Opinion: Owning a Car Will Soon Be as Quaint as Owning a Horse
I will die before I buy another car. I don't say that because I am particularly old or sick, but because I am at the front end of one of the next major secular trends in tech. Owning a car will soon be like owning a horse — a quaint hobby, an interesting rarity and a cool thing to take out for a spin on the weekend.
Before you object, let me be clear: I will drive in cars until I die. But the concept of actually purchasing, maintaining, insuring and garaging an automobile in the next few decades? Finished.
[...] It's obviously an easier decision if you live near a major metropolitan area, like I do, where the alternatives — cars and then car pools and then bikes and now scooters — are myriad. (Why, by the way, this is a revolution led by private companies instead of public transportation is an important topic for another day.) In other countries, often with denser populations, there are even more ideas bubbling up, from auto-rickshaws and motorbike taxis to new bus services.
Obviously, the biggest change will be the advent of truly autonomous vehicles, which are still years or even decades in the future. But in the meantime I am going to lean into this future all I can, and will chronicle the efforts over the next year, its costs and its benefits and how I get there. Or not.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Monday March 25 2019, @01:22PM (1 child)
Not for me it isn't, not by a long, long way. I buy good used cars (2-4 years old) that are indistinguishable from new except by the [UK] licence plate. I know cars and can avoid a lemon. Then I run them, maintain them myself, until the rust takes hold - 10 years maybe.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 25 2019, @02:31PM
Newer cars require to be plugged into a computer to be maintained.
Only authorised mechanics who sign expensive NDAs get the software.
Soon you will be SOL