GoogleCars

This article was in the paper a few days ago, and I thought it was pretty interesting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html?th&emc=th

By now you've probably heard of Google's auto-pilot car. (or maybe not, since this was the first I'd heard of it). I'm flipping between admiration and fear of it. On the one hand, who hasn't wished their car could drive them home without any effort on the driver's part? I hate driving. Especially in Los Angeles, where the other drivers are stupid or aggressive or hog the road with their big dumb cars. I wish I could just sit back and flip through a book instead of inspecting the lanes in front of me and waiting for another driver to do something stupid. Of course, placing your life in the hands of a robot car means that this car is going to have to be superb at driving. This article mentions that the robot cars will be able to detect whether surrounding cars are stopped or speeding. But what if it makes a mistake? What if the drivers in front or behind of you are especially stupid and do something that your robot can't take into account?

And then there's this: "The car can be programmed for different driving personalities — from cautious, in which it is more likely to yield to another car, to aggressive, where it is more likely to go first." I thought that was funny. I wonder if people would choose their car to drive as they themselves would drive, or as they wish they could drive. What I mean is, will a passive driver tell their car to drive aggressively? And wouldn't it be funny to label a car 'aggressive' if it is a pink Mary Kay car? or call a corvette 'cautious'? 

And of course, these automated cars drive at the speed limit, which would probably get really annoying after a while. Who really drives at 25 mph in residential areas when they're supposed to?

Is this the future of driving? Either way, it's further proof that one day Google will run the world. And perhaps the universe.

Chloe