Google is trying to kill the personally owned Car, will it work?

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

For some background see this article

 

http://gizmodo.com/the-rise-of-automated-cars-will-thousands-of-jobs-and-n-1702689348/+travis

 

Basically google wants to take the human out of cars, make them on demand, and not personally owned. So you, buy a Google car contract, and you can  summon one any time you want using your phone, it takes you where you want to go, you get out and it goes on to the next contract holder, or it will pick up other people as you go depending on your destination.

 

They plan on producing the cars, to keep the auto industry out of it, since their vision kills them all off anyway.

 

I think this is a horrible idea, though I wouldn’t mind owning a car that had a driverless option, I would never want to a rent a bubble, that I would have to share.

Sharing shit with random people sucks, random people suck,  your google car is going to arrive with a Stanly steamer on the seat and note saying ‘hahhhaha fucker1!@@!!’

 

I hate public transit; I can barely stand a cab. I love the freedom of having my own space and choices in a car, even it means I sit in traffic. I also don’t think they understand how much American culture revolves around cars.

 

Even if your car is just a means to get from point A to B, you must appreciate having your own air conditioned space, that’s as clean as you left it, and plays the music you want, and doesn’t try rob you, or worse, talk to you.

 

Also, rich people like cars, they buy all kinds of outrageous cars, I see them all the time, are these people, the type of person who drives a Ferrari, or on rainy days the top of the line Range Rover, expected to trade in their status symbol/toy in for a mobile economy bubble, the peasants use?  And Google wont be just taking on what’s left of Detroit, they will be taking on the whole auto industry who has a vested interested in keeping them much closer to how they are now with self-driving being an option on normal car.

[Meplat]

The volume of stuff I'll carry, it'd take more time to load the "Google-mobile" than it'd take to get to the destination..

 

Then there is the location of the destination.  Google is working under the assumption that people all live and travel to where there is pavement. 

 

If one travels in the southwest, you'll find that there is by far, more unpaved roads than paved once you get out of the few metro areas. I'm doubting Google is going to deliver a car to a remote address near Ash Fork Arizona, for a brisk jaunt to Wikieup, or Four Corners.

[Priory_of_Sion]

This wouldn't work in places outside large & dense cities. Then, in those cities you have to compete with uber taxis and more general mass transit making it harder for this to work. 

 

As y'all have shown, a large portion of America's population also has an affinity for the automobile. I like driving as a way to relax, many of my friends customize cars and have spent thousands of dollars and countless hours toiling away under the hood. There may be a change in the way we think of cars within the next couple decades, but this won't be a quick transition for us to give up the wheel. 

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

The volume of stuff I'll carry, it'd take more time to load the "Google-mobile" than it'd take to get to the destination..

 

Then there is the location of the destination.  Google is working under the assumption that people all live and travel to where there is pavement. 

 

If one travels in the southwest, you'll find that there is by far, more unpaved roads than paved once you get out of the few metro areas. I'm doubting Google is going to deliver a car to a remote address near Ash Fork Arizona, for a brisk jaunt to Wikieup, or Four Corners.

 

 

Yep, I drive truck for work all the time, several kinds. We haul big stuff, and I have a full truck load of stuff just to do my day to day job. 

 

I also drive on roads Google maps doesn’t know about because they are behind locked gates in private communities.

 

Plus the need for tractor trailers to haul goods isn’t going away.

 

I’m sure I don’t want to be in a rent a bubble on wheels when they don’t speed and have to share the road with truckers and other professionals who drive a lot. 

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

This wouldn't work in places outside large & dense cities. Then, in those cities you have to compete with uber taxis and more general mass transit making it harder for this to work. 

 

As y'all have shown, a large portion of America's population also has an affinity for the automobile. I like driving as a way to relax, many of my friends customize cars and have spent thousands of dollars and countless hours toiling away under the hood. There may be a change in the way we think of cars within the next couple decades, but this won't be a quick transition for us to give up the wheel. 

