Travis Kalanick has to get Uber’s bet on self-driving cars right.
“It starts with understanding that the world is going to go self-driving and autonomous,” he told Business Insider in an interview.
“So if that’s happening, what would happen if we weren’t a part of that future? If we weren’t part of the autonomy thing? Then the future passes us by basically, in a very expeditious and efficient way.”
As much as I may not like autonomous cars, from a business perspective, it’s hard to argue with his reasoning.
I’m not surprised he’s open about their goal of getting rid of drivers. The guy is a sociopath. He doesn’t care what people think, and he thinks he and his company are above the law. Not that the competition is all that great. though if I have to choose, I’d go Lyft every time, because of this jerk. This just confirms to me the guy isn’t deserving of his ill-gotten wealth.
If I need to get to an airport, I’d rather hire a car service whose drivers have done that job for years, if not months. If I’m in a city that has at least one car service that a hotel’s desk clerk can recommend, I’ll use them. Otherwise, for short jaunts, I’ll happily tip an Uber or Lyft driver the equivalent of what I’d have given a NYC cabbie.
I have yet to try Lyft, but given my out-of-town preferences, that’s only a matter of time.
And self-driving autonomous cars will radically change other businesses. Fewer people will need to own cars if they are available on-demand at any time, so car dealerships will gradually vanish. Houses won’t need garages any more, so we’ll have more actual living space. There will be less need for street parking and parking lots, so there will be more livable space in neighborhoods and downtowns.
Of course, there’s the small matter of programming. I think it will take another 10 years of CPU power increases and AI development to get anywhere near a truly usable self-driving car system. And it will take many decades for the old industries to adapt to self-driving cars. It took decades for the horse-driven transportation era to be replaced by automobiles. People still ride horses for recreation.
Me? My next car will be a BMW M2. In black, with 6MT.
I’m old-school that way.
I think self-driving cars is like 3d movies at home – everyone says it’s happening, and then it doesn’t. 15 years ago the experts were saying kids didn’t need to learn how to type because they’d be using voice recognition for everything in the future. Even though it’s gotten very good, you still need to be able to use a keyboard. When people make tech predictions, they should be taken with a large grain of Kosher salt. (No, really – Kosher salt is very good.)
I agree – once the technology is good enough, that’s not going to be enough to change culture. BMW M2? Sweet car! My budget is more restrained, but I still have fun – I just got a new Mustang and I freaking love it. V6 but 305hp. Self-driving car my ass. 🙂
Random thought – Why don’t cars automatically put on turn signals when you turn the wheel far enough?
I already have a major problem with public transportation not being readily available (or available at all even) where I live. As I get older, I’m even more aware of my own aversion to driving (I’ve never really liked it much less liked cars themselves), and am working toward moving to a city where I won’t have to drive except for renting a car for a longer trip or doing a short term rental like a ZIPcar for something local. Otherwise, I want good public transportation, and the more options, including self-driving vehicles, the better.
I wish it was all available now for my mother. She is 76 and going through chemotherapy which is making her feet and hands numb. Driving is becoming harder and harder for her, and here in Oklahoma where public transportation and cab service is next to nil, that is a major problem for an elderly person.
Maybe I was spoiled by my time in Bogota and Europe, but we really are way behind here when it comes to public transportation and taxi/private bus service.
Precisely the scenario I bring up – self-driving cars have the possibility of letting older people maintain independence for much longer than they might otherwise be able to. Unlike you I like cars and like driving – but I’m aware of the potential advantages of self-driving vehicles.
People like to question the safety etc of these and of course there’s a LOT of work to be done yet, but over 30,000 people DIE each year in auto accidents. To me, all of the arguments against self-driving pale in comparison to that. If self-driving tech cuts that even in half that’s 15,000 people who are alive to see the next year. Each year.
Hear, hear.
You don’t even to track how far the wheel turns. Cars should have had GPS sensors in them years ago that turn on the turn signals when your cars direction switches axis quickly.
Great, autonomous driving. What exactly do I need Uber for when every car has this feature? I see the market becoming something where you sign up with a service that manages your own car and when you travel taking care of travel.
I don’t particularly like the company and how are they going to lock users in when there are companies with much deeper pockets?