Google’s self-driving car: All bark and no bite?

Cars that drive themselves were invented ages ago. They are called taxis.

Ever since Google began testing their self-driving cars everyone has been gung-ho about their progress. Quite a few critics and commentators have pointed out that this car has the potential to disrupt the automotive industry and drastically change the way we look at transportation. Some have gone to the extent of suggesting that this car will lead to a ​reduction in road accidents, resulting in much safer and faster road journeys. Talking of speed, the top speed of this ‘car-of-the-future’ is a very modest 25 mph. ​Yes, you’ve read it right — 25 mph. A grand piano moves around a room faster than that! this speed might be adequate in a place like central London or Manhattan, but what if you were driving along the twisty-loops in the Isle of Man, or the ​arrow-straights on Route 66?

​Don’t you wish you were behind the wheel? It doesn’t have one though. Nor does it have any other conventional stuff like a gear lever or even pedals. You just have sit and relax, while it does the driving. While this might seem nice to many, I don’t think so, h​ere’s why. Computerized guidance and self-driving technologies are not new. Airplanes use ​it most of the time right from takeoff to mid-air maneuvers to landings which should technically make the pilot redundant.

​But would any of us choose to travel in an aircraft with no pilot, or a train with no loco-pilot? Though these technologies are way more advanced and dependable than humans, they lack one major aspect​; trustworthiness. In simpler terms, can we trust our lives on technology? If all of us were in these self-driving cars, then a competent hacker could ​actually control where we go. In cases like these, a pair of unethical hands can wreak a lot​ of havoc. This is possible even in an aircraft, but all the computerized controls an be overridden by the pilot’s manual controls, which is why he is the supreme commander of the airplane. So do trust your life with this technical wizardry?

​The concept of driving pleasure would just be so irrelevant with this car. It has to, since you’re not the one driving it. As I started thinking about this, I felt this sudden urge to pull out my motorcycle and go on a ride so that I can understand and write better about it. With every mile and every exhaust thump​, adrenaline and motor oil rushed through my veins and I felt like ​’I am the captain of my ship. I am the master of my soul’. This is something you definitely can’t experience if someone else drives you. If this were 1908 and the Ford Model-T was just invented, I might buy an argument that transportation is the only purpose of a car but ​the car has evolved over time. More than just an instrument of transportation, it is an object of fun and a ​tool to stimulate adrenaline.

An important aspect about this self-driving car is security. ​This car is made by Google, ​so it might transfer all your info back to Mountain View. There have been major security concerns regarding Google’s excessive interference into human lives. They’ve been snooping around to a considerable extent, which is why they pretty much know everything about everyone (The ones who use an android phone especially). I believe this car will take snooping and machine-dependence to an all new level​. Let’s say that you use an android phone and have bought Google’s new self-driving car. ​So in addition to knowing where you go, what you do, who you ​hangout with or your travel schedules, Google now has the capability to take you where they want, not necessarily where you want to go. So it would be a piece-of-cake if they wanted to ​kidnap you or even harm you, which is why I’m scared stiff about Google’s self driving car​. Also, there’s news that Apple is working on a similar car project too and unlike Google’s car, ​I presume we can trust it. ​While this car has the potential to change the way we look at motoring and transportation I don’t think it is strong enough to dislodge the current automobile industry.

These small self-driving cars might be able to give you respite from choc-a-block traffic irritations and cumbersome intra-city commutes but ​when it comes to driving pleasure and the sheer thrill of driving your car on an awesome road, the Google car can’t even come close. ​The difference is ‘watching someone eat a tasty pie, or you eating it yourself’ — which is more enjoyable?