Wow! 2 references to the film “Total Recall”. Johnny Cab and virtual reality vacations. I might have to dig out my old DVD and watch it again.
Well @“Honda Blackbird” at least you, and I’m sure others, are aware or becoming aware of what’s going on. Even if we can’t really do anything about it, at least we can be aware, so we can question everything. Anytime you are told something is in your best interest, you can consider who’s telling you that and why.
Yeah, I know bringing up these issues is like urinating in the proverbial ocean, but until the day they repeal the 1st amendment I will continue to speak out wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Just to be clear, the guy on the soapbox was the only one in the cartoon who was NOT a vampire.
True, EVERYONE has a cell phone. . . even many Amish people use cellphones in the course of conducting business nowadays. You really do a double take the first time you see THAT!
I don’t want to wade into the swamp here but I saw this article the other day and it puts an exclamation point right in the middle of the discussion;
theverge.com/2016/5/11/11656496/tesla-model-s-autonomous-summon-mode-crash
You can’t make this stuff up!
If that crash happened AFTER the car was available for consumer use then I’d say There’s a problem. It’s still in development…so I’m sure it’ll be addressed. And other problems will arise and get fuxed also.
DRIVERLESS CARS ARE HERE NOW!!!
I was watching Top Gear USA last night. The boys all picked their perfect midlife crisis cars. Adam chose a CTS-V, Rutledge picked a Charger Hellcat, and Tanner grabbed a P90D Tesla S. In addition to making 60 in 2.9 seconds from a stop, the P90D has an autopilot mode. Faust w tooling down the highway in autopilot doing everything but paying attention to the road. He was bored.
If that crash happened AFTER the car was available for consumer use then I'd say There's a problem.
Wasn’t that a consumer’s car that crashed??
Yup. You’re right it is a production vehicle. So that’s a problem.
Not sure what that feature is or what it has to forth an autonomous vehicle.
After getting a couple minutes to actually READ the article and the links.
Yea. Theres a problem. Doesn’t matter if the app was turned on or not. The car should never have run into another vehicle or anything for that matter.
Looks Ttesla has some more work to do.
I sat through a two hour session on fraud prevention today. Just because your life is boring and you have nothing to hide, doesn’t mean that others are willing to buy the information. I don’t know much about the deep web but my understanding is that personal information is bought and sold all the time.
When the first gasoline car rolled out, everyone had the same concerns. Will the car explode if something goes wrong?. Similarly people will have concerns for the ideas new to them. Humans makes mistakes and we die from car accidents. But I believe computers if developed properly could have fewer mistakes than us, and thus reduce accidents. history has shown us that through computers, calculators , computer operated machines, etc. So , lets be optimistic about the concept of computer operated car. It isn’t coming out anytime soon anyway.
If I’m not mistaken, when cars first were invented, there were people who BELIEVED that if you went over 60 mph that you would die. In other words, 60+ mph was lethal. The times and technology change but the fear of the new and unknown never does.
All these comments about the driverless car and what it would likely do to society at large.
Me ? I get a certain amount of amusement from the Randomness/Freedom and Danger of things at the moment…tho they are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Of course there would be a convenience factor. Sure there would be somewhat more safety if you fully relied on the tech of the driverless car…but guess what? I ENJOY driving…I enjoy Random…and dare I say it…I enjoy danger and consequences. I dont want that removed. Its kinda one of the building blocks of being human. Sure there could be a negative side to it… But…I like the unknown…it sorta keeps me in check in some ways.
I dont get much of a thrill from Roller Coasters much because they are too planned out…too slow, too safe…there is much less danger inherent there, for me anyway. You want to scare yourself? Ride my Blackbird…no safety nets…no computer nanny…just you, a Ton of Power, Not so much grip, Skill and Fate. Dangerous? You bet… Do I want some safety ensurances? Nope…
I like when self control is needed…and that is something I dont want removed… I want people to be self aware, self regulating, self preserving…it has a way of regulating itself…sort of…unless youre a complete Nutter.
