. Case in point. While providing compelling logic about how the self-driving automobile will result in fewer accidents and dramatically reduce auto insurance premiums for consumers, this piece curiously leads with a Doom . . . headline after which (just in case the readers conclusion that doom for insurers might just be good news for consumers) it is quick to bear down on the potential increased cost of an auto mechanic, stating: . . .there’s another cost for car owners that may go up. With fewer accidents keeping the nation well supplied with mechanics, repairing that fender bender may cost you more. Gotta love it. What we have is a story that if told completely is one of reduced auto insurance premiums, reduced carnage and personal injuries and a resultant drop in Long Term Disability and healthcare claims. Instead it becomes grudging admission that there may be some gains, but those will just as easily be absorbed by an offsetting cost. The reality is that more easily, efficiently and economically than repairing the referenced fender, for the occasional minor incident (probably the result of those times when the human is in control, or when nature causes one of its tree branches to fall on a stationary vehicle), the car of the not-so-far-off-future will receive a piece of replacement bodywork and other support component replacements same-day or perhaps even on-the-spot-while-u-wait from the local auto-parts supplier or dealership where these pieces will be produced by a 3-D printer, based on specifications downloaded from the cloud. The damaged components will be recycled in their entirety. The self-driving car coupled with the growing capabilities of 3-D printing create a compelling and powerful vision of the future. No waiting for bodywork and many other components. No large carbon footprint for transporting the product continent to continent. No large inventories. After decades of transportation based pollution and squandered natural resources to fuel such transportation and to heat warehouses of spare parts that may or may not ever be sold, could it be that this is a major step upwards in innovation fuelled conservation that will contribute to a better future and environment for our grandchildren? So where is the bad news here? In the context of every-day traffic mishaps, insurance claims and required repairs, self-driving cars and 3-D printing will provide tangible, significant benefits including the following: - if Im an insurance company shareholder (and that likely applies to anyone with a retirement savings plan/mutual fund), the insurer has an opportunity for a larger margin and profit as risk and claims reduce. (And dont think that insurers are not keenly aware of the opportunity for increased margin during times of change - this is like the price of gasoline at the pump - quick to go up when the price of oil rises, slow to come down when the price of crude drops.); - as a consumer, competitive pressures will ensure that insurance premiums will reduce over the long haul, in response to the reduced risk, even if not as quickly as I might like. - as a resident of planet Earth, I will benefit from fewer parts being transported less often. That means fewer resources being used, less pollution created, and less infrastructure required (think roads, bridges, tunnels, repair and refuelling depots, etc.) That means less heat and maintenance for those just in case we need it storage facilities, - for the specialized auto-body mechanics, parts suppliers and auto dealers who embrace the new skills, technologies and tools required - they may, as the author suggests, make a little more money - as the direct result of providing customers with what will be a dramatic increase in value. As I see it, this is all good news!
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 22:12:41 +0000
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