05-11-2017, 09:18 PM
(05-11-2017, 04:48 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: Driverless cars ain't cheap. I doubt they ever will be. I foresee it being a niche application. Like other examples in the past of technology it's overblown, mostly by those who seek to make money off of it.
If anything I'm highly disappointed in how lame we've been with automation in this country.
Again, back to 20 - 25 years ago. I expected us to deploy lots of automation to improve our existing industries. But a bunch of MBAs apparently determined it was cheaper and easier to simply move the existing low tech way of doing things to Mexico then later China. Finally, in 2017, automation is catching up with the processes, which are by now antiquated to the max.
Where's my Jetson's house and my flying car?
Cars, houses, and college education have never been cheap. But with respect to cars - self-driving cars will have their benefits. They will cut vehicle collisions to practically zero, so the reduction in insurance costs will pay for the capital cost. One business that will get hit will be the motel business because people will be able to sleep while their cars travel. You could sleep for eight hours while your car goes 480 miles. 'Driving a car' would be like taking a train, except that you might not have the interesting company.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.