The other day we had a story about wearable technology that is going to be available to truckers to help them be safer when on the road, and I suggested that it'd be great to make it accessible to consumers, as well - except for autonomous cares, because "computers don't get sleepy."
One MNB reader responded that while computers don't get sleepy, "they do crash…"
I thought that was a fair point, but another MNB reader wrote:
Actually it's not a fair point...statistically commercial drivers crash far less often than car drivers do and whenever cars and trucks do collide, more often it's the car that is at fault because they don't know how to drive around trucks (speeding, unsafe lane changes, distracted driving, etc.).
I won't pile on a list of statistics and I'm not saying commercial drivers are perfect but there are many drivers with millions of safe, accident free miles under their belts who take pride in what they do.
Regarding NIMBY attitudes that sometimes kick in when legalized pot shops want to open in certain neighborhoods, one MNB reader wrote:
Kevin, is the issue of “pot shops” in neighborhoods a short term issue? Will this just become akin to having a liquor store in the neighborhood? I agree with your sympathetic bend to the current concerns. But at some point this will be normalized, or will it?
Portland, Denver and Seattle should be the litmus test on time. I went into a Seattle shop while visiting recently. The whole process was very systematic and staff were super helpful, even though I did not buy anything. That said the demographic is a little different than the wine store down the block.
Short term, keeping access limited and selective seems prudent. Long term, if this becomes federal legal, change is inevitable. I support legalization to cut the black market element and gain control over efficacy and strength. The tax income won’t hurt, and could help fund enforcement of proper use. Pandora is out of her box, so embrace it, but let's get this right. Move slow, think deeply, be careful.
I mentioned Tennessee Ernie Ford's "16 Tons" yesterday, and lamented a bit by the fact that few people under a certain age have heard of him or it.
One MNB reader responded:
When I was a high school senior, our vocal music teacher required that all of us seniors had to take a solo piece to our state vocal music contest. I begged her to let me do “Sixteen Tons” and she steadfastly refused. Instead, she selected “Asleep In The Deep”, which apparently made the “greatest hits” listing of 1897. J I carry around Tennessee Ernie Ford’s version with me on iTunes and listen to it frequently; there is nothing better.
And finally … yesterday I told you that on Friday, even before the new MNB had been launched, i got an email from a reader suggesting that my new investment from Accelerate is the beginning of the end for MNB - "it was a good run, congratulations," he said, pointing out that this is inevitable when mergers and acquisitions occur.
I responded:
Such cynicism … but I have to admit that it made me laugh out loud. The new site hadn't even been launched yet!
We’ll see. The good news is that I still own the joint … I’m not being merged or acquired. And not only do I trust the folks with whom I am working, but I trust the MNB community to hold me - and them - accountable.
The vast majority of MNB readers yesterday - despite the glitches in the new site - were congratulatory. But not this fellow:
We have been through dozens of mergers/buyouts over the years ... your reader from Friday is not being foolish ... only experienced. You have now gone Corporate, which means no matter what you say...you will lose the intimate relationship you’ve had and morph into something else. We already see it with the new formatting. Matter of fact, I remember these very words from you when this has happened with companies in the industry over the past
18 years... laughing out loud doesn’t make it not true.
Well, I don't think I've gone corporate. I don't think the new format reflects corporate-think … I hope we did it because we wanted to make MNB more accessible, not less. And if the intimacy of my relationship with the MNB community suffers, that's on me … and I'm going to do my best to maintain what always has been one of the most rewarding parts of MNB.
