Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[mainiac]

I have no idea what this this is supposed to mean, or how its supposed to relate to my comment, and no idea what you are talking about.

Probably because my brain swapped the word "hours" for "dollars".

Alternatively, the 2010 census places the population of LA at 3,792,621. 300k+ is well under 10% of that, so clearly other people are getting their movement from somewhere else.

Oh I agree that most people in LA drive.  I'm just saying that people say it's impossible for a city in the "flatland" urban model like LA to have a public transit when it does.  LA is also going to keep expanding it's transit and that 10% is rising.

If 10% of people were using google cars they'd be talking about it like it was the freaking singularity.

[Criptfeind]

I hate driving, and even though my area actually has a public transit that I believe is much better then most of America it still sucks and is basically unusable for what I need it for. And thus I will be really glad if this takes off.

On a side note, 300k doesn't seem like a large number to be when thinking about a whole general city area to me, maybe if you are only taking about like the super center of the city, where public transit does make sense of course, but for really sprawling areas... Not so much.

Edit: Oh, and on the advertising thing, I think that sounds awesome. Even that SMBC only seems odd because it's not something we are used to (and because that was presumably a date), if I actually take a moment to think about it, so long as it wasn't a thing that was happening on random dates, I think it would be awesome to get food in exchange for watching adds.

Also, am I the only one who likes the idea of targeted advertisement? I mean, it's ruined by the fact that in the real world it would be (and is) invasive and abusive, but as a idea getting adds for the products I want is something that I like.

[IronyOwl]

Oh I agree that most people in LA drive.  I'm just saying that people say it's impossible for a city in the "flatland" urban model like LA to have a public transit when it does.  LA is also going to keep expanding it's transit and that 10% is rising.

Well yeah, but having public transportation is different than relying on it for a given percentage of needs. Just because LA can do 10% doesn't necessarily mean 20% would be viable just by spending more money and construction on it.


EDIT:

Edit: Oh, and on the advertising thing, I think that sounds awesome. Even that SMBC only seems odd because it's not something we are used to (and because that was presumably a date), if I actually take a moment to think about it, so long as it wasn't a thing that was happening on random dates, I think it would be awesome to get food in exchange for watching adds.

Also, am I the only one who likes the idea of targeted advertisement? I mean, it's ruined by the fact that in the real world it would be (and is) invasive and abusive, but as a idea getting adds for the products I want is something that I like.

Yeah, I was mostly joking. Listening to advertisements as I wait to arrive somewhere for free doesn't sound too bad, and even less so if it's something I have some minute chance of being interested in.

[LordBucket]

Living in the future is weird.

And terrible.

I don't trust google, but my optimistic side is hopeful that their master plan is to perpetrate a massive bait and switch con on the entire world that results in us one day having Star Trek before the other human powers realize what's going on. Train corporations to work on a free-stuff-for-ads model, then one day everybody has all the free stuff they want and nobody has any reason to buy anything. Then just turn off the ads and let the robot taxi/3d printing/etc fleets keep running.

am I the only one who likes the idea of targeted advertisement? I mean, it's ruined by the fact that in the real world it would be (and is) invasive and abusive, but as a idea getting adds for the products I want is something that I like.

I once found it creepy and suspicious. But now I derive far too much enjoyment from the fact that google is constantly showing me pictures of half-naked, pretty girls wherever I go. All you have to do is click the occasional hair care product or nordstrom's ad. Google thinks I'm a mid-twenties single girl in need of beauty products and lingerie.

I can live with that.

[Greiger]

This thread is relevant to my interests.  Posting to Watch.

I always found automated devices interesting.  Everything from the Roomba which just goes straight until it hits something and turns in a random direction before going straight again to automated cars, I've always been fascinated by the idea of things doing stuff by themselves.

Public transport works  great when it's properly set up.  Unfortunately it isn't in most of America.  There are few if any subways down here in florida.  And if I understand right it's because we have such a high aquifer it makes any kind of large scale underground construction more expensive.   Then there's the dangers of beachside subways (which would probably be the places you would want them most, because tourism) during hurricanes when the ocean itself decides that it wants to pay a visit to main street, and suddenly instead of a subway you have a series of saltwater caves full of confused sharks. (maybe an exaggeration)

Other than subways we have the busses, which here at least are unreliable, uncomfortable, and seem to only ever go to the beach or the mall.

Automated taxis could serve as cheap and convenient public transportation in places where the more common options may not be as viable.  Busses only pick you up and drop you off at bus stops which could be a few blocks from your destination and they do it once per hour. And not at all at night. Autotaxis could be designed to efficiently carry 1 person in a small efficient comfortable 1 passenger minicar on demand from where they are now to exactly where they want to be.   I want one.

[sambojin]

@Lordbucket. Well, sex sells, even to the same sex (no one likes stuff if it's sold by an ugly person). Especially on the internet. In fact, for quite some time, the porn industry was one of the few beneficiaries of e-commerce. So how long do you think it will be until another company starts a niche version of this: Autonomous Robotic Shagging Wagons.

