This is HUGE: WIKISPEED, first car-maker in the world to accept Bitcoin

[casascius]

Pretty soon you'll be able to buy a Moller SkyCar for bitcoins!

Those are just toys for the rich.  This wikispeed commuter car does have me interested, though.

They are toys for the rich in imagination and an unlimited appetite for unfulfilled promises and an empty wallet.  For those rich in the usually understood sense and want something that actually flies, there's Cessna, Cirrus, Gulfstream, Lancair, etc.

Someone who wants a 100mpg commuter vehicle can buy a motorcycle today.  Leaps and bounds in automotive technology are unlikely to come from someone barely figuring out how to integrate a door and a roof into a mass production run of their car.

[nedbert9]

Impressive.

[Littleshop]

I have always liked the idea of a modular car.   If a serious market develops, you will have alternative engine and body kits all made mostly interchangeable. 

[giszmo]

/sub

I see you claim to use SCRUM in a huge distributed team but the paper scrum wall implies you only scrum locally. Did you consider using Kunagi? I would love to show you around in Kunagi (the first steps can be confusing but it all makes sense after minutes) as I find it near perfect as an online solution replacing what I did in my local scrum teams with paper, planning poker cards, …
I would even prefer using Kunagi over paper on a local team.

[dunand]

This is great. I really like the fact that it's modular and you can swap pieces around. They should make computers like this. I'm thinking about the Retina MacBook.

[Bitcoin Oz]

The question needs to be asked....Could you take the principles used at wikispeed and apply them to aircraft manufacturing ?

Im thinking here of a wikispeed personal aircraft...

[AndrewBUD]

This is great. I really like the fact that it's modular and you can swap pieces around. They should make computers like this. I'm thinking about the Retina MacBook.

They don't make computers that you can swap pieces?

[notme]

This is great. I really like the fact that it's modular and you can swap pieces around. They should make computers like this. I'm thinking about the Retina MacBook.

They don't make computers that you can swap pieces?

Apple doesn't .

[Electricbees]

Is anyone familiar with the early model Honda Insight? The most fuel-efficient, mass-produced consumer vehicle in history? (Yet?)

Anyone remember the technology that went into making the most fuel efficient consumer car in history?

1.0 liter 3 cylinder engine?
Lean-burn with stoichiometric gas/air ratio of 1/25.8?
Hugely plastic chassis and seats 2 comfortably plus some groceries?
It's a hybrid?
Manual transmission or a CVT?
Looked HORRIBLE as far as appearances went?

So, where the hell is all this stuff on this supposed 100mpg vehicle?
And why aren't they selling it for $150,000+?

I think anyone can tell you the answer to that...

[Bitcoin Oz]

This is great. I really like the fact that it's modular and you can swap pieces around. They should make computers like this. I'm thinking about the Retina MacBook.

I guess they just like making them out of solid pieces of aluminium.

[nimda]

This is great. I really like the fact that it's modular and you can swap pieces around. They should make computers like this. I'm thinking about the Retina MacBook.

I guess they just like making them out of solid pieces of aluminium.

Have you read Steve Job's biography? It talks about that. He would always insist that the inside look pretty, and that nobody ever see the inside. Look up the NeXT as well.

[bg002h]

The first person to buy a car with Bitcoin is totally gonna be more famous than that pizza guy

[Littleshop]

Is anyone familiar with the early model Honda Insight? The most fuel-efficient, mass-produced consumer vehicle in history? (Yet?)

Anyone remember the technology that went into making the most fuel efficient consumer car in history?

1.0 liter 3 cylinder engine?
Lean-burn with stoichiometric gas/air ratio of 1/25.8?
Hugely plastic chassis and seats 2 comfortably plus some groceries?
It's a hybrid?
Manual transmission or a CVT?
Looked HORRIBLE as far as appearances went?

So, where the hell is all this stuff on this supposed 100mpg vehicle?
And why aren't they selling it for $150,000+?

I think anyone can tell you the answer to that...

The Insight no AC manual tranny is the MPG king but it is real close now.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorSelectEngine.jsp?year=2000&make=Honda&model=Insight

The Insight is 53 combined rating under the new ratings, the Prius C is 51.  The Insight with AC/auto is about 50 mpg under the new ratings.

The high mpg rating (70mpg highway) on the original Insight was done on an easier test. 

The Insight chassis was actually just plastic covered in some spots, it was mostly aluminum and often said to be 'hand assembled' at a loss. 

[rjk]

Meanwhile, the Volkswagen Lupo 3L TDI got 78MPG, but was never (as far as I know) available in the US. It had a 3-cylinder turbodiesel with direct injection.

[casascius]

The question needs to be asked....Could you take the principles used at wikispeed and apply them to aircraft manufacturing ?

Im thinking here of a wikispeed personal aircraft...

What principles are used at Wikispeed that would help manufacture aircraft better than what we're doing now?

