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I can only assume that the people who predict that self-driving cars are just a few short years away from universal adoption have never visited India!
by jnty 8y ago
I can only assume that the people who predict that self-driving cars are just a few short years away from universal adoption have never visited India!
- rlpb 8y agoIndia already has self driving cars. Hire a car and it comes with a driver, picking you up from wherever you are. You'll get dropped off where you need to be and the car will find somewhere to park itself. When you want to go somewhere else, use your phone and the car will come pick you up, or if where you are is inconvenient for a pickup for whatever reason, you can find somewhere suitable, describe where you are, and the car will go there. No need for a smartphone app - a normal phone will do. AFIACT, the only practical difference between this story and self-driving cars is that it involves human labor. However that's cheap in India compared to the West. The masses however can't afford cars, let alone self-driving cars.
- rohit2412 8y agoUSA also has chauffers and Uber drivers. So self driving cars are real? Your argument is as stupid as it comes. Not everyone is upper class and can hire a driver.
- rlpb 8y agoI don't think you understand my point. In India, if you can afford to hire a car, it essentially comes with a driver because of the ratio between the cost of the rental and the cost of the driver. There is therefore far less of an economic benefit to having a self driving car if the purpose is to be cheaper than hiring a driver. India (and other places where the ratio of cost of labour to cost of cars is similar) will be one of the last places where self driving cars will make economic sense.
- vivekseth 8y agoAre drivers in India limited to just the upper class? Whenever I visit India it feels like anyone who’s not lower class can afford to hire a driver.
- pthomas551 8y agoIf you are a typical American you are likely to be interacting exclusively with the upper class. Even if they don't feel upper class to you, by local standards they are at worst upper middle class.
- truncate 8y agoI'm from a middle class family in Delhi, and we never had (or could have) afforded a driver full time. Maybe now, my father can, but it is still expensive and not worth it. Most middle class families don't have a driver IMO. Much more common with upper middle class. However, we did hire driver for couple of days in rural areas every now and then.
- manquer 8y agoif you rent a car, getting the drive is never that expensive. Getting a FT driver for your own car is of course different. Rental cost + driver cost is not that much higher even without uber/ola
- vivekseth 8y agoDo you guys hire other kinds of servants for things like cooking/cleaning/laundry?
- coldtea 8y agoThat's the thing, in India you don't need to be upper class to hire a driver. Not everything all around the world is the same as your rural corner in Iowa or whatever.
- NullPrefix 8y agoThis doesn't sound far from truth, considering the fact that most startups fake having AI by using manual labor.
- 0xmohit 8y agoIndia had self-driving cars back in 2002. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/2002-hit-and-run-case-salman-not-guilty-but-who-was-driving-the-car/story-5Nz5HzEpEGh57YXH3MKJoL.html https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/2002-hit-and-run-case-s...
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- vivekseth 8y agoYeah, I don’t think I’ll fully trust self-driving cars until they are safe enough to operate in India. I wouldn’t even trust myself to drive in India.