I mean, doesent this sorta take away from some of the fun parts of driving? What about you driving, but autonomous collision avoidance or something? Just an idea.

I mean, doesent this sorta take away from some of the fun parts of driving? What about you driving, but autonomous collision avoidance or something? Just an idea.

I mean, doesent this sorta take away from some of the fun parts of driving? What about you driving, but autonomous collision avoidance or something? Just an idea.

I never buy anything without thinking of how many hours of slavery I’m selling myself into to pay for it. Give me something that’s simple, reliable, and user-friendly, designed for cheap repair, with low mainteance costs, that I can pay off as quickly as possible and then use as long as possible without depending on THE MAN for outside income to keep it running. I want something designed to perform its basic function as well as possible–period.

I work with several people who 1) buy the biggest house they can possibly make monthly payments on, with almost nothing down and a forty year mortgage; 2) spend $30,000 or more on a fancy new sportscar, and 3) then spend time surfing the web shopping for expensive electronics to spend their “discretionary income” on. Perhaps not coincidentally, they work sixty hour weeks (or more) and are utterly dependent on continued employment to avoid living in the gutter in a week. That means holding on to their job like grim death, meekly suffering any indignity from the boss, obeying his every whim, and living in dread of earning his displeasure.

My habit is to buy a used pickup in good condition for $2000 or so, drive it until it wears out (my current ride has lasted 5 years and is still fine), and replace it with another one at a similar price. I’ll gladly forego playing around with the cellphone and blackberry (why would I even want to own an electronic leash, anyway?) while I’m driving, in return for being able to tell my boss to go to hell.

I never buy anything without thinking of how many hours of slavery I’m selling myself into to pay for it. Give me something that’s simple, reliable, and user-friendly, designed for cheap repair, with low mainteance costs, that I can pay off as quickly as possible and then use as long as possible without depending on THE MAN for outside income to keep it running. I want something designed to perform its basic function as well as possible–period.

I work with several people who 1) buy the biggest house they can possibly make monthly payments on, with almost nothing down and a forty year mortgage; 2) spend $30,000 or more on a fancy new sportscar, and 3) then spend time surfing the web shopping for expensive electronics to spend their “discretionary income” on. Perhaps not coincidentally, they work sixty hour weeks (or more) and are utterly dependent on continued employment to avoid living in the gutter in a week. That means holding on to their job like grim death, meekly suffering any indignity from the boss, obeying his every whim, and living in dread of earning his displeasure.

My habit is to buy a used pickup in good condition for $2000 or so, drive it until it wears out (my current ride has lasted 5 years and is still fine), and replace it with another one at a similar price. I’ll gladly forego playing around with the cellphone and blackberry (why would I even want to own an electronic leash, anyway?) while I’m driving, in return for being able to tell my boss to go to hell.

Of course lawyers will get involved when there are crashes, but in most cases the autonomous car will have saved enough evidence to prove that it wasn’t at fault.

Of course lawyers will get involved when there are crashes, but in most cases the autonomous car will have saved enough evidence to prove that it wasn’t at fault.

A half-century after the debut of the automatic transition, there are still people who drive sticks. I think those people are a little silly, but there doesn’t seem to be any prospect of that option going away any time soon.

The first autonomous cars will need to have the ability to interact with human drivers anyway, so I suspect that if autonomous driving ever does become feasible, humans and computers will share the road for the foreseeable future. Most likely, cars will be able to switch between “automatic” and “manual” driving with the push of a button. Most people will let their cars drive for them most of the time, but will occasionally take the reins themselves for the fun of it.

Keep in mind that there are enormous upsides here. Tens of thousands of lives are lost every year to automobile accidents, many due to drivers who are too tired, intoxicated, or distracted to drive safely. Once autonomous driving matures, it’s likely it would dramatically cut down on those deaths.

A half-century after the debut of the automatic transition, there are still people who drive sticks. I think those people are a little silly, but there doesn’t seem to be any prospect of that option going away any time soon.

The first autonomous cars will need to have the ability to interact with human drivers anyway, so I suspect that if autonomous driving ever does become feasible, humans and computers will share the road for the foreseeable future. Most likely, cars will be able to switch between “automatic” and “manual” driving with the push of a button. Most people will let their cars drive for them most of the time, but will occasionally take the reins themselves for the fun of it.

Keep in mind that there are enormous upsides here. Tens of thousands of lives are lost every year to automobile accidents, many due to drivers who are too tired, intoxicated, or distracted to drive safely. Once autonomous driving matures, it’s likely it would dramatically cut down on those deaths.

One thing you forgot to mention is that along with autonomous driving we’ll get autonomous crashing. The lawyers will certainly have fun with that.

One thing you forgot to mention is that along with autonomous driving we’ll get autonomous crashing. The lawyers will certainly have fun with that.