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Waymo launched a service that does just this in December 2018: https://www.businessinsider.com/waymo-one-driverless-car-service-launches-in-phoenix-arizona-2018

Waymo launched a service that does just this in December 2018: https://www.businessinsider.com/waymo-one-driverless-car-service-launches-in-phoenix-arizona-2018-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/waymo-one-driverless-car-ser...

ehsankia 7y ago
Waymo also dabbled in these cutesy future car designs back in 2014 [0], and later just decided to stick with vans. While it is clear that self-driving cars won't have steering wheels in the future, these prototypes are jumping the gun and a waste of time. As Waymo quickly realized, you can iterate much faster staying away from these futuristic prototypes. [0] https://qz.com/1005083/the-cutest-thing-google-has-ever-made-is-dead-waymos-firefly-self-driving-cars-goog/ https://qz.com/1005083/the-cutest-thing-google-has-ever-made...
- culturestate 7y ago
  > As Waymo quickly realized, you can iterate much faster staying away from these futuristic prototypes. Cruise has one advantage that Waymo didn't - General Motors. They don't need to build an automotive product development and manufacturing org from scratch; it's already there and it's got a hundred years of institutional memory. Since GM has been working on things like this for decades, I imagine it gives Cruise the opportunity innovate on the vehicle itself quite capably without taking their eye off the ball.
  - scarejunba 7y ago
    Yeah, but they also have a hundred years of depending on handouts to not keep going out of business so we don't really know that they know how to build a product that works long enough to keep them in business.
  - ehsankia 7y ago
    Sure, but Waymo also doesn't do manufacturing from scratch. They partner with existing manufacturers such as Chrysler for their vans, and could've easily found partners to develop more futuristic "prototypes" if they wanted. The point still stands that it's mostly a waste of time and resources while we are still years away from fully functioning self-driving cars. You could argue that if GM has artists and designers who are bored and need a side project, it may be worth the news cycle generated by the reveal, but other than that it doesn't add much to the conversation. There have been plenty of such prototypes; just at CES a few weeks ago, LG had an almost identical prototype [0]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5SRXzAtcuY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5SRXzAtcuY

ehsankia 7y ago

Waymo also dabbled in these cutesy future car designs back in 2014 [0], and later just decided to stick with vans. While it is clear that self-driving cars won't have steering wheels in the future, these prototypes are jumping the gun and a waste of time. As Waymo quickly realized, you can iterate much faster staying away from these futuristic prototypes. [0] https://qz.com/1005083/the-cutest-thing-google-has-ever-made-is-dead-waymos-firefly-self-driving-cars-goog/ https://qz.com/1005083/the-cutest-thing-google-has-ever-made...

culturestate 7y ago
> As Waymo quickly realized, you can iterate much faster staying away from these futuristic prototypes. Cruise has one advantage that Waymo didn't - General Motors. They don't need to build an automotive product development and manufacturing org from scratch; it's already there and it's got a hundred years of institutional memory. Since GM has been working on things like this for decades, I imagine it gives Cruise the opportunity innovate on the vehicle itself quite capably without taking their eye off the ball.
- scarejunba 7y ago
  Yeah, but they also have a hundred years of depending on handouts to not keep going out of business so we don't really know that they know how to build a product that works long enough to keep them in business.
- ehsankia 7y ago
  Sure, but Waymo also doesn't do manufacturing from scratch. They partner with existing manufacturers such as Chrysler for their vans, and could've easily found partners to develop more futuristic "prototypes" if they wanted. The point still stands that it's mostly a waste of time and resources while we are still years away from fully functioning self-driving cars. You could argue that if GM has artists and designers who are bored and need a side project, it may be worth the news cycle generated by the reveal, but other than that it doesn't add much to the conversation. There have been plenty of such prototypes; just at CES a few weeks ago, LG had an almost identical prototype [0]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5SRXzAtcuY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5SRXzAtcuY