ABSTRACT
Too often we hear the triumphalist proclamation ‘The future has arrived!’ It is particularly the favourite exclamation accompanying the launch of the latest mobile device by the likes of Apple, the conception of yet another smart car courtesy of Tesla, or even the new electrical bicycle built by companies such as BMW, now fitted with GPS, proximity sensors warning the cyclist about the cars around and dedicated mobile phone applications to lock and unlock it with just one swipe of a finger. And if we believe strongly enough, as Google almost fooled us all on 1 April 2016, we will soon be surrounded not only by autonomous cars but also by self-driving bicycles!
