via ABC News
When I saw this headline, I was ready to go on the warpath. Techno-utopianism! The arrogance of engineers! But you know, they always soften me up with the prospect of self-driving cars. I am all about the self-driving cars, and can’t wait ’till they get here.
Though, as Nick Carr has pointed out, when the self-driving cars arrive we’re going to have a mixed-reality setup for a while, with some people driving and some being driven, and that’s going to be highly conflictual.
Steve says: You had me at ‘self-driving cars’. Seriously, think how fewer accidents we’ll have. The google car can actually bounce radar under the car in front of you and will apply the brakes when the truck 2 cars ahead applies his air-brakes to avoid a car slowly pulling out in front of him.
Drunk driving becomes a thing of the past – the car can get you home. The cars will drive probably 20-30% more efficiently than you do – no jack-rabbit starts or slamming of the brakes. If you’re handicapped, you’re just as mobile as the next person. Rather avoid a plane trip to D.C.? Just sleep in the backseat, the car will drive you overnight.
Don’t want to buy a car, time-share a car with neighbors – Google will calculate the best neighbor to share with based on their start/leave times.
Seriously, this will have more of a positive impact on our society that the introduction of the internal combustion engine.
Robert Wilhelm says: After working with their Blogger software, I would not get into a Google designed car.
OMFG. I had to stop reading after the first paragraph. Yes, internet connectivity and traffic flow are the “big problems” facing the world today. Spoken like someone whose worldview begins and ends with Silicon Valley.