If you're like me, your first reaction to the concept of a blind man riding in a self-driving car (to Taco Bell) was probably ... bemused alarm, let's say. Like: "Whoa, cool! Hey, wait a minute ... a blind guy going on a taco run in a self-driving car? This can't possibly end well."
But that's the thing -- it does end well. Really! Because believe it or not, we actually have the technology to make this kind of thing happen now ... it's just really, really expensive. Which is sad, because I bet there are lots of other white-haired, legally-blind guys like Steven Mahan who could go for a taco right about now.
Google's driverless car (a Prius) relies on a laser-range finder, which it uses to map out surroundings and respond to GPS signals. The laser-range finder alone runs about $70K -- that's without the cost of the actual vehicle. Dang.
Does it frustrate the daylights out of anyone else that such life-changing technology is available -- but most people can't afford it?
It kind of reminds me of The Hunger Games. (Which might seem like a stretch, but hang on a second.) More specifically, it reminds me of a comment my 10-year-old daughter made when we saw the dystopian society fantasy flick.
It was during the scene when Katniss and Peeta pull into the Capitol on that super-fast train thing. My daughter turned to me and said, "It's so crazy how where Katniss lives the people don't even have like washing machines, and the whole time there's this city that's really high-tech and stuff."
How different is the real world? Not very. On the one hand we have cars that can drive themselves; on the other, we have kids living in slums under roofs made of cardboard and scrap metal. Indoor plumbing? Yeah, right.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the blind guy with the Google car. (He's heartbreakingly adorable, as you'll see in this clip.)
I just wish there were more of them.
Does it bother you that the most amazing technological advances are available to so few people?
Image via Google/YouTube
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Comments 10
Give it some time. As someone who works in the Information Technology field, this will become the norm in about 10 years or so. (Yea that seems a long time, but trust me it will fly by) . The kicker is that this technology has been around for a lot longer than it appears. Everything that the public gets, the military/government has access to for many years before hand.
For example it wasn't that long ago that computer desktops/laptops were extremely expensive and was only available to those who could afford it with a higher income. Now you can get a top of the line desktop/laptop for under 500 and almost every home has one.
No one will need a driver's license unless they want one in 20 years.
I think in about 10-20 years, we'll all be able to nap or surf the web on our way to work in our cars. I can't wait, because napping on my commute right now is not very good for my health. It reminds me of the movie Minority Report.
It will be interesting to see if this comes to pass. I am particularly interested, as my husband has been completely blind for about 4 years now. This is a man who used to have his own car, and drove us everywhere. It has been a staggering transition for him - and for us - to have only one vehicle, and for me to be the sole driver (we live in the country, and if he wants to go somewhere, I must go too... no "see ya honey, I'm taking our son out for some guy time!").
We will never be able to afford this technology, but usually stuff like this gets cheaper as better forms become available. For his sake (and mine, frankly) I hope this becomes affordable sooner, rather than later.
That's what happens when capitalism is worshiped like the second coming. It works really well for a sliver of the world...not very well for most of it.
I wouldn't trust that car...
ii just think of the bad things that can happen if car malfunctions.
This is great. At first Im not convinced about the news of this Google's self driving car. Im really wondering how did they build this kind of car and how could this car run? I research it and found out that this car uses a really advanced technology that utilizes the car audio electronics and the car's naviation system together with the GPS device to drive this car. And BOOM. A self driving car that drove a blind man to Taco Bell is now possible!