On Nov 18, 2018, at 7:15 PM, John Robinson <profilecoven...@me.com <mailto:profilecoven...@me.com>> wrote:
> This is a topic I threw out a few weeks ago, now a more definitive line in > the sand seems plausible.. I have a several thoughts: • If I were a young long-haul trucker, I’d be thinking about my next career. It won’t be long before those 18-wheelers on the interstate lack a human driver. The trucking companies will jump on this because they can keep their trucks rolling around the clock instead of being limited by the number of hours a driver is permitted to work. Most of these trucks run the same easy routes over and over again. Computers were invented for this. • How about city buses and garbage trucks. They have fixed routes with well-defined stops. It seems like a good fit for a computer. • When I travel, I always try to take Uber or Lyft instead of regular taxis. Better service. Better prices. For example, we were in Las Vegas last month and took a taxi to our hotel when we arrived—$34. When we left, we took Uber from the hotel to the airport—$19 and the car was clean. If the taxi companies hadn’t been wedded to grampa’s technology ten years ago, they’d own Uber's business instead of being the walking dead. Uber isn’t going to make the same mistake. • Before it becomes ubiquitous on the roads, some things will have to change. Traffic signs and signals will be made more computer-friendly. Perhaps little radio transmitters will be embedded to make sure the computer understands complicated intersections and can see them in bad weather. In high-traffic areas, special lanes, like today’s commuter lanes, will be installed. In the beginning, there may be special routes with enhancements to assist the computers. • Ownership of cars in the USA is definitely going to decrease. I can see this with my own children. Mu daughter lives in Minneapolis and mostly gets around by mass transit. She’ll often go weeks without driving. My son has a car out of necessity because mass transit in Louisville is so spotty. But, he was in no hurry to drive and didn’t even bother to get a driver’s license until he was 18, and only then because he needed an ID. • The same technology is going to be present in lots of places. Most of the big airplanes are already flown mostly by computer, with pilots watching. It can’t be long before the pilot is on the ground monitoring a half-dozen planes. On top of that, there’s a big shortage of airline pilots. How long until UPS starts hauling their cargo with robots? I think it’ll be a while before the general public will accept this with airliners. When will Papa John’s start using self-driving delivery vehicles or drones. Amazon is already working on using drones for local deliveries. L^2 --- Lee Larson leelar...@me.com <mailto:leelar...@me.com> Thus the good Christian should beware of mathematicians and all those who make false prophecies, however much they may in fact speak the truth; lest, being in league with the devil, they may deceive errant souls into making common cause. — Augustinus, De genesis ad literam, Liber 2, Caput XVII, Nr. 37
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