3 ms·

If you've followed the DARPA Grand Challenge since 2004, you'll realize that it's _not_ just a school science project. The Google car is going to be ready for m

If you've followed the DARPA Grand Challenge since 2004, you'll realize that it's _not_ just a school science project. The Google car is going to be ready for market far before the legal, insurance, and other non-technical issues are sorted out. In other words, they could ship "now" if they weren't doing such a revolutionary product. If you make a trivially incremental improvement on an already-existing product (iPad3) then that's a lot easier

2muchcoffeeman 15y ago
That still sounds silly. If you have the muscle of Google, wouldn't you get the legal ball rolling first, so that when your car is ready, you can sell immediately? Does a driverless car even count as basic research that they can spin off into a consumer product?
- lsiebert 15y ago
  Which they did. Nevada now has laws governing autonomously piloted cars, and California is working on it, last I checked. If they can get such vehicles legal and available to the general public in California, it will be legal everywhere else within a year or two at most. California sets or has had the ability to set a lot of standards for the country, from vehicle emissions, textbooks, to now, apparently, driverless cars.
- moe 15y ago
  I think you're simplifying a little. A driverless car is not just another car. It's not a fancy smartphone. It's a paradigm shift that will reshape society and erase tens of thousands of jobs in a relatively short timeframe. And it's one of the rare cases where you can actually predict and quantify these consequences with relatively good accuracy. I'd assume quite a few parties (read: all of them) will want to have a say in such a rollout, beyond technical peculiarities. For the better or the worse.
  - marshray 15y ago
    ISTR people saying that about the Segway.
    - moe 15y ago
      You're not seriously comparing the segway to driverless vehicles?
      - marshray 15y ago
        Nah, I'm just comparing that bit of hyperbole. Like the "paradigm shift" that was to be the Segway, what problem does this solve exactly?
        pmb 15y ago
        40,000 deaths annually due to driver error
        moe 15y ago
        Also: Cost of human labor in logistics. Driverless cars don't need sleep.
    - ConstantineXVI 15y ago
      Driverless cars would more or less kill an entire job category overnight. Who wouldn't want a truck driver that doesn't make wrong turns, doesn't get distracted, forget to gas up, doesn't need to sleep, eat, or be paid (as much)?
      - toomuchtodo 15y ago
        Don't forget: Offloading almost all freight traffic that can't be done by rail to automated vehicles between 1-6am daily. Airplanes fly constantly, because each second they're on the ground is a second they're not paying for their capital cost. Ever see how barren a 6 lane highway is at 3am in the morning on a weeknight?

2muchcoffeeman 15y ago

That still sounds silly. If you have the muscle of Google, wouldn't you get the legal ball rolling first, so that when your car is ready, you can sell immediately? Does a driverless car even count as basic research that they can spin off into a consumer product?

lsiebert 15y ago
Which they did. Nevada now has laws governing autonomously piloted cars, and California is working on it, last I checked. If they can get such vehicles legal and available to the general public in California, it will be legal everywhere else within a year or two at most. California sets or has had the ability to set a lot of standards for the country, from vehicle emissions, textbooks, to now, apparently, driverless cars.
moe 15y ago
I think you're simplifying a little. A driverless car is not just another car. It's not a fancy smartphone. It's a paradigm shift that will reshape society and erase tens of thousands of jobs in a relatively short timeframe. And it's one of the rare cases where you can actually predict and quantify these consequences with relatively good accuracy. I'd assume quite a few parties (read: all of them) will want to have a say in such a rollout, beyond technical peculiarities. For the better or the worse.
- marshray 15y ago
  ISTR people saying that about the Segway.
  - moe 15y ago
    You're not seriously comparing the segway to driverless vehicles?
    - marshray 15y ago
      Nah, I'm just comparing that bit of hyperbole. Like the "paradigm shift" that was to be the Segway, what problem does this solve exactly?
      - pmb 15y ago
        40,000 deaths annually due to driver error
        moe 15y ago
        Also: Cost of human labor in logistics. Driverless cars don't need sleep.
  - ConstantineXVI 15y ago
    Driverless cars would more or less kill an entire job category overnight. Who wouldn't want a truck driver that doesn't make wrong turns, doesn't get distracted, forget to gas up, doesn't need to sleep, eat, or be paid (as much)?
    - toomuchtodo 15y ago
      Don't forget: Offloading almost all freight traffic that can't be done by rail to automated vehicles between 1-6am daily. Airplanes fly constantly, because each second they're on the ground is a second they're not paying for their capital cost. Ever see how barren a 6 lane highway is at 3am in the morning on a weeknight?