Google may be DRIVING us into the future
By: Paige Matsson-Boze
Transportation has been around for thousands of years. From the Romans using chariots for racing and transit of goods to the 1500's when the English used stagecoaches for journeys, heck, even Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on a donkey. In recent years, modes of transportation have been getting quickly more advanced. However, these advancements may not be as much of a good thing in the long run as some may think.
In 1886 Karl Benz invented the first automobile. Though it was automated, most people today would still refer to that vehicle as a wagon. When Henry Ford invented the Model T in 1905 he made owning a car a possibility for the average person. A dream that seemed financially impossible became a reality for many. Since then, gadgets like airbags, radio,and GPS have been added and even the ability to self park and to warn you if a car is in your blindspot. Google however, has taken these new innovations to a whole new level.
Imagine an ordinary day where you have to run a few errands. You grab your wallet, keys and whatever else you need and head out to your car. As you get in you press a button, put in your destination on the GPS and sit back and read a book. If we were to do this today you would either go absolutely nowhere or you would be putting yourself and others on the road in danger. Google however, is trying to make this our future. No more steering wheels or pedals. Even the side view mirrors are being replaced by sensors to tell the car where everything on the road is. Is this the next great invention or will it be the start of machines really taking over our lives?
Are we setting ourselves up for being unable to function without technology? Even now, in 2014, most people will freak out if their power goes out and they cant use their phone or computer. What happens if everyone starts driving (or going along for the ride in) these cars and we no longer know how to navigate for ourselves or how to preform basic automotive skills? We could end up like all those people in the movie “WALL-E” that ride around on their hover chairs and watch a TV screen for their entire life.
By creating more and more advanced technology are we backing ourselves into a corner? Allowing media and technology to run the way that we are living gives them control over many things that we do. Making absurd advances in this technology simply helps them dig their controlling claws into the population even more and influence us in a way that favors them.
These new gadgets and additions to existing technology tend to lean on the unnecessary side of the usefulness spectrum and yet after a while suddenly we couldn’t live without that item. Think about your cell phone or your car. If that were taken away from you for the rest of your life you would most likely have a difficult time doing certain things. The argument is made that “its just the way of life these days,” however its only the way of life because people believed they needed the new cool gadget and slowly got sucked into the belief that they cant live without it. There is nothing specifically wrong with cell phones and cars, my point is that the question arises, “How far is too far? How many new inventions and additions are too many?”
Is the Google self driving car the next big straw in this ever growing problem?
