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How Ubiquitous Autonomous Cars Could Affect Society (Video)
We talked with Peter Wayner about autonomous cars on June 5. He had a lot to say on this topic, to the point where we seem to be doing a whole series of interviews with him because autonomous cars might have a lot of unanticipated effects on our lives and our economy. Heck, Peter has enough to say about driverless cars to fill a book, Future Ride, which we hope he finishes editing soon because we (Tim and Robin) want to read it. While that book is brewing, watch for some thoughts on how autonomous cars (and delivery vans) might affect us in the near future.
The cars become self-aware at 2:14am on August 29. In a panic, we try and pull their plugs.
The rest pretty much follows.
PS: Slashdot, video "articles" suck.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
It's also the end of one of the most dangerous jobs in modern society. Would you cry if someone fully automated coal mining?
If patrons don't have to be sober to have their car drive them home, bar tabs will rise significantly. At least mine will.
Why should my car waste its time in my garage when it can make some extra money on the side as a taxi? I can call it back whenever I want to use it myself.
The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
One aspect of autonomous vehicles that few people seem to consider is its potential effect on the housing market.
Consider the size of the RV market, and the number of people who prefer the RV lifestyle after they retire. Now consider the fact that one of the more annoying aspects of owning an RV is that you have to drive it everywhere yourself.
Now imagine twenty years from now when you'll be able to buy an autonomous RV. You go to sleep in it, and in the middle of the night it takes you to whatever destination you desire. In the morning, you open the door and you're in a new city. What you really own is not an RV, but a magic house that can take you anywhere you desire, a few hundred miles every night.
With that kind of freedom, how many people would choose to become high-tech nomads, and never live on fixed piece of property again? In fact, I think this will be a major profit center for automakers. Most people won't bother owning cars when they can call for one on a smartphone, but $100K to $200K super-RVs will become the home of choice and the way for GM and Ford to stay in business.
Drifting off-topic here, but I agree, and I can explain why.
Typical reading speed is 250-300 words per minute with random access. Typical speaking rate is more variable but I'll go with the audiobook reading rate, 160 words per minute with sequential access. So it is a much better use of my time to read an article than to watch or hear a presentation of that article.
That said, _writing_, especially writing well-reasoned and coherent prose such as one can not-infrequently find on Slashdot, takes disproportionately longer than reading the same prose. So the audio and audiovisual formats are appealing to the presenter, because speaking is easier than writing for people with the right skills. An expert, reasonably experienced at public speaking, can give an illuminating presentation with little or no preparation.
My opinion is that video and podcasts can be worthwhile if you know the speaker is good, and are willing to trade off efficient use of your time for efficient use of his.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
You need to re-think the distribution model once humans are removed from the equation. One potential, UPS opens a large number of very small completely automated warehouses across the country. Deliveries from the main distribution centers which currently can serve 100s of towns are broken out to the smaller ones that might only server a few square miles. From there small autonomous electric vehicles deliver to your house. Automated system gives you a call/text/email to confirm you are home for delivery and the truck is sent. You walk out and grab your stuff. No more deliveries when you are not home. Want it delivered at 2AM, no problem. Removing people from package distribution opens up a vast array of options and the company(s) that gets it right will make a ton of money.