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The thing is, though, your rationale cancels itself out. They're not market testing, they're "Don't kill humans!" testing.

I might have slipped ahead in my target timeline... are we discussing the dangers inherent in Google's current line of testing in Nevada, or a potential future environment where anyone with enough cash can buy their own G'car. For the current testing, I expect them to keep following their previous testing models, i.e. the article I linked earlier where they put 150,000 miles on a car in complete secrecy. For future release to the public, well, one would HOPE that they stick with what works. If they follow my hunch and the test cars quietly navigate the Nevada roads in safety... then it would stand to reason that publicly marketed models would retain the same levels of anonymity.

I could see somebody standing up and making that argument, it's not a bad one, but I don't think it'd play out for two reasons: 1. In the US, we LOVE having people to blame . We're very lawsuit happy and Google has deep pockets. People will want to be able to blame Google if there's a crash. 2. People want to know to stay clear of these cars. I wouldn't be surprised AT ALL if these cars had to have a third different-colored tail light to indicate it's on auto-pilot.

Per my argument above, it should be easy enough to Google to release liability if a car manufacturer deviates from their testing methods. If forced to install an extra tail light or some other vestigial bit, Google would have their defense in the bag. "We didn't test it with that part... that part (and/or people's reaction to it) caused the accident. Blame Ford" (or whoever)

I think I'm misreading your post. You're supporting my point.

I think we have different opinions of gaudy or noticeable: Here's an example of the Japanese decals I mentioned for young and old drivers. I can't see the US requiring anything more than that, if anything at all. More on that later...

None of those facts are anything like: "Google's last car was a sleeper hit. It took word of mouth to gain in popularity because nobody could spot the thing amongst a sea of Prius's and Civics!" It's like bragging about your snake oil being made from 'all natural ingredients'.

The fact is: a google auto-pilot car cruised around a major metro area for several months without anyone the wiser. I live a few hours south of Google HQ, and I didn't hear a peep about this until Google came out with their article. The facts about it's market performance once delivered to the public will come in due time (which, considering the nature of this project, is probably a LONG time... but due time) And how dare you besmirch my snake oil.

You were the one that went down the path that a highly recognizable self-driving car would mean an accident-prone one. I didn't really get it either, that's why I asked you to elaborate.

I went down the path that being highly recognizable would be the ONLY way for such a car to be unsafe, per the lookie-loos comment, but that the car itself, and the auto-drive technology would be perfectly safe (hence "in due time" probably being a very long time). It'll certainly be a lot safer than most human drivers. However, per my comments above, I think the powers that be (Google, DoT, whatever manufacturer gets involved, etc.) will understand these potential issues, and act accordingly. I'd wager than any marking, aside from the obvious cameras and what-not, will amount to nothing more than a sticker and/or slightly altered license plate. Another thing to consider, if these things ever hit the mass-market, the first wave of Auto-Pilot cars will likely just be a retrofit of a current model.

You might enjoy the following essay:

http://nihongo.3yen.com/2007-09-03/repeat-after-me-there-is-no-such-thing-as-the-subject/

Did you not see the original Revolution teaser nearly a year ago, where the guy is clearly doing dental surgery with his remote? Listen for that sickeningly familiar drilling sound.

MP3 Playing toilet

WIN!

Toto has actually introduced real mp3 playing toilets about 2 months ago... The people at iPodLounge should read Japanese wacky news sites like 3yen.com before they make april's fool jokes that come later than the actual thing! :/

Following the links, it turns out TOTO has in fact already made such a thing. Not surprising.

DoCoMo has over 7.3 million FOMA (3G) subscribers. 5.3 million 900i phones are already sold this calendar year. Plus, Panasonic and NEC are among the most popular brands in Japan. This is very good news for the Linux community.
More at: http://wireless.3yen.com/