 

 

Google wants to have automated bubble cars on the roads and in use in five years. 

 

I think they are dreaming, or hope at least, can they outspend the automotive industry in political contributions? 

[Khand-e]

I like how the comments sections is filled with a bunch of manchildren arguing how "the super rich corporations" will kill this. Because clearly Google is just a bunch of small timers who only care about the interest of people and never profits! or that giving them a monopoly on transportation if they effectively did kill the automotive industry would somehow, you know, not make give them complete control over an area they really shouldn't have.

 

Yeah, I'll keep my privately owned car, thanks though. I wouldn't even be bothered if people, perhaps, maybe just thought both could exist in the same world, you know, perhaps people who couldn't afford a car or wouldn't want one otherwise could use this, and those who actually do want one keeps their automobiles, but that's clearly just not possible and nothing more then wishful thinking.

[Meplat]

I like how the comments sections is filled with a bunch of manchildren arguing how "the super rich corporations" will kill this. Because clearly Google is just a bunch of small timers who only care about the interest of people and never profits! or that giving them a monopoly on transportation if they effectively did kill the automotive industry would somehow, you know, not make give them complete control over an area they really shouldn't have.

 

Yeah, I'll keep my privately owned car, thanks though. I wouldn't even be bothered if people, perhaps, maybe just thought both could exist in the same world, you know, perhaps people who couldn't afford a car or wouldn't want one otherwise could use this, and those who actually do want one keeps their automobiles, but that's clearly just not possible and nothing more then wishful thinking.

I won't even go into the sheer disconnect from reality in which many "kill the car" people exist.

 

Once encountered a guy who'd driven a Smart well into the Bradshaws, run out of fuel, then was trying to "walk" to Prescott in summer.

In the time from when I picked him up, rehydrated him, driven him to his car (where he'd abandoned his wife) given her water, then put five gallons of fuel in his shitbox, He'd tried a number of arguments as to why the old Ford truck I was driving was killing the world and how I needed to drive a motorized roller skate, or some shit.

 

I just smiled and handed him another bottle of water. 

[Khand-e]

I won't even go into the sheer disconnect from reality in which many "kill the car" people exist.

 

Once encountered a guy who'd driven a Smart well into the Bradshaws, run out of fuel, then was trying to "walk" to Prescott in summer.

In the time from when I picked him up, rehydrated him, driven him to his car (where he'd abandoned his wife) given her water, then put five gallons of fuel in his shitbox, He'd tried a number of arguments as to why the old Ford truck I was driving was killing the world and how I needed to drive a motorized roller skate, or some shit.

 

I just smiled and handed him another bottle of water. 

Yeah, pretty sure I'd kick his ass out to the side of the road if he tried that shit with me after being generous enough to go out of my way and ignore what I was doing to pick him up in the blinding heat, rehydrate him, and offer to bring him back to his car and refuel it for free.

 

What a selfish dick. (Oh, but he "cares" about the earth, clearly he's the selfless one in this story!)

[Meplat]

He (and others I've encounteed) never got that the sole reason I was able to help them as much as I did, was because I had a vehicle that was capable of carrying those supplies and tools, and doing it in an efficient and comfortable manner.

 

I had one person bolt for the shrubs when I stopped to help, and they saw I was wearing my 1911. I hollered out "You might want some of this water if you're intent on communing with the rattlesnakes"!

 

They came back after a bit, but you could tell they were terrified.  That one was amusing as they'd taken the jack and lug wrench out of their vehicle to "improve their mileage".

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

He (and others I've encounteed) never got that the sole reason I was able to help them as much as I did, was because I had a vehicle that was capable of carrying those supplies and tools, and doing it in an efficient and comfortable manner.

 

I had one person bolt for the shrubs when I stopped to help, and they saw I was wearing my 1911. I hollered out "You might want some of this water if you're intent on communing with the rattlesnakes"!

 

They came back after a bit, but you could tell they were terrified.  That one was amusing as they'd taken the jack and lug wrench out of their vehicle to "improve their mileage".

