Ahead of the times!

The Open Road (the magazine for NRMA members) for January-February 2003 includes this little item of news.

Concept Designs, a Sydney-based automotive design and manufacturing company, was recently commissioned to design the ultimate mobile office concept, based on the Mercedes-Benz Vito commercial van.

The vehicle has six hand-crafted leather armchairs. The rear seats swivel to face each other, and there is a fold-out table that can be used for conferences, meetings or as a workstation for a computer. All necessary wiring and power connections are provided for a laptop and modem. An audio/video/DVD system and LCD screen are fitted.

Dual air conditioning keeps the "office" cool and comfortable, and a fridge and a coffee machine are located in the rear compartment for refreshments.

In August 2000 Kilsby Australia presented a future scenario for transport to a developer client, writing as if from a 2020 viewpoint. The description included the following:

Use of big vans - similar to "mobile homes" - equipped with communications and office facilities, driven by chauffeurs, has however become common practice for many executives commuting long distances across Sydney (including a few from XXXX [the proposed development] - which at least gives some employment to local drivers and secretaries, who must necessarily live close to their employers). Some efficiency-obsessed corporations insist on their senior employees using these vehicles to boost their productivity, and a big Sydney engineering group is proud of its innovation in completely transforming its business premises into docking stations for them. This "mobile officing" has made the vehicle occupants largely indifferent to road congestion, which is now very high within most of Sydney during most of the day. There is a strong community-based campaign for congestion pricing to be introduced, to restore the road system to some functionality. The few XXX residents who are obliged to adopt the antisocial practice of mobile officing hope that the campaign is successful and look forward to increasing the proportion of working time spent at home or local shared work centres to that of most of their neighbours.

It looks as though we will not have to wait till 2020 to see this prediction come to pass!

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