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I'm sure horseless carriages freaked people out when they first came out too. And driverless cars don't mean nobody will ever drive for fun, just like autopilot

by efuquen 10y ago

I'm sure horseless carriages freaked people out when they first came out too. And driverless cars don't mean nobody will ever drive for fun, just like autopilot on airplanes didn't eliminate getting pilot licenses for recreation. The history of people being scared and unprepared for technological change is pretty thorough: http://www.techradar.com/us/news/world-of-tech/12-technologies-that-scared-the-world-senseless-1249053 http://www.techradar.com/us/news/world-of-tech/12-technologi...

Spooky23 10y ago
Not really. My grandfather grew up in a rural part of Ireland that had no electricity until the late 1920s. One of his earliest memories was when a man came to town in a car with a battery powered lantern. It was the first most people had ever seen if either, and everyone around went to the pub to see the car and light. The car was an obvious improvement over a horse, in terms of speed, cost and versatility. Very few people voyages more than 10-15 miles from their place of birth pre automobile. Autonomous cars are not that. They will clearly be expensive, and being a service with complex liability problems will most likely be an Über-style, pay by the drink model. As amazing as Uber is, riding them is a lot more expensive than leasing a Honda Accord. They also make occasional distance trips prohibitively expensive. I do a 1,000 mile road trip every year -- which costs about $500. What would a robot Uber cost? IMO, they are a solution looking for a problem. Negative effects will include undermining public transit, and making suburban sprawl worse.
- TheCoelacanth 10y ago
  Wouldn't a 1000 mile trip be far more cost effective to do by flying? A round-trip flight plus some Ubers on the other end could easily end up being under $500.
  - Spooky23 10y ago
    4 people from Albany, NY to most places is $3000 + rental car. Plus my wife and I are tall, and sitting in a airline seat and dealing with the airport drama sucks. Or I drive for 20 hours and get another week in a 5 star hotel.
j2bax 10y ago
It seems to me that one of the biggest barriers to the driverless car revolution will be sharing the road with human driven cars. If there was a special road or lane just for driverless cars, I could see things moving much faster in that direction. The problem is that's a massive public infrastructure undertaking, and we all know how quickly those go...

by efuquen 10y ago

Spooky23 10y ago

Not really. My grandfather grew up in a rural part of Ireland that had no electricity until the late 1920s. One of his earliest memories was when a man came to town in a car with a battery powered lantern. It was the first most people had ever seen if either, and everyone around went to the pub to see the car and light. The car was an obvious improvement over a horse, in terms of speed, cost and versatility. Very few people voyages more than 10-15 miles from their place of birth pre automobile. Autonomous cars are not that. They will clearly be expensive, and being a service with complex liability problems will most likely be an Über-style, pay by the drink model. As amazing as Uber is, riding them is a lot more expensive than leasing a Honda Accord. They also make occasional distance trips prohibitively expensive. I do a 1,000 mile road trip every year -- which costs about $500. What would a robot Uber cost? IMO, they are a solution looking for a problem. Negative effects will include undermining public transit, and making suburban sprawl worse.

TheCoelacanth 10y ago
Wouldn't a 1000 mile trip be far more cost effective to do by flying? A round-trip flight plus some Ubers on the other end could easily end up being under $500.
- Spooky23 10y ago
  4 people from Albany, NY to most places is $3000 + rental car. Plus my wife and I are tall, and sitting in a airline seat and dealing with the airport drama sucks. Or I drive for 20 hours and get another week in a 5 star hotel.

j2bax 10y ago

It seems to me that one of the biggest barriers to the driverless car revolution will be sharing the road with human driven cars. If there was a special road or lane just for driverless cars, I could see things moving much faster in that direction. The problem is that's a massive public infrastructure undertaking, and we all know how quickly those go...