 

 

You know how many adult males can't change a tire on their own, even with instructions? It's just sad. 

[Khand-e]

He (and others I've encounteed) never got that the sole reason I was able to help them as much as I did, was because I had a vehicle that was capable of carrying those supplies and tools, and doing it in an efficient and comfortable manner.

 

I had one person bolt for the shrubs when I stopped to help, and they saw I was wearing my 1911. I hollered out "You might want some of this water if you're intent on communing with the rattlesnakes"!

 

They came back after a bit, but you could tell they were terrified.  That one was amusing as they'd taken the jack and lug wrench out of their vehicle to "improve their mileage".

 

.....My, Fucking, God.

 

There really needs to be tighter regulation for who can be granted a license at the DMV. for more reference to why, see: any Driver in Chicago, NYC, or anywhere in California ever.

 

Though, having a gun on me has never proven a problem yet, I usually have it completely concealed.

[Meplat]

.....My, Fucking, God.

 

There really needs to be tighter regulation for who can be granted a license at the DMV. for more reference to why, see: any Driver in Chicago, NYC, or anywhere in California ever.

 

Though, have a gun on me has never proven a problem yet, I usually have it completely concealed.

Open carry is easier to demount if you have to crawl under something.  UM84, just unsnap, and the piece never leaves the holster.

 

When I was not having to crawl around stuff as much, I just dropped a Walther PPK or Cz50 in my pocket.

[Toxn]

.....My, Fucking, God.

There really needs to be tighter regulation for who can be granted a license at the DMV. for more reference to why, see: any Driver in Chicago, NYC, or anywhere in California ever.

Though, have a gun on me has never proven a problem yet, I usually have it completely concealed.

Funny, that's basically a gun regulation argument.

Anyway, people who treat their technology like magic annoy me. If you own and operate something, you should at least be capable of performing basic maintenance on it. This includes cars, computers and houses.

[Meplat]

Funny, that's basically a gun regulation argument.

Anyway, people who treat their technology like magic annoy me. If you own and operate something, you should at least be capable of performing basic maintenance on it. This includes cars, computers and houses.

When I was in HS, you hd to take a semester of basic autoshop, before the school would let you take driver's ed.

 

That went away pretty quickly in the 90's.

Autoshop is icky and gross you know, and all mechanics are dumb, so I'm sure it made "sense" to some schoolboard admin.

[Toxn]

I've met actual people (employed, even) who need help changing a light bulb. If they'd had to take a shop class of any sort they'd still be in school.

[FaustianQ]

I've met actual people (employed, even) who need help changing a light bulb. If they'd had to take a shop class of any sort they'd still be in school.

 

Christ that's awful, but at least you get annoyed at people for reasonable things, Ill get exasperated with people being stupid about computers. I really don't understand though how basic maintenance, either software or hardware, is some kind of mystical gnome magic.

 

I personally agree with Mech, why they hell can't private and public cars exist together? Honestly this seems less like a way to kill private ownership and rather a way to kill taxis and uber forever. I'd also rather not have Google control this, but have it publicly funded and publicly answerable at the municipal or state level. Like this could be a huge force for good, as private transportation is a real barrier to success, but no Google focuses replacing private transportation like some lameass super villain.

 

"I'll get you next time, AUTOMOBILE HAVERS!!" *Shakes fist, pets cat*

[Donward]

And so it begins...

 

[Zinegata]

Google has a history of rolling out stuff that they (or at least their PR department) claim will kill off a traditional industry, but in reality falls far short of the claims and will take at least several more decades and a lot more investment to achieve its lofty ambitions.

 

Take for instance Google Fiber. The US telcos (or rather, the top management, many of whom are clearly divorced from technical realities) were all panicking over Google promising to be an Internet Service Provider that's better, cheaper, and faster than any of the other telcos when it launched five years ago.

 

Fast-forward to today and Google Fiber only has around 30,000 subscribers and is a pretty insignificant player on the US market.

