Installing AWS Elastic BeanStalk on Windows 10

Hit some interesting anomolies recently, installing the eb cli to Windows 10 and following the eb cli install guidance on the AWS Support Site.

Python installer installed to C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36\Scripts, pip and eb installed themselves to C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python36\Scripts. In other words, two slightly different routes to the \Scripts folder, which needs to be on the path.


The generally available instructions don't seem to cover this situation.  Rather than crudely crashing the two sub-folder sets together to reconcile the two, simply adding C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python36\Scripts to my path fixed the not found issues.

Where will self driving cars take us?

Along with Google,  prestige car manufacturers like Jaguar and Mercedes are investing in autonomous, or self-driving,  technology for vehicles.  As this technology matures and progresses through the inevitable decreasing price curve, becoming more affordable for many mass production vechicles, what impact will it have on transport and logistics? 

Let's assume first that legislation is able to keep pace with, and is permissive towards, rapidly evolving technology capabilities and second that the technology evolves to a point where vehicles are truly autonomous and can operate without a human 'co-pilot'.

Currently, a significant propotion of passenger miles are travelled with only one occupant in a vehicle - the driver. In an autonomous vehicle, the need to provide the driver environment (steering, gear change and so on) is eliminated and so many cars will only need to provide a single passenger environment.  Those cars can then be considerably smaller than current vehicles with consequent savings on weight and efficiency. 

In turn, smaller and lighter cars require less energy - making electric power more realistic; especially so if the car can take itself off to a recharge station when not in use.  Drivers, or "Passengers" as they will now be can simply hail a car as they woud a taxi - the car drives itself to where they are, collects it's passenger and takes them where they want to go before dropping them off and going off to collect someone else (in the case of a shared vechicle), or going off and parking itself.

Car drivers get a near-door-to-door service,  where they can travel in splendid isolation - gaining back travel time to work or enjoy their leisure.  Not so different to a taxi service it might be said - though autonomous cars reduce two major cost elements of taxis, the drivers wages and the running costs of a comparatively much larger car.

So, who will own these autonomous cars?  For many, the need to own a personal vehicle will be replaced by a 'there when you need it' autonomous car service operated by a large fleet companies and paid for by monthly subscription or on a pay as you go basis; reflecting the class of service desired (economy, business or upper class experience, with a 5 minute wait, 15 minute wait or 30 minute wait guarantee). Alternatively, the market may itself mature with dynamic pricing reflecting supply and demand.

Governance and legislation will have fresh challenges to address, as market disruption from the likes of AirBNB and Uber is showing - dynamic pricing is all very well if you get a cheap ride because it's quiet, but not so great when you have to choose between waiting longer in the rain or paying a premium fare to be collected.

Autonomous vehicles will be able to sense and adapt to their suroundings with heightened vigilance and reaction speed compared to human drivers.  Thus autonomous vehicles will be able to travel closer together, increasing traffic density whilst maintaining smooth traffic flow.  In turn this will ease congestion - especially at peak 'rush' hours.

They might even work together as a herd or flock, slip-streaming with each other and sharing the load of work to keep the whole moving, reducing their energy requirements even further.

What of the haulage industry?  Well, autonomous lorries could form convoys with each truck slip-streaming the one in front with only a few centimeters between them - with telemetry signalling information from truck to truck about conditions and changes far ahead of them.  What might we call these long links of lorries...trains perhaps, except these trains can break apart and do the 'last 5 miles' on their own.

For field service engineers, travel time can be used to prepare for the next call, engage in a comms cell or other socialising, or catch up on trinaing or updating.  After being dropped at a job, the engineer could request a part they don't have in van stock and either send their vehicle off to collect it, or await the central delivery vehicle bringing it out - or more likely, a central delivery drone.

Autonomous vehicles are coming soon, to a kerbside near you.  Where will it take you?  Well, where do you want to go?

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