I'm finding it increasingly difficult to avoid purchasing, and therefore tying myself to, 'connected' platforms. I recently decided to purchase a new washing machine. It was difficult to find one that did not feature some form of wireless connectivity. I know from other discussions on this forum around so-called 'smart' televisions[1][2] that simply not connecting the device to your home wi-fi network, or implementin…
> It was difficult to find one that did not feature some form of wireless connectivity.
As long as you don’t have to connect it… I couldn’t find a decent toothbrush that didn’t have Bluetooth, but it doesn’t matter, I just ignore it.
My car? I no longer want to own and maintain a car. I want ubiquitous availability of transportation. On demand. But I don't necessarily want Uber / Lyft either. I don't mind driving. As it is, my car lost value the day I drove it off the lot. Most of the time it sits doing nothing at all, sans getting older and losing more value. If ever there was a life pain that screams subscription + pay as you go it's personal t…
That's a zipcar or similiar. Rent by the hour. It seemed attractive but drawback is you have to get to a free car first.
That's where autonomous comes in. If the car can self-drive to me that's significant. The alternative is the subscription includes $X in Uber / Lyft per month. That is, I reserve a vehicle and the service handles the rest.
But these are sometimes making it safer for the occupants at the expense of the rest of the environment (think smaller windows and fatter A pillars making children harder to see, or strengthened soundproofing making children harder to hear.)
I don't think this is a very good argument... I want my car to be as quiet as possible, on terms of the noise it makes and it's soundproofness. That making people harder to hear outside is irrelevant, as I mainly use my eyes to scan the environment for people, not my ears. Also I think we've done enough damage to the world with the (British accent) "what about the children" arguments...
I think this one in particular ticks me off personally because people I meet are all moralistic about me listening to podcasts while bicycling in traffic, telling me I "shouldn't block the sounds of the environment."
And I'm left wondering: have these people ever been in a modern car? Just sitting in it blocks out more of the environment than my open-backed earbuds. If I can drive one of those without causing an accident, surely I can listen to podcasts on my (much slower) bicycle without causing an accident too!
A friend of mine bought new BMW and the whole thing just shut down half way into the journey, he said he was happy he could get out of it. The more complexity the higher the chance of failure. If you're like me you just want a car that get's you from point A to point B reliably and safely. You're probably thinking they will always be an option for a straightforward mechanical machine. But that may not be the case. Re…
It is not the complexity at fault, it's BMW cutting corners hitting quality. Even assuming the higher complexity part, there is no reason a software nice-to-have like navigation to make your entire car unusable, if you keep the ECU separate from the rest of the car it will still drive.
Living in a city and having street-parked "rent-a-car" vehicles for infrequent trips while using trains to get to work is an incredible lifestyle. I went camping recently, so I rented a 4x4 for a few days. I needed to pick up family from the airport, I'll just rent a car for a few hours. Want to go for a hike up north, rent a car for a day. All I have to do is Lime-style, book one on the app, tap my car on the windsh…
For this to work you need a pretty good public transportation system. In the US for example, I don't know of any city other than NYC that have that kind of infrastructure.
15 years ago I lived in DC a few months and I did not need a car, I used the sub a lot and buses a few times.
I, on the other hand, look forward to the day, probably not for at least 20-30 years from now, when all or virtually all vehicles are autonomous, and they're all constantly communicating with each other. Could you imagine the improvements in efficiency and traffic management? The vast reduction in accidents because someone forgot to use a turn signal or was following too closely? The marvelous freedom it would offer…
Do you work with software? Because you don't seem to be scared one bit. I don't see this becoming a thing anytime soon. Not just because of how horrible software is and how little it improves. In the last 20 years we barely had any improvements in what cars assist us with. The Mercedes Benz W220 from 1998 had active cruise control. And today modern active cruise control systems barely work better. Some cars can somet…
I think the closer we get to the point where all vehicles are autonomous, the easier it will get. The interim is the hard part. Right now autonomous vehicles have to be able to operate alongside human operators whose ability to communicate their intent is limited to brake lights and turn signals, and there is basically no way to cooperate. Now imagine a world where it's all autonomous vehicles who are constantly communicating intent and can cooperate in marvelous ways, like with orderly zipper merging or intersection management without the need for traffic signals. There will still be a need for computer vision to detect pedestrians, obstacles, and wildlife, but it will be simpler than having to deal with other human operators.
Cars have been a software platform for well over a decade. We've been cursed with horrendous UX, such as the electronic throttle body and steering, since the late 2000s.
Every time someone puts a computer between the user and the real world is an opportunity to extract more control and revenue from the user. The incentives to make your life experience shitty are far in excess of the incentives to make it enjoyable.
Do you work with software? Because you don't seem to be scared one bit. I don't see this becoming a thing anytime soon. Not just because of how horrible software is and how little it improves. In the last 20 years we barely had any improvements in what cars assist us with. The Mercedes Benz W220 from 1998 had active cruise control. And today modern active cruise control systems barely work better. Some cars can somet…
I think the closer we get to the point where all vehicles are autonomous, the easier it will get. The interim is the hard part. Right now autonomous vehicles have to be able to operate alongside human operators whose ability to communicate their intent is limited to brake lights and turn signals, and there is basically no way to cooperate. Now imagine a world where it's all autonomous vehicles who are constantly comm…
My issue is that even today "autonomous" vehicles are far from capable of doing what they are supposed to do. The technology is decades old and barely anything happens.
And no, i like driving. I would hate a future where driving would be illegal.