 

The problem, which was pretty clear to the rational telco people back in 2010, is that Google Fiber doesn't actually introduce any really new technology. Fibr-to-the-Home has been around since the early 2000s, and the reason why it hasn't reached widespread adoption is that the technology is frankly ridiculous overkill. Not every home needs a 1 Gigabit connection. Japan spent huge money on subsidizing these kinds of connections and found that the only people they really made happy where the torrent seeders. Most websites can't even take advantage of that size of pipe. This is why the most common implementation had been to use Fiber as the backbone, with the "to the home" portion being handled by DSL or cable, which can support a more reasonable 100 Mbps speed but doesn't require drilling new holes in your house.
 

It has gotten to the point that the younger folks in the Telco business are increasingly convinced that most of Google's seemingly hare-brained schemes are actually just red herrings to get the US and other telcos to speed up their rollout of broadband Internet; through which Google derives most of its revenues anyway. In this regard Google's actually a pretty useful addition to the landscape, because overall broadband penetration worldwide is in fact pretty low and the panic they caused did stimulate some expansion.

 

As for the Google Car - it's probably another project that's designed more to get the industry to act rather than a concrete "Google Enslaves Half the World" scheme. Google Maps has pretty bad navigation softwae for instance because it just looks at the shortest route based on distance and not any other factors, but Waze is pretty decent because it has a fairly extensive realtime crowd-source feedback mechanism (e.g. real time traffic reports) and it has cut my trip times by around a fifth since I started using it. This was inconceivable when folks started looking at navigation software back in 2004 (we had trouble plotting routes even with full-powered PCs. Now you can do it on a cellphone app), especially on the streets of Metro Manila, where the city planners have no idea what a "road grid" is (they insanely prefer circular roads) and the traffic is only behind Calcutta or Bombay in sheer awfulness .

 

The auto-drive thing is also pretty revolutionary and would be a pretty big boon in traffic-heavy streets even for private cars, because now I can nap/do other things while the car drives through the grind of heavy traffic.

 

Put the two together and it's not hard to envision a new model of self-driving cars that can be both privately or publically owned that would have actual concrete benefits for the end user. Of course not everyone will want to own a robo-car, and in my country I'm sure there will be lobbies by driver's groups against this (our taxi drivers are already up in arms over Uber, because Uber provides better service than most of our shitty taxi drivers), but having a robo-car as a viable option is in fact something that could be a thing once they work out the technology and figure out the legal liabilities in case of accidents.

[Donward]

While Google is making automated cars, a Washington state company Inventix makes SOLOWHEEL a motorized electric unicycle.

 

http://mynorthwest.com/11/2769838/Solution-to-Seattles-traffic-nightmare-could-be-one-wheel

 

"The Solowheel is just what it sounds like: a small, quiet electric wheel that can take you about ten miles on one charge."

 

"Wouldn't it be awesome if you could surf to work, or ski to work, or in some way get to work in an elevated state of ecstasy instead of the staccato of how most people come to work?" McDonald said.

"They're stopping and going, and there's this stress. But if you could show up to work and your commute has actually been recreational in a sense, and inspirational, and actually makes your body have all this feel — good stuff in it — whoa," he said.

[Sturgeon]

Holy crap they combined a bunch of really neat ideas into a package that will surely kill you if you buy it.

But until you die, you'll get a good calf workout.

Alternate joke: Americans are always trying to invent themselves out of having to walk anywhere.

[Donward]

It looks kind of "fun". Of course my mind is already trying to come up with ways to make it more "fun".

 

Solowheel 3-Gun shooting?

 

Solowheel jousting?

 

Solowheel naked roller derby?

[Tied]

Back in my day they said the HATO ATGM jeep would kill the tank. 

 

Well, the next time you need to cross a field under constant mortar fire and MRLS rain, your not gonna chose the frenchmen in his willy's jeep with a Tow straped to it.

 

besides, armored cars best cars.