The hardest part of designing an aircraft isn't designing it, 90% of it is passing all the damn tests to get it certified and getting certification on every damn little thing you want to do.  Sadly, a major part of what makes an airplane design "great" is how long it's been flown without any problems, as safety is on more people's minds than features.

[the joint]

Is anyone familiar with the early model Honda Insight? The most fuel-efficient, mass-produced consumer vehicle in history? (Yet?)

Anyone remember the technology that went into making the most fuel efficient consumer car in history?

1.0 liter 3 cylinder engine?
Lean-burn with stoichiometric gas/air ratio of 1/25.8?
Hugely plastic chassis and seats 2 comfortably plus some groceries?
It's a hybrid?
Manual transmission or a CVT?
Looked HORRIBLE as far as appearances went?

So, where the hell is all this stuff on this supposed 100mpg vehicle?
And why aren't they selling it for $150,000+?

I think anyone can tell you the answer to that...

The Insight no AC manual tranny is the MPG king but it is real close now.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorSelectEngine.jsp?year=2000&make=Honda&model=Insight

The Insight is 53 combined rating under the new ratings, the Prius C is 51.  The Insight with AC/auto is about 50 mpg under the new ratings.

The high mpg rating (70mpg highway) on the original Insight was done on an easier test. 

The Insight chassis was actually just plastic covered in some spots, it was mostly aluminum and often said to be 'hand assembled' at a loss. 

Um, maybe the ~1,400 lb. weight helps just a smidge.

[notme]

The question needs to be asked....Could you take the principles used at wikispeed and apply them to aircraft manufacturing ?

Im thinking here of a wikispeed personal aircraft...

What principles are used at Wikispeed that would help manufacture aircraft better than what we're doing now?

The hardest part of designing an aircraft isn't designing it, 90% of it is passing all the damn tests to get it certified and getting certification on every damn little thing you want to do.  Sadly, a major part of what makes an airplane design "great" is how long it's been flown without any problems, as safety is on more people's minds than features.

Here's where you start:
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/airworthiness_certification/

Sure, it would take capital to do the paperwork, but you can crowdsource the tests to people who are building prototypes along with you.  You each specialize in one area and send parts around.  That's how.

[Bitcoin Oz]

The question needs to be asked....Could you take the principles used at wikispeed and apply them to aircraft manufacturing ?

Im thinking here of a wikispeed personal aircraft...

What principles are used at Wikispeed that would help manufacture aircraft better than what we're doing now?

The hardest part of designing an aircraft isn't designing it, 90% of it is passing all the damn tests to get it certified and getting certification on every damn little thing you want to do.  Sadly, a major part of what makes an airplane design "great" is how long it's been flown without any problems, as safety is on more people's minds than features.

Here's where you start:
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/airworthiness_certification/

Sure, it would take capital to do the paperwork, but you can crowdsource the tests to people who are building prototypes along with you.  You each specialize in one area and send parts around.  That's how.

Is there already an existing modular aircraft design ?

[casascius]

The question needs to be asked....Could you take the principles used at wikispeed and apply them to aircraft manufacturing ?

Im thinking here of a wikispeed personal aircraft...

What principles are used at Wikispeed that would help manufacture aircraft better than what we're doing now?

The hardest part of designing an aircraft isn't designing it, 90% of it is passing all the damn tests to get it certified and getting certification on every damn little thing you want to do.  Sadly, a major part of what makes an airplane design "great" is how long it's been flown without any problems, as safety is on more people's minds than features.

Here's where you start:
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/airworthiness_certification/

Sure, it would take capital to do the paperwork, but you can crowdsource the tests to people who are building prototypes along with you.  You each specialize in one area and send parts around.  That's how.

So the Wikispeed secret is to find qualified unpaid volunteers willing to risk their lives as test pilots all begging to be the first to climb into some untested contraption and hit the throttle?  I could see how this might work for space travel (moon or bust!) but not for a new personal aircraft paradigm.

[Bitcoin Oz]

The question needs to be asked....Could you take the principles used at wikispeed and apply them to aircraft manufacturing ?

Im thinking here of a wikispeed personal aircraft...

What principles are used at Wikispeed that would help manufacture aircraft better than what we're doing now?

The hardest part of designing an aircraft isn't designing it, 90% of it is passing all the damn tests to get it certified and getting certification on every damn little thing you want to do.  Sadly, a major part of what makes an airplane design "great" is how long it's been flown without any problems, as safety is on more people's minds than features.

Here's where you start:
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/airworthiness_certification/

Sure, it would take capital to do the paperwork, but you can crowdsource the tests to people who are building prototypes along with you.  You each specialize in one area and send parts around.  That's how.

So the Wikispeed secret is to find qualified unpaid volunteers willing to risk their lives as test pilots being the first to climb into some untested contraption and hit the throttle?

It worked for the US Air Force ?