Have you heard of the Google Car. It is being developed by a subsidiary of Google and it promises to be a revolutionary car not in terms of being green but in the driving. The Google Car is driverless, huh. They harnessed the technology used in the autopilot of airplanes. From what I know, the said car is already in the testing stage and the timeframe is 2 years for the Google car to go commercial. A driverless car would be best for disabled people, senior citizens and even children who are not allowed to drive. It is like having a personal driver. However, there is no estimate of the cost or the projected selling price when the Google car hits the market.
I have a lot of misgivings about a driverless car, at least until they have had it long enough to fully test it and equip it properly for the job. We have been reading about it here, too, @Corie Henson , and the test results for the driverless cars has not been very good. I don't have the facts right now, so will have to search for them again; but it was something like 6 out of 9 of them ended up in car crashes. At thiss point, if a person can't drive, then hiring a driver or using some form of public transportation still seems safer. And speaking of airplane technology, dod you read that hackers can get into that automated control unit for the airplane, and fly it anywhere they want. As secure as that has to be, think how much impler it would be for a hacker to get into your self-driving car and steal it, either with or with out you in it ! ! Nope......going to stick with the old stationwagon for a while, I think.
Although I do not have any first hand knowledge on the Google Car, I agree with you about the dangers. Often when I see these cars in a movie, you have some bad guy taking control of the car by either crashing it or locking them in. It may sound silly, but the reality is it really could be a possibility. Of course, if this is going to be the new technology, it will happen whether I like it or not. Doubtful it will be popular in my lifetime, but who knows. It would surely be a distraction on the road. Everyone would be slowing down to try and figure it out. I wonder, if there was an accident who would be at fault?
Our Ford Escape is a 2012 model. In 2013, Ford came out with Focus, a sedan that can maneuver to park by itself. I haven't seen it yet (how the car does it) but I am greatly amused. But now that I already know how to drive, I prefer my small Mitsubishi than that Focus which is very expensive. Back to Google Car, the objective is to provide a comfortable means of traveling to people who cannot drive for whatever reason. And I'm sure, @Ken Anderson, that Google Car will be much different with the new car models that can navigate itself. Let's just wait when their testing period ends.
Never been much of a fan of that kind of technology. I don't even own a cell phone. It seems that every 10 or so years someone will build a revolutionary new auto that converts into a light airplane or helicopter. They will predict soon everyone will be flying to their jobs. This has been going on since the 1930 or 1940's. Perhaps now they will focus on driverless cars, or pilotless car/planes.
Ike, that just gave me the coolest mental picture ! Your mention of pilotless airplanes started me thinking about the drones. What if---- just what if--- they develop a drone large anough to transport a human, and then we cold just call for a "drone taxi", climb into a little basket seat (think of a Ferris Wheel here) and just float away to wherever we wanted to go.........
I have this hideous nightmare that, at some stage in the future, everybody in the world will live in a Google town, drive a Google car, eat Google food, watch Google television and be employed by, um, Google.
Well, you guessed it. I do not have a new car. Can not really justify spending my money on one. I do see your point about the benefit of providing a means for people who could not otherwise get around independently. I suppose, with this being such cutting edge technology, it just seems so flawed. Of course, fairly certain, this is what society thought when we went from the horse and carriage to the automobile. Yep! I have read reports that this is the future that will happen sooner then later. Oh, boy! You may be right. I think, I just might Goggle it.
I may exaggerate a little, but it's not entirely fanciful. A friend of mine lives in a town called Newbury, which is in the south of England. It is the headquarters of the telecoms giant Vodafone and the last time I was there, it was positively scary. They had offices everywhere in the town. I had a walk around and started counting the buildings with a Vodafone sign. I lost count at thirty.
@Tom Locke, that is a good plot for science fiction, hahahaaaa. Kidding aside, you have a point because some people tell me - my husband and some of my colleagues in the office - that Google is branching out to different fields like that automated car, space travel and maybe in the medical field sooner or later. Their overflowing money can be used to conquer the world. But it may not be hideous at all because for all we know, Google is working for the benefit of mankind. In parallel, there is SM here, that's the largest supermarket chain which also owns the largest mall chain and also the number 1 commercial bank (where I work). SM is the counterpart of Google in Philippine economy. Now it has branched out into Bonus, a food label with an array of products, from sugar to drinking water. We have the impression that someday the Philippines will be fed by Bonus.
That is one thing i like about my old car. If you have a system such as OnStar, apparently it can be remotely controlled, at least as far as slowing it down and stopping it. I'm sure it was developed for emergency situations, but from what I understand, it can also be used by law enforcement (in other words, the government) in the event that they decide you need to be stopped. I'm a fan of law enforcement, but I'm not a fan of handing over control of my everyday rights and privileges to them. Actually, here's a story about how repossession agents can remotely stop your vehicle. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-the-repo-man-can-remotely-shut-off-your-car-engine/ And, one about how Tesla can do the same: http://my.teslamotors.com/it_IT/for...ble-your-car-and-i-saw-their-factory-software. I found an older article link about how law enforcement can remotely disable vehicles using satellites, but the link was dead, apparently the story was too old to be archived (2009), although that seems fishy to me.