If it's about using less fuel, why not just market it as economy mode.
Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
31–40 of 293 posts
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#32Google greenwashing what is clearly a demonstration of its power to redirect flows of people at a whim. I wonder what other purposes such redirections could be used for?
It puzzles me how HN is so cynic about anything that comes from Google.
If only this cynicism was shared by the general public, the regulatory authorities etc.
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly though, what about any of Google's behavior in the past several years should make us give them the benefit of the doubt?
The fact that it is an immense and heterogeneous organization with many different decision-makers at all levels with varying priorities and intentions. Essentializing Google as a singular agent obscures this perspective and gives no credence to those who are trying to push it in better directions from the inside.
> Essentializing Google as a singular
Google themselves do this with their shared branding under the google umbrella.
Companies that want the upside of this branding need to accept the downsides too.
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#34They could also just call it "uses less gas"
Electric vehicle and trains don't use gas
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#35I and more recently my wife have been getting walking directions for short trips by default. It's a nice idea but 100% of the time this has been useless - eg I am running errands and I'm not going to leave the car at store #3 just because I could walk from it too store #4 I can see this be very useful in a foreign city where you're trying to get around and don't know the options.
I love the image of someone in a parking lot with their car being surprised that the walking directions are asking them to leave their car. "Not again!"
More seriously, though, when shopping in roughly the same area of town, the best way to walk is to pick a spot that's close to the last place you're going to shop. It'd be an interesting mapping feature to suggest a spot based on a list of locations.
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
I get that you're being flippant, but I did have a coworker who calculated the carbon footprint of his commute for various modes of transport, including walking. He came to the conclusion that, given the average amount of CO2 produced per calorie consumed, riding an e-bike was actually the lowest-impact way.
Does this factor in battery manufacturing / vehicle body manufacturing / varying gas efficiencies / etc.? The question is borne of the understanding that electric vehicles merely frontload your carbon footprint, rather than eliminating it.
I got around that by making my ebike out of recycled UPS batteries, and a bicycle I already owned.
That way, the only source of carbon was making the additional drivetrain components.
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#37such a silly branding. Brand it as “the cheapest route” and people will (maybe) use this option.
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#38Won't the fastest route generally have the lowest carbon footprint anyway? Traveling at high speed on a highway will use less gas/distance than traveling through stop start traffic.
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#39So it'll only show walking directions?
I get that you're being flippant, but I did have a coworker who calculated the carbon footprint of his commute for various modes of transport, including walking. He came to the conclusion that, given the average amount of CO2 produced per calorie consumed, riding an e-bike was actually the lowest-impact way.
I have read that cyclists who only eat beef generate more CO2 per mile than a hybrid car, though that presumably that ignores all the carbon cost of building cars and car infrastructure. Bikes are still better in pretty much every way.
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/are-meat-eating-cyc...
Re: Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
The fact that it is an immense and heterogeneous organization with many different decision-makers at all levels with varying priorities and intentions. Essentializing Google as a singular agent obscures this perspective and gives no credence to those who are trying to push it in better directions from the inside.
Anything like a major PR campaign is approved at the highest levels. EDIT: I'd also note that in the book Surveillance Capitalism, Zuboff discusses how Pokemon Go was seen in investor circles as a successful demonstration of manipulating masses of people to go to commercial spaces by luring them with imaginary characters. This sent market caps soaring. When I saw this headline, I immediately thought that this is them…
And how is any of this a new concern? This issue existed long before these new features and will continue to be a threat long after. I really don't see how this is comparable considering they could just as easily have done the same without greenwashing.