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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?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Vanderhoth on Wednesday December 16 2015, @03:08PM
I can't possibly list all the great things that could come. Having transportation to get home is a huge factor in if I'm going to go out to dinner and drinks with friends. Last bus to my place goes at 9:30 PM and it's nearly impossible to get a cab that will leave the downtown. 30 minute drive out to my house, then 30 minutes back for them to where there are people waiting to be driven around. And it's never fun to be the designated driver so it's hard to get someone that will do it. A lot of people will just take the chance with a couple of drinks. Driverless cars solve that problem.
There's also the issue with people driving angry, not paying attention or being overly tired and/or computers just having a better reaction time.
"Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @08:58PM
> A lot of people will just take the chance with a couple of drinks. Driverless cars solve that problem.
There is a flip-side to that - some people never drink in public, not even one beer, because they won't take the risk of driving impaired. But that's bad for the restaurant business. More drinks at dinner means higher sales (and alcohol is the most profitable part of the restaurant business) and larger tips. It's also a factor in deciding to eat out at all - why go to the effort if you can't have the full experience?
So I suspect that self-driving cars will be a boon to the restaurant business.