Quote of the Week

Driverless cars (again) – Google gets it on car ownership.

“Google….looks at our motorised world and sees that we spend fortunes on the purchase, upkeep and operation of cars that are usually driven by a single human, spend a good deal of their time immobilised in urban congestion, and much of the rest of the time parked in streets. They see governments and local authorities driven to distraction, if not to bankruptcy, by the costs of providing roads and infrastructure to support our motoring habit. They see the mortality, environmental and health costs of human-controlled automobiles. And they think: this is nuts.”

(And a great way to make loads of money.)

John Naughton, The Observer, 1.6.14

Google’s disruptive driver-less cars

It’s easy to laugh at the two seater Google-mobile, which goes at 25 mph, has a cartoonish cutesyness and lacks a steering wheel. So I was going to write about how, despite appearances, this disruptive intervention by Google could potentially change everything in the sphere of transport - from public to personal.



And then I saw this article in the Telegraph by Matt Warman, a person who likes cars and driving. According to Warman, “Our lives are ruled by cars even if we don’t drive….and Google will end that era.” So, I’ll let him comment. And if you doubt whether it will happen, just remember, that while Google is now a large (and growing) part of the digital furniture, twenty years ago it did not exist - and a Googol was a number meaning 10^100.