Originally Posted by
tyrion
That's a stupid article. A handful of anecdotes in support of a straw man. 2019 won't be a "revolution" in self driving cars, just steady progress in both technology and marketing.
Yes, I think the big automotive players got into the game to create the perception of slow, gradual progress in the new technologies. They do this for economic reasons: 1) because it allows them to milk innovations longer in investment markets and 2) it allows them to maintain the status quo of regular car sales and other consumer spending associated with consistent driving behaviors.
They do this 'gradual incremental progress' thing with everything from fuel efficiency to safety improvements to electric motors. It's not limited to the auto industry. It's an obvious business tactic not to progress any faster than the market makes you. If you form a convoy and all slow down together, you can charge everyone waiting on you more over a longer period for incremental speed increases.
So if self-driving innovations are going to go slow and gradual, the question is how else LCF can find a way around the traffic jam of business dragging its feet.
Or maybe we should just be patient and go back to driving cars until the industry can get around to offering us alternatives. I'm sure that is what they would love us to do.