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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @03:14PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @03:14PM (#277121)

    I want a self driven car that makes an appointment with the intersection(s) in its path, and reaches the intersection when the light is green.

    Ah, and then I'm driving to a destination before the next traffic light in that car just behind you which would not need to slow down yet, but is forced to slow down to snail pace because of your car trying to avoid a stop at the traffic light. Now that is frustrating.

  • (Score: 2) by snick on Wednesday December 16 2015, @03:30PM

    by snick (1408) on Wednesday December 16 2015, @03:30PM (#277135)

    I would expect our cars to negotiate the issue and I would smoothly allow you to pass. (If it is a two lane road, then the pass would be coordinated with ongoing traffic to allow a smooth and safe move) If A pass isn't possible, then again negotiate and split the difference where I am going faster than I otherwise would up to your destination and slow down after, and you might be going a bit slower than you would otherwise, but still at a reasonable pace.
    Besides, you aren't driving. Your car is driving, and you are napping. So, relax. It may seem slower to you, but optimum traffic flow will actually get you where you are going _much_ faster than your old lead foot.

  • (Score: 1) by caffeinated bacon on Wednesday December 16 2015, @03:35PM

    by caffeinated bacon (4151) on Wednesday December 16 2015, @03:35PM (#277142)

    Have your car ask his car to move out the way.