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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday December 16 2015, @01:44PM   Printer-friendly
from the who's-gonna-drive-miss-daisy? dept.

The race to bring driverless cars to the masses is only just beginning, but already it is a fight for the ages. The competition is fierce, secretive, and elite. It pits Apple against Google against Tesla against Uber: all titans of Silicon Valley, in many ways as enigmatic as they are revered.

As these technology giants zero in on the car industry, global automakers are being forced to dramatically rethink what it means to build a vehicle for the first time in a century. Aspects of this race evoke several pivotal moments in technological history: the construction of railroads, the dawn of electric light, the birth of the automobile, the beginning of aviation. There's no precedent for what engineers are trying to build now, and no single blueprint for how to build it.

Self-driving cars promise to create a new kind of leisure, offering passengers additional time for reading books, writing email, knitting, practicing an instrument, cracking open a beer, taking a catnap, and any number of other diversions. Peope who are unable to drive themselves could experience a new kind of independence. And self-driving cars could re-contextualize land-use on massive scales. In this imagined mobility utopia, drone trucks would haul packages across the country and no human would have to circle a city block in search of a parking spot.

If self-driving vehicles deliver on their promises, they will save millions of lives over the course of a few decades, destroy and create entire industries, and fundamentally change the human relationship with space and time. All of which is why some of the planet's most valuable companies are pouring billions of dollars into the effort to build driverless cars.

After automation puts everyone out of work, will anyone need to drive anywhere anymore?


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @02:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @02:16PM (#277082)

    i look forward to setting up a table and chair in the middle of the freeway and sipping tea as a thousand robot cars wait patiently for me to move.

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  • (Score: 5, Touché) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday December 16 2015, @02:45PM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Wednesday December 16 2015, @02:45PM (#277101) Homepage

    What's stopping you from trying that now?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @07:26PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @07:26PM (#277255)

      Humans are terribly impatient. Especially at tea time whilst still on the motorway.

    • (Score: 1, Redundant) by quacking duck on Wednesday December 16 2015, @09:28PM

      by quacking duck (1395) on Wednesday December 16 2015, @09:28PM (#277313)

      Knowing that he'll probably be hit by a texting/distracted driver who doesn't pay enough attention to the road to see him until it's too late?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @04:31PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @04:31PM (#277181)

    Well, the robot cars may be patient. The people inside will not be. And you should always remember that those cars have doors, and the people inside the cars can leave the cars through the doors. And when they do, I can assure you they'll not let you sip the rest of your tea.

  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday December 16 2015, @06:15PM

    by TheRaven (270) on Wednesday December 16 2015, @06:15PM (#277229) Journal
    If there's a stationary object in a designated road, then the cars will likely contact the local highway maintenance authority with pictures of it automatically. If the pictures show someone drinking tea, then they'll forward it directly to the police, who will happily arrange for a room where you can drink tea in private while you wait for your lawyer to arrive.
    --
    sudo mod me up
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @06:52PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @06:52PM (#277244)

      And what happens when there is a painting held up on the road showing a tree or a car crash?

      • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday December 16 2015, @10:14PM

        by wonkey_monkey (279) on Wednesday December 16 2015, @10:14PM (#277335) Homepage

        It'll be detected as a flat surface by the car's LIDAR or 3D cameras, probably with much greater accuracy than human binocular vision. Next question?

        --
        systemd is Roko's Basilisk
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @10:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @10:45PM (#277353)

    If you try that in my country, you'll not have time to finish your cup before someone gets out and punches you in the face. We put up with anything, unless it blocks traffic.