8 July 2007Or you could just take the trainBeth envisions a world of transpo-pods:
I think we're at a point technologically where we could have vehicles that are completely programmable and self driving.
Imagine a vehicle a kind of personal pod that can come in models for any # of people; one person, two person, six person, whatever, pods that all you do is get in type in your destination, and sit back and let it take you there. In the pod there is wi-fi, music, video, whatever you'd like for entertainment, or even just space to sleep until you arrive. And the payoff is huge:
I know the initial cost would be massive.
But ... just think what it would be worth to never have to pay for car insurance, or traffic tickets, or to sit [in] traffic, or have another crash or fatality due to vehicles. I suspect it would take a lot more than robot cars to create this Utopia. For one thing, they'll be operated by computers, and computers crash. Rather a lot more than cars do, in fact. If anything, this will force the price of insurance upwards. Besides, some of us crazy fools like to drive. Posted at 6:02 PM to Driver's SeatJust don't run the pods on Windows. :) Posted by: unimpressed at 8:20 PM on 8 July 2007Oh, dear God, no. We'd have to restart every 20 miles. Posted by: CGHill at 8:22 PM on 8 July 2007The AI needed for automated driving machines is still a ways off. You can't even expect your robo-vacuum to do a thorough job navigating your living room, so... While I do look forward to AI, I would use it to replace politicians before I used it to replace cars. Posted by: Mister Snitch! at 3:30 PM on 9 July 2007 |