Ontario will become the first province to allow driver-less or autonomous vehicles on its roads. A pilot project begins in January 2016 that introduces this new technology, to be clear you will still see a person behind the steering wheel this is for safety reasons. As if a person will be able to regain control and avoid a collision during a high-speed accident, most people can't do this when they are driving now. This post isn't really about autonomous vehicles, I'm used this topic to discuss the old and new technology companies and something I've always wondered; How did GM, FORD and other century old manufactures secede car innovations to relative newcomers such as Apple, Google and Tesla?
Its something we should all analysis and understand and avoid in our own industries. You can become complacent keeping existing clients and markets, making the same product and while refining and improving on it lose sight of what is happing around you. Tesla was not the first auto-company to create a totally electric car, that distinction goes to the "Detroit Electric Co." in 1912. Surprised? Not really, the idea of an electric car goes back over a century. The concept was dismissed when gas engines and more importantly gas stations appeared. The problems with electric cars in the 1920's could have been overcome but the cheap gas and easy access to fuel made it impossible for electric cars to compete.
What is surprising about this is that even with this history once Elon Musk started Tesla to create the next Millennium vehicle no one at Ford, Chrysler or GM took much notice of this little startup cutting into their industry. Why didn't these companies start their own electric car to compete with Tesla, use the own innovations to create something better? Instead these dinosauric companies "kept to their knitting" and likely lost the chance forever of remaining viable in the long-term. By this I mean being around in another hundred years.
Now Google will be entering the car industry and if rumours are true likely Apple and Amazon are likely to follow. What these companies see is that cars represent a great space for technological advancement. Mainly because that for the last hundred years the greatest advancements in car technology by the old car-makers is computers to control fuel-injection. The new car technology from Google, Apple and other will focus on using the vehicle to connect the human inside with products outside.
The autonomous vehicle will be connected. Yes GPS and wireless technology will allow the drive and passengers to find their way around it will also free them to discover new things and places to go. Using search to find something they want or need; mapping their course and helping the passengers to even work while they travel.
Now imagine your morning commute; your autonomous vehicle can inform you for traffic and weather issues of course, it can also suggest a coffee shop or other conveniences you may want or need. Is this a revenue source for Google Ads?
Being connected also means that your location, speed and destination is known. Imagine seeing a "smart billboard" en-route that changes to display an add just for you? The board knows you, where you are going and also past knowledge based on your Amazon searches, the billboard can tell you about specials and offer discounts specific to where you are heading. If the destination is a mall with two or more competing stores, each can present offers to entice you to their establishment. Or perhaps a competitor across town can make a offer on you device in the car indicating or suggesting a route that is more convenient and with a better value to get you to come their way. All this would be done instantly and without disruption to you since it will be your autonomous car doing the processing. You can just sit back and be taken.
Microsoft had a slogan awhile back "where do you want to go today?", its very appropriate for our technology to consider not just where we want to go, also where we will let ourselves be led to. Advancements in automotive engineering is only a portion of what the autonomous car can provide. The advancements in technology, connectivity and what I will call "human engineering" can make us better and can also make us slaves.
We can be masters of the technology or let the technology be our master
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