Emotions are flying high in the comments, because the world (including the virtual one) is changing fast(er) and not in the best direction.
There is also great disconnect between the tech billionaires and the real problems in the world.
The numbers they base their worldview on are carefully curated and the story is of course that 'things are greater than ever', but the rest of the people (especially outside the US) are felling it very differently.
Proof of that is Brexit, Trump and populists + nationalists winning in many countries - voted in by people who are finding it hard to adapt to the fast-changing pace of the tech-driven world, in which they have no shares or say.
Compared to 'real' problems that the world faces, self-driving cars are, in my humble opinion, irrelevant.
From a passenger's perspective, self-driving vehicles have existed since forever - called buses, trains or taxis, so I don't see how the passenger experience will dramatically change when it's driven by a computer rather than a human.
From the perspective of the owner of a self-driving fleet, though, this is a potentially fantastic business.
Of course profits will be largely shared by a couple of shareholders and some leftovers offered to the engineers in the form of yearly salaries and maybe some equity, while the rest of us will get a new bill each month for the miles/seconds driven.
I know it because I experienced it myself as an engineer in a company in which Mark made billions, while those who built the whole thing received scraps from the deal.
So I think the OP post is understandable - maybe the tone was a bit harsh, but the main points I find hard to not agree with.
well, the world is better than it ever has been, but it feels worse. objectively, we all have a higher standard of living, longer life expectancy, and more opportunities for education than generation in (known) human history. what we (as a whole) don't know how to deal with is having access to the internet.
There is also great disconnect between the tech billionaires and the real problems in the world.
The numbers they base their worldview on are carefully curated and the story is of course that 'things are greater than ever', but the rest of the people (especially outside the US) are felling it very differently.
Proof of that is Brexit, Trump and populists + nationalists winning in many countries - voted in by people who are finding it hard to adapt to the fast-changing pace of the tech-driven world, in which they have no shares or say.
Compared to 'real' problems that the world faces, self-driving cars are, in my humble opinion, irrelevant. From a passenger's perspective, self-driving vehicles have existed since forever - called buses, trains or taxis, so I don't see how the passenger experience will dramatically change when it's driven by a computer rather than a human.
From the perspective of the owner of a self-driving fleet, though, this is a potentially fantastic business.
Of course profits will be largely shared by a couple of shareholders and some leftovers offered to the engineers in the form of yearly salaries and maybe some equity, while the rest of us will get a new bill each month for the miles/seconds driven.
I know it because I experienced it myself as an engineer in a company in which Mark made billions, while those who built the whole thing received scraps from the deal.
So I think the OP post is understandable - maybe the tone was a bit harsh, but the main points I find hard to not agree with.