Since the early decades of the 20th century, the motor car has become one of society’s indispensable and most widely sought after necessities. Probably more so in America than in most other countries, a home without a car is regarded as a home lacking in one of life’s basic conveniences. Just getting most large cities without a car can be quite a challenge. Can you imagine Charles street Baltimore without cars?
While transport has always been one of mankind’s main needs, it is the growth of large industrial cities that has made the automobile what it is today. Travelling to work, school or play, on foot, is no longer an option for very many people. The reasons are twofold: larger cities mean longer distances to travel, and the pace of modern life means that there is less time available to get there.
Public transport in the modern age
Of course, there is public transport, but the convenience and practicality of such means of travel are often insufficient for most people’s needs. In very large and congested urban areas, such as Manhattan, the lack of space and extreme crowding, has forced people to seek other means of reaching their destinations, and it is here that public transport comes into its own. Downtown, in the vicinity of Charles street Baltimore, there are numerous parking garages, but this is not the case in many other large cities, and people are forced to leave their cars at home.
New York through the eyes of the BBC
A recent BBC documentary focused amongst other things, on the massive changes that are being put in place right now for New York’s public transportation systems. Unknown to most people, there is frenetic activity taking place right below the streets of downtown Manhattan, where massive multi-level tunnels have been dug. Because of the strength and thickness of the natural rock that underlies the city, the roof of these tunnels doesn’t require artificial props or supports. These tunnels will feed commuter rail traffic efficiently into New York, after crossing the massive new multi-lane bridges that are being built across the rivers.
At ground level, changes that were undreamt of several years ago, are also taking place. The ubiquitous yellow cabs that ply the street grids of New York in their thousands, are having to face a new challenge. The smartphone apps that enable people to summon a taxi virtually instantly, are forcing changes to the old system. Statistics show that there has seen a major drop off in the number of journeys undertaken by yellow cabs. Uber has changed the way people travel, and has forced the yellow cabs to follow suit by allowing passengers to hail cabs, and pay using their phones.
Early IBM mainframe computers of 60 years ago
What brought this about? Sixty years ago, IBM mainframe computers, required large, sealed, air-conditioned areas, to function. The cost of providing the services they offered the large companies that could afford them, was enormous. Smaller corporations looked on from a distance forced to share, rather than own, computing power. In the short space of the last thirty years, however, this picture has changed so drastically, that it can almost be termed miraculous. From the original PC’s of the eighties to the tablets and smartphones of today, the speed, capacity and sheer power of computing, in all its forms, has changed the way the world runs. And today this power sits comfortably in our pockets, with mega-times the power of the giant computers of yesteryear.
The iconic grey square PC box on your desk
The iconic IBM square, box shaped PC running on MS-DOS, with it’s monochrome, text-only monitor, is now a museum piece. But in the 80’s it sported a 20MB hard drive that amazed the world. Today’s laptops are available at prices affordable to everyone, with storage running to hundreds of Gigabytes. And this is for entry level machines designed for high school kids! Work it out: it would take several football fields covered with the original IBM PC’s, placed one next to the other, to provide the storage capacity of a single notebook that you slip into your shoulder bag when you climb onto the plane.
Thumb drives and your little finger
A USB thumb drive holding 64GB of memory, and shorter than one’s little finger, can be bought at your local Target for less than $20. This was pure science fiction a decade ago. Where will it all stop? Oh, and I must tell you this one: when I bought my first PC back in 1985, it had a 20MB hard drive, and I asked the owner of that early computer store if that would be sufficient storage. After all I was running Dbase ll and a few other DOS programs. His answer: “you’ll never fill 20MB”! Absolutely true story, but hardly believable today!
Keeping up with the changes that enable us to communicate and do business instantaneously, has become vital. To neglect the need to keep up, means to fall by the wayside. The yellow cabs are showing it can be done, and Uber is adding new innovations every day to keep further ahead.
Charles Street Baltimore and its hi-tech residences.
Today, this hi-tech progress is felt more in more in our homes, with the many computer based conveniences we use. Modern inner city residences, such as 1201 S. Charles street Baltimore are an example of this, making it easier, quicker, more economical and more convenient to get things done, in our day to day routines. Come and have a look at what we have to offer. It’s a brave new world awaiting you!