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I can't watch the video atm but I'm incredibly perplexed as to why the hype around self driving cars began in the first place. To me, even if it does become a c

I can't watch the video atm but I'm incredibly perplexed as to why the hype around self driving cars began in the first place. To me, even if it does become a common technology at some point, it's nothing more than a "hey-check-this-cool-thing" gimmick. For end consumers anyway. If my car has full self driving capabilities, I can't see myself using it more than once every 3 years.

colordrops 7y ago
> If my car has full self driving capabilities, I can't see myself using it more than once every 3 years. Huh? Why?
kevingadd 7y ago
The idea of not having to drive to get somewhere is really appealing if it doesn't involve having to wait at a bus stop and sit next to a stranger on the bus. People in many environments - especially silicon valley - spend a ton of time commuting every day, either in their own car, on a corporate shuttle or on public transit. So if you tell them they can sit in the privacy of their own car while it takes them to/from work and relax, you have their attention. Of course, that doesn't mean it's actually a good idea and it doesn't mean it's possible - but it's a seductive idea if you're someone who hates commuting, and many people really hate it because it eats up a chunk of their life.
- baby 7y ago
  I'm one of the people commuting 3 hours per day in the bay. I don't know what's the solution but right now the problem with commuting with a shuttle is not solved by replacing it with a car, the roads are super bumpy and the traffic is bad. What I wish was for a subway to take me from SF to south bay. No traffic, stable, fast.
  - kevingadd 7y ago
    It's really depressing that for a short time period, it was a real possibility that BART+Caltrain would cover the vast majority of the SF bay area compared to what it does now. So much wasted potential because people weren't willing to eat some marginal costs then to lay down extra lines. We're slowly expanding it now, of course, but decades too late.
  - nullc 7y ago
    No snark intended, but 3 hours per day is a tremendous expenditure of your time... is that really preferable to working close to where you live or living close to where you work? Other than a brief period where I was commuting between Florida and DC I've never lived more than a 15 minute drive from my office (or worked from home)... I can't imagine sinking 3 hours a day into a commute. There are plenty of decisions in my life that I'd make differently in a redo, but the commute distance decisions are not among them.
    - kevingadd 7y ago
      It's prohibitively expensive - if possible at all - to live close to the main campus of a company like Google or Facebook. If you're lucky your commute is maybe 30 minutes, if you're unlucky it's much longer. Self-inflicted harm, perhaps, but if you're already working there cutting down your commute basically means you need to quit your job because most teams won't let you go full/heavy WFH.
      - nullc 7y ago
        Up until a couple years ago I used to live within a very short commute from the google campus. My rent was ~$2000/month for a two bedroom apartment in Mountain View. I can't imagine that SF is much cheaper.
        baby 7y ago
        Can you really get this in MV now? There's no way you would even get a one bed room with this money in SF.
        nullc 7y ago
        Yes. Older buildings, nothing fancy. Availability of 2br seems kinda tight so you won't get a great price if you're in a hurry. Sunnyvale is even less expensive.
  - tim333 7y ago
    Self driving shuttles / taxis could work well with fast rail for that sort of journey. Not sure the exact situation in the bay area.
discordance 7y ago
Perhaps there’s a bias for it because too many software engineers waste too much time in traffic on the 101 going to/from the city and their SV office.

colordrops 7y ago

> If my car has full self driving capabilities, I can't see myself using it more than once every 3 years. Huh? Why?

kevingadd 7y ago

The idea of not having to drive to get somewhere is really appealing if it doesn't involve having to wait at a bus stop and sit next to a stranger on the bus. People in many environments - especially silicon valley - spend a ton of time commuting every day, either in their own car, on a corporate shuttle or on public transit. So if you tell them they can sit in the privacy of their own car while it takes them to/from work and relax, you have their attention. Of course, that doesn't mean it's actually a good idea and it doesn't mean it's possible - but it's a seductive idea if you're someone who hates commuting, and many people really hate it because it eats up a chunk of their life.

baby 7y ago
I'm one of the people commuting 3 hours per day in the bay. I don't know what's the solution but right now the problem with commuting with a shuttle is not solved by replacing it with a car, the roads are super bumpy and the traffic is bad. What I wish was for a subway to take me from SF to south bay. No traffic, stable, fast.
- kevingadd 7y ago
  It's really depressing that for a short time period, it was a real possibility that BART+Caltrain would cover the vast majority of the SF bay area compared to what it does now. So much wasted potential because people weren't willing to eat some marginal costs then to lay down extra lines. We're slowly expanding it now, of course, but decades too late.
- nullc 7y ago
  No snark intended, but 3 hours per day is a tremendous expenditure of your time... is that really preferable to working close to where you live or living close to where you work? Other than a brief period where I was commuting between Florida and DC I've never lived more than a 15 minute drive from my office (or worked from home)... I can't imagine sinking 3 hours a day into a commute. There are plenty of decisions in my life that I'd make differently in a redo, but the commute distance decisions are not among them.
  - kevingadd 7y ago
    It's prohibitively expensive - if possible at all - to live close to the main campus of a company like Google or Facebook. If you're lucky your commute is maybe 30 minutes, if you're unlucky it's much longer. Self-inflicted harm, perhaps, but if you're already working there cutting down your commute basically means you need to quit your job because most teams won't let you go full/heavy WFH.
    - nullc 7y ago
      Up until a couple years ago I used to live within a very short commute from the google campus. My rent was ~$2000/month for a two bedroom apartment in Mountain View. I can't imagine that SF is much cheaper.
      - baby 7y ago
        Can you really get this in MV now? There's no way you would even get a one bed room with this money in SF.
        nullc 7y ago
        Yes. Older buildings, nothing fancy. Availability of 2br seems kinda tight so you won't get a great price if you're in a hurry. Sunnyvale is even less expensive.
- tim333 7y ago
  Self driving shuttles / taxis could work well with fast rail for that sort of journey. Not sure the exact situation in the bay area.

discordance 7y ago

Perhaps there’s a bias for it because too many software engineers waste too much time in traffic on the 101 going to/from the city and their SV office.