What occurs when we become totally reliant upon tech…when it works it works…when it doesn’t…it gives no warning. So one day its fine to walk out into 90Mph traffic of driverless cars…the next…it aint… Ooops. There are fine arguments on both sides of this topic.
But to do all this in the name of safety…safety from the very few who are not the norm…isnt a solution I wish to have to implement.
Blackbird
I get a certain amount of amusement from the Randomness/Freedom and Danger of things at the moment....tho they are disappearing
I agree with this for the general populace. I think there are millennials who don’t want to drive simply because they don’t want the responsibility. That said, there also seems to be a rise in “extreme” sports like heli-skiing, track-days, rock climbing, hang-gliding and tons of other risky but fun things to do. Maybe in response to the risk averse lives we’ve tried to create. Dunno.
The problem with the danger of driving is when sxxx happens. In cities like Boston it rarely happens alone. So a good possibility sxxx happens to someone else also.
I too love to drive. Except in places like Boston or nyc. Too draining.
I believe Johnny-cabs are inevitable, the technology just isn’t quite there yet.
Personal vehicles will soon all be filled with “driver assist” technology such as is now offered on the high-end Mercedes and some others. Lane assist, automatic braking, object avoidance, automatic parallel parking, all of these are even becoming standard in cars like Hyundai. These are here already, and many more will come. But I don’t think automatic cars for personal use will become commonplace in my lifetime. We simply like to be in control, although we’re happy with systems that automatically compensate for our boo-boos.
@“the same mountainbike” - I think they’ll be available for general consumption within the next decade. Not too sure how wide their acceptance will be… Or the added cost. But I know several people who would to own one now. I have an uncle who can’t drive anymore because of his vision. But he still is very active (walks 5-10 miles a day) for someone who’s 82. He’s so dependent on other people to take him anywhere. He hates it.
Point well made, Mike. That day will come for all of us lucky enough to last that long.
I still have my doubts about driverless cars but also have my doubts about human driven ones! I have a dash cam showing people doing the most idiotic things all the time. It is worst during the middle of the day when the normal people are at work and there is a bias towards all the druggies and derelicts being out.
Texting drivers are a HUGE problem all over. They are paying attention to everything but the road and are just an accident waiting to happen. With a driverless car they could text all they want and not have to pay attention to the road. Make the cars redundant with fail safe features. If there is a bug, make them so you can remotely update the software and flash the firmware in the various controllers.
Make them so a human can override them if there is an issue. I could see having the standard controls but I am sure many would want them eliminated to save money and make for extra space in the cars. There should be an emergency stop button or something at the very least. Maybe something to command the car to pull over and stop. If that doesn’t work, then have a button where you have to pull some cover off it to press it. When pressed, the car just comes to a stop where it sits. This would basically be something to kill the power and apply the brakes in case something catastrophic happens.
A robust onboard diagnostics system would be a must. It must also be made so that the owner cannot continue to allow it to operate with the “check engine” light or whatever on the way many people do these days if the detected fault is in the driving systems. The emissions systems could be a separate system that doesn’t stop the car from operating much like we have today. People can continue to operate their car and foul systems/pollute until the next inspection forces a repair.
Any tampering or hacking should be detected and shut down the systems. I deal with people and their electronics. If people can mess something up, they will! This could be people trying to remotely turn another car into a weapon or the owner attempting to override speed controls, etc. with a programmer. You see the big diesel trucks where people program them to blow black smoke. They also make some of them go a lot faster. Stuff like this would have to NOT be allowed on driverless cars.
This comes from the guy who still likes a simple manual transmission car that is easy to work on. I drive all over town all the time as I service electronics and see all kinds of bad driving. Then I get to the location to work on electronics and see how people can mess them up but good.
Then there is the night time crowd which I don’t deal with as much. No more need for designated drivers, DUI checkpoints, taxi services home from the bar, etc…
I too have my doubts about driverless cars - NOW. But the technology is getting better almost every month. Where as people driving skills as a whole keep getting worse. Let’s see what the technology be like 10 years from now.
I’ve seen some white lines (lane markers) that were strange and confusing and almost invisible. I’d love to know how the driverless cars handle those. Or todays lane departure warnings.