No, I don't need to own a car

As mentioned in my previous post, my home is in Tokyo where the cost of living is quite high (see the worldwide ranking for expats here, though I have been here long enough to qualify as a local).
Buying domestic car does not cost much but as you may know, it is only a fraction of the cost of ownership. What hurts particularly is that there is very little parking space and, if you are renting, you have to pay an ungodly amount of money to park you car. Given the fact that I drive only for getaways, to irregular shopping spree or family-related medical appointments, and mass transportation runs on time here, I don't really need a car.
Don't get me wrong, I love driving and powerful, beautiful cars. And don't get me started on automatic gearboxes! It just does not make any economic sense.

Car sharing
Talking with a colleague who is a frequent user, I decided to try out car sharing. Basically it is like renting a car, except that you pay a monthly fee and get to chose what to drive for an all-inclusive price. And as your information is already in the system, it is pretty convenient.
Many services are available in Tokyo and after a bit of research I chose "Times Plus" (details on the car sharing market in this recent article of the Japan Times). They have several stations around where I live and a good choice of cars.
The monthly fee is cheap (1,000 yen/ a bit less than US$10 that are given as a discount on your usage during the month) and there are packages and pays-as-you-go options. Registering took a few minutes online and all I needed is a scan of my driver's license and a credit card. Few days later I got my member's card and I was ready to go.

To select a car I just access the website (or use an app) from whatever machine I use and I can see which cars (small, vans, sports, hybrid, etc) are available where during the time I am interested and book them. What is really fun for a techie is how you get in the car. Your member's card has an embedded RFID chip that opens the car when you swipe it on the windshield!

and the car are easy to find in the parking lot thanks to those plastic banners in front of them

Experience
Then the actual car keys are in the glove box. So easy. Did I mention I could set up the GPS at the time of the booking so that the car is all ready for me when I get in? And the same GPS knows when the car is back at its spot, their big computer knows when the keys are back in the glove box and my card swiped to lock everything. And then I receive an email to confirm I gave the car back.
And the actual cost you may ask? For example a 30km round trip for running some errands taking 3 and half hours, costs a bit less than $30. Not bad, knowing we were 3 in the car.
And by the way, if you take some of your time to fill the tank (more than 20 liters) or get the car washed at one of their partner gas stations (using the loyalty cards available in the car) you receive discounts. How do they know that? Well sensors in the tank and the use of the loyalty card linked to their database. Spooky may be but the incentive is good (15-minute discount for each) and it makes sense for the company as users are helping doing the basic maintenance, lowering the overall cost of the service.

So...
I am really enjoying the service. The cars are new and well taken care of, the customer service responsive and the whole experience is smooth.
On one hand, where I went, from where, for how long, the type of cars I use is logged in their database. By cross referencing with my credit card company or my online social activities they would be able to have pretty good image of my habits. This could be a problem if it got stalked by someone who was after me and able to get to the data. It could always happen but the probability is pretty small (except if I become a very well known and important person but that's another story!).
On the other hand, all these technologies coupled together are offering me a good experience, a useful service at a reasonable price solving a logistical and economical problem I am facing as an urban dweller. And imagine the type of personalized offers they could provide me with if they were smart...

All in all, these new technologies used in a smart way are a boon for us, offering more convenience and lowering costs. Of course we are handing over some information, voluntarily, but the pay off is obvious. As I was mentioning in the previous post, we should remain vigilant of the laws of the land and the T&Cs of the companies to make sure we remain protected and our privacy respected to continue enjoying the benefits of technology. Which brings me to the "Reform Government Initiative" by some tech giants to get governments (especially the US one) to be more transparent, and that is great.
Let's continue enjoy technology but be informed and active citizens!

Big data making life easier for a city dweller

Living in big cities, wherever you are in the world, comes at a cost: more expensive groceries, smaller living spaces, exorbitant parking space, traffic, noise and pollution, to name a few. Being in Tokyo myself, I experience all of that and some more. So I decided to take full advantage of new technologies to make things a bit easier and share my experience and thoughts with you.

Everyday convenience
We have gone fully online for everything that is bulky, repetitive and does not need to be selected every time (ie like fresh produces), and choose Amazon (Prime and Amazon family members - called "Amazon Mom" in the US).
Besides the obvious price advantage (no retail space to pay, passing down savings to consumers), convenience is great. The shipping notice comes by email, of course, but being displayed in Google Now in great details changes everything.

Amazon has a great agreement with delivery services (here Yamato Transport) thanks to which there is a deep link in the notice email to their parcel tracking service (in blue at the bottom of the image above). Without any login, I can check hour-by-hour the status, on any Google connected device, and know more or less when the delivery will arrive.

And it was accurate at +/- 30 minutes. Speak of convenience! I can mind my own business outside home or get into a meeting without the risk of being interrupted or missing the delivery. I am sold on it!

Technologies
What made this possible is the convergence of 3 technologies: databases, real time positioning (GPS) and unified online ID.

• Amazon and Yamato (the transporter) have linked their databases to permit a rapid exchange of information, to make it as relevant as possible for consumers (see a brief description of what happens on Amazon Japan English page). They have done it in an open way so that a third party (like Google) can actually use this information to provide added value to users. As consumers, we have to authorize and accept that our information is analyzed, crossed between many databases/tables and profiles, shared between companies and accessible for our own convenience. Databases are nothing new of course, it is how the underlying technologies and the protocols to exchange information between them that makes a difference.
• Real-time positioning (based on GPS), allows us (sellers and transporter of goods as well) to know exactly where a parcel is and estimate its delivery time, based on past experiences stored and analyzed in databases. Each parcel gets scanned (with a bar code or a QR code, or RFID tag, ) every time it changes hands or reach a distribution point and the information goes up in the database and back to us via our devices. It is the same technology that helps us find our way or receive timely and geo-targeted offers.
• Unique Online ID is our online unique face that permits companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon or others to recognize us wherever we are and propose us customized service and information. Think how you can connect to so many services by just using your Facebook login or Google login, that is it.

The benefit I get from the use of these technology makes my life easier, and yours certainly too. At the same time we hear from many sources about "big data", our private information being mined and combined here and there, and users being "the product". And in a way it can be said to be true. But I believe it is an alarmist and headline grabbing and unbalance way of depicting the whole picture.


Quick conclusion
If we look at my own example and the benefit I received from it, it overweights the possible downsides. Of course we need to be vigilant about how our data is being used, kept, managed and destroyed by keeping up to date on T&Cs and not letting companies & governments off the hook. That said, I believe that stating a simple "not for me" is going against the march of progress and denying ourselves a lot of convenience.
Next time, I will be looking at how I have decided not to have a car full time and conclude on some broader questions. Until then, do not hesitate to let me know what you think.