Making Yourself Obsolete ?

As I observed in my earlier blog ( 05 Feb 2016 ), Theodore Levitt wrote in his seminal essay," Marketing Myopia " :

If you don't obsolete yourself , someone else will . So keep asking yourself : What business are we in ?

Levitt gives example of American Railroads , which failed to ask themselves this question and got obsolete by American Car manufacturers and American Airlines . No more people wanted to travel by trains !

Whereas it may take 10/20 years before Car Manufacturers themselves get obsolete ( by manufacturers of Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality / Holographic / Hepatic devices and web-services - making travelling unnecessary ) , according to me , taxi-rickshaw Meter Manufacturers are in the danger of getting obsolete , within the next TWO YEARS  !

Expect some Indian Start-Up to come up with a digital taxi meter ( to be called , DigiMet  ? ), resembling a 8" tablet , with a screen on both the sides , visible to both , the driver and the passenger

DigiMet will be integrated with :

*  GPS based Google Map

*  Mobile App ( called , FareCalc ? ) downloaded from the web site of the Authority fixing " Tariff " ( RTO ? )

Passengers will also need to download / install , FareCalc app on their smart phones

As requested by the passenger , taxi driver will enter the destination location , in DigiMet

Immediately , DigiMet will display the following routes to the desired destination :

*  Shortest route ( distance-wise )

*  Fastest route ( time wise ) , taking into account the traffic conditions on different routes

DigiMet will also display , the amount of " fares " payable for each route ( also displaying tariff : Rs per Km )

Now it is the passenger's turn to select / choose the route that he wants the driver to take

The taxi / rickshaw will start only thereafter !

At the end of the journey , passenger will have the options to pay the fare ,

*  In cash

*  By entering his Credit Card details into the DigiMet , or

*  Through his Mobile Wallet ( using NFC  ? )

The Mobile App will also need to have a provision for any " Waiting Time " charges to be added

When the destination is reached , DigiMet will display :

*  Distance travelled

*  Time taken

*  Waiting Time ( if any )

*  RTO approved tariff ( Rs per Km )

*  Fare amount payable

Any revision in the tariff will get updated automatically in DigiMet as also on the smart phone of passenger

For taxis / rickshaws running on Hybrid fuel ( producing less Co2 ) or Electric Vehicles ( zero emission ) , both , the driver and the passenger will get " Carbon Credits " , which will also get displayed on the DigiMet as also on the FareCalc Mobile App on the smart phone of the passenger ( @ 20 % of the fare payable ? )

These amounts will get transferred to their respective Jan Dhan Bank Accounts ( thru DTB ) , every quarter

I suppose some variation of DigiMet / FareCalc can be introduced in all State Transport buses and intra-city Municipal buses

I hope , the current manufacturers of taxi - rickshaw meters are asking themselves :

What business are we in ?

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hemenparekh.in / blogs

15  Feb  2016

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