Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple in Discussions With Bay Area Test Track Focused on Self-Driving Cars

Thunderhawks said:
Electric cars are the only way to eventually curtail fossil fuel usage and replace it when we run out. Not in our life time agreed.
To not explore this field would be dumb. Doesn't matter who does it.

I was too young when somebody said : "We will land on the moon", but I guarantee that if there were posts at the time they would have been similar to yours or others.
The fact something doesn't seem feasible hasn't stopped humans from trying anyway. (Heart transplantations, body part replacements, pacemakers etc.)

That is why we are were we are today and it will be figured out. Future generations will have to give up personal freedoms gradually due to outside forces (no more gas) and all drive (being driven) at the same speed:)
Click to expand...
Electricity still needs to be generated, so unless it's all/mostly generated by non fossil fuel methods, the electrical power generated by fossil fuels will still be there.
3D printing of organs is a reality.
 
Denmac1 said:
This..Of course we know where there's an existing plant that's capable of turning out EV's.

And there are these folks....
http://www.magna.com/about-magna/world-class-manufacturing
Click to expand...
Apple will not be able to tame a company like Magna into a deal in the traditional Apple way of doing business. The Magna way is very different from the Apple way. Both are very successful in making money though. Will be a very toxic kind of relationship and something very interesting to see.
 
Answer me this.
And think about how ANGRY and AGRESSIVE in the real world many Americans get personally when you threaten their way of life / income etc etc.

How do you think Taxi Drivers, Truck Drivers, Delivery Drivers, Coach Drivers, Train Drivers, All people who are employed to drive a vehicle from one place to another, are all told they are no longer needed.

If you a business, and can have 1, 10 or a fleet of self driving vehicles that can run 24 hours a day without breaks, having time of sick, needing holiday pay etc etc, you are not going to want to touch humans for this role.

Personally I think you would see Americans in the streets physically smashing up such vehicles if they started to be introduced and threaten their jobs.
 
McGiord said:
This looks cool
Click to expand...

It's funny seeing that video that the designers still cannot manage to get past the old design/viewpoint that there has to be a front and back of a design.

If we strip out the steering and controls. Fit seats that can pivot in any direction, and use electric motors.
Why the hell would you still want a front and back of any car?

You would have it identical.
No need to drive forward into something, then have to back out, turn around. Do a 3-point turn in the road to go the other way.
There is no need for a front or back, the car can be equally aerodynamic in both directions, and work just as well.
Drive into a parking bay, and when you drive out there is no need to manoeuvre the car, you just drive out.
Worst case you just move the seat around if you like looking in a particular direction whilst on the move.
 
McGiord said:
Apple will not be able to tame a company like Magna into a deal in the traditional Apple way of doing business. The Magna way is very different from the Apple way. Both are very successful in making money though. Will be a very toxic kind of relationship and something very interesting to see.
Click to expand...

The "Apple way" is paying your supplier to deliver good products/assembly/parts. I think they can manage this relationship with Magna...
 
noveneerhere said:
Would you stand in front of it? It still takes time to slow down and it could still have a horn.

Who will be responsible if the car hits a pedestrian? The margin of error will have to be minimal for a company to dare to release it.
Click to expand...
In any accident involving the self-driving car and any object or person, the self-driving car will have far more information about the events leading up to the crash than a human-driven car (though human-driven cars will start to collect more information also). If the car hits a pedestrian, investigators will know how fast the car was going, exactly when the pedestrian stepped into its path, and what other factors were in play to explain why the car didn't stop in time, or take evasive action.
The person who steps into the road without checking whether the road is clear may have a case against someone, but the availability of information may prevent the collection of any damages from the car's owners or the car company if it seems that the pedestrian was intentionally suicidal, or even it was a misguided MacRumors commenter trying to prove a point.
 
Piggie said:
Answer me this.
And think about how ANGRY and AGRESSIVE in the real world many Americans get personally when you threaten their way of life / income etc etc.

How do you think Taxi Drivers, Truck Drivers, Delivery Drivers, Coach Drivers, Train Drivers, All people who are employed to drive a vehicle from one place to another, are all told they are no longer needed.

If you a business, and can have 1, 10 or a fleet of self driving vehicles that can run 24 hours a day without breaks, having time of sick, needing holiday pay etc etc, you are not going to want to touch humans for this role.

Personally I think you would see Americans in the streets physically smashing up such vehicles if they started to be introduced and threaten their jobs.
Click to expand...

Sounds like Uber...
 
Napsju said:
What a picture. You really have such bad roads in the USA?
Click to expand...
The road in that photo looks like an average road in Michigan. We have really bad roads in Michigan. The winter is very cruel to the roads, and then I guess we just don't maintain them very well.
 
Piggie said:
It's funny seeing that video that the designers still cannot manage to get past the old design/viewpoint that there has to be a front and back of a design.

If we strip out the steering and controls. Fit seats that can pivot in any direction, and use electric motors.
Why the hell would you still want a front and back of any car?

You would have it identical.
No need to drive forward into something, then have to back out, turn around. Do a 3-point turn in the road to go the other way.
There is no need for a front or back, the car can be equally aerodynamic in both directions, and work just as well.
Drive into a parking bay, and when you drive out there is no need to manoeuvre the car, you just drive out.
Worst case you just move the seat around if you like looking in a particular direction whilst on the move.
Click to expand...
By federal law the car needs headlamps, tail lamps and side signals that would need to be redundant in your design, and also the other traditional vehicles drivers would be very confused when driving together with your proposal. Additionally crash validation test requires significant extra test cases to validate your design proposal of a movable seating accommodation, it would be very expensive to develop and make money out of it unless the other design advantages are saving the cost needed to make it feasible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: noveneerhere
Piggie said:
Answer me this.
And think about how ANGRY and AGRESSIVE in the real world many Americans get personally when you threaten their way of life / income etc etc.

How do you think Taxi Drivers, Truck Drivers, Delivery Drivers, Coach Drivers, Train Drivers, All people who are employed to drive a vehicle from one place to another, are all told they are no longer needed.

If you a business, and can have 1, 10 or a fleet of self driving vehicles that can run 24 hours a day without breaks, having time of sick, needing holiday pay etc etc, you are not going to want to touch humans for this role.

Personally I think you would see Americans in the streets physically smashing up such vehicles if they started to be introduced and threaten their jobs.
Click to expand...
It had happened already in many traditional labor intensive line of work: horses, shoehorn makers, sewers, cloth washers, miners, locomotive drivers, mechanics, line operators replaced by robots.
It will continue to happen, however there will be new kind of jobs for those that are skilled in the new tech.
Those who used to make bread in local bakeries no longer are needed as they were replaced by massively produced bread.
Farm workers replaced by tractors and some automation, etc
Another industrial revolution is coming.
http://www.economist.com/node/21553017
 
Last edited:
Think I'll do a start up for horse & buggy. Since the sky is falling, we will no longer have fossil fuel and then we won't have electricity..of course there is solar, but you still have to transport the panels somehow and get them installed.
Lather, rinse, repeat.......
 
Denmac1 said:
Think I'll do a start up for horse & buggy. Since the sky is falling, we will no longer have fossil fuel and then we won't have electricity..of course there is solar, but you still have to transport the panels somehