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If Uber Technologies Inc. ever collapses, historians may trace its undoing not to its troubles with labor relations, intellectual property, regulatory conflicts or sexual-harassment allegations, but to technological disruption.
This would be the same technological disruption the company itself pledged to use to upend the auto industry and the $2 trillion a year tied to it.
Less than a year ago, Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick described self-driving cars as an "existential" threat to his company, saying that his team must get the technology to market before competitors do, or at least at around the same time. Self-driving vehicles would ultimately be much cheaper to operate than ones requiring human drivers—robots work tirelessly and don't demand raises. The first companies to roll out fleets of automated taxis could quickly drive their human-powered competition into oblivion.
Bye-bye Uber, hello Johnny Cab?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by theluggage on Tuesday May 09 2017, @12:48PM (1 child)
Self-driving vehicles would ultimately be much cheaper to operate than ones requiring human drivers—robots work tirelessly and don't demand raises.
Except that's the most demanding possible ask of self-driving cars: total autonomy and responsibility for fare-paying customers. Or should Uber passengers take a breath test to ensure that they are fit to operate a road vehicle and take control if it gets confused/stuck?
Everybody is getting excited about the progress so far, but self-driving cars face three, big, quantum leaps: (1) Being able to tell customers (not test drivers) that its OK to let go of the wheel and (2) telling drivers that it's OK to crack open a beer (because, whatever the law, even people who don't currently drive drunk will be more inclined to try) and (3) surviving the first incidence of an autonomous car running down a child - because it will happen unless autonomous cars drive with intolerable caution.
Methinks that fully autonomous cars are going to be "coming next year" for a good few years to come (or there's going to be a cycle of over-confidence, disaster and backlash).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 09 2017, @09:06PM
because it will happen unless autonomous cars drive with intolerable caution.
I don't think there's an unless needed here. The amount of "caution" designed into the driving software may increase the amount of time until this happens (and doing so is a certainly a worthy pursuit imo), but I think it will happen.
We need a betting pool here. I'm going to wager that a programmer gets thrown in jail. That may be a toss up between the passenger going to jail. Nobody with "manager" or "officer" in their job title will ever go to jail.