While suspension maintenance and seat-wipe costs will be quite a bit higher, the company will be able to charge quite a bit more. Who knows. They could even subsidise your trip by utilizing the "security footage" for commercial ends (it'll be in the EULA somewhere).

The future is indeed scary, when the best pickup line is "I've got 150,000 subscribers babe. Jump in!"

[penguinofhonor]

Man, I've wanted a crazy Google car for a long time. If I don't actually have to buy one to benefit from this technology, the future is an amazing place.

So how long do you think it will be until another company starts a niche version of this: Autonomous Robotic Shagging Wagons.

While suspension maintenance and seat-wipe costs will be quite a bit higher, the company will be able to charge quite a bit more. Who knows. They could even subsidise your trip by utilizing the "security footage" for commercial ends (it'll be in the EULA somewhere).

The future is indeed scary, when the best pickup line is "I've got 150,000 subscribers babe. Jump in!"

This is basically renting a cheap hotel room to have sex in while a creepy guy on the other side of the wall films you. People do not want this service, even if you get a robot to bring it to them.

[Frumple]

No... no, I'm unfortunately quite sure people do want that service, especially if you brought it to them (robot or not). Not the largest market, but it's definitely an existent one, and I'd wager good money it's a market with a sustainable population.

[LordBucket]

People do not want this service, even if you get a robot to bring it to them.

If Repliee Q1 brings it to me I do.

[werty892]

I agree with most of your points except a few. The fall of the auto industry and the loss of all those jobs, and the subways going extinct. Subways and such will never go extinct as they are a express way around the city without traffic. And I think the auto industry will not die from this, I mean who's going to make all the taxis? And people outside cities will still want cars, say in rural areas or suburbs. But they will be automated also, but use gas, and you tell it where to go with no fare.

I remember watching some show where they talked about this. They even mentioned that you could theoretically pay off people to move out of the way if you're in a hurry. So say you're stuck behind a line of people. You send a message to their cars say you will pay 2$ for them to move  over. They accept or decline, 2$ is deducted from your account and transferred to them, and then the cars shift into another lane. Very cool.

[martinuzz]

Google taxi sound jolly good, up to the point where the car locks itself so you can't get out, and drives you to NSA's interrogation centre.

[Yoink]

I hate cars for several reasons, and so this idea sounds awesome.
Of course, it'd maybe be simpler just to remove civilian cars from the equation and replace them with better public transport (and a road system more suited to such), but this will still be good- both for lessening environmental damage and causing less road fatalities.

[Trapezohedron]

Removing civilian cars will be difficult, to say the least, when there's around millions of them, some of which are luxury grades. Parting them with it is not a conceivable option.

I, for one, like this idea, but I'm more worried about the jobs it will displace. People, especially in the Philippines, where any job at all is important to the blue-collar workers, would lose their jobs because of this.

The good thing is that I'm pretty sure that this will happen gradually, not instantly. People will have time to adapt. Still, economic displacement...

[penguinofhonor]

No... no, I'm unfortunately quite sure people do want that service, especially if you brought it to them (robot or not). Not the largest market, but it's definitely an existent one, and I'd wager good money it's a market with a sustainable population.

If people want it, it's not "robot or not" because there is not an extant industry of cars you have sex in while someone films you. Either automated car is the important part, or there is not a significant market for this. Or it's illegal. But I doubt it'd be any more legal with a Google car.

I, for one, like this idea, but I'm more worried about the jobs it will displace. People, especially in the Philippines, where any job at all is important to the blue-collar workers, would lose their jobs because of this.

The good thing is that I'm pretty sure that this will happen gradually, not instantly. People will have time to adapt. Still, economic displacement...

Hopefully it'll give enough people time to realize that bullshit automatable jobs are not how we should be using a huge portion of our workforce.

[Trapezohedron]

I, for one, like this idea, but I'm more worried about the jobs it will displace. People, especially in the Philippines, where any job at all is important to the blue-collar workers, would lose their jobs because of this.

The good thing is that I'm pretty sure that this will happen gradually, not instantly. People will have time to adapt. Still, economic displacement...

Hopefully it'll give enough people time to realize that bullshit automatable jobs are not how we should be using a huge portion of our workforce.

True, but that's only happening if the government and businesses are willing to adapt a change in technology.

At least in here, the government here is more interested in pocketing tax returns than actually improving things at all, and businesses are unwilling to shift to a different level of operation due to a variety of factors, including:

* Monstrous taxes for imports.
* Generally high cost of technology (lower cost in long-term, but...).
* "Newness" of a certain technology (the longer it operates in the world, the more reliable it becomes to public eyes).
* Human resources being generally cheaper (usually, these blue-collars are uneducated or lacking in education to qualify for office work, so they're stuck working menial tasks for cheap pay).