I think you're right. A decade ago the hype behind the self-driving car made it sound pretty cool. The closer we get to having them, the more boring the idea se

I think you're right. A decade ago the hype behind the self-driving car made it sound pretty cool. The closer we get to having them, the more boring the idea seems. Each new model with improved driver assistance is just a small improvement over the previous model. When a true fully autonomous model lands, it too will just be a small improvement over the previous year's model, which will be almost fully autonomous. The day you can go down to the dealer's lot and buy a self-driving car for the first time will be a fairly uneventful day. Like you say, in the days of yore the product cycles were long. It was many years between updates. The innovation that took place over that long period was significant, so it was much more wowing when all that behind the scenes work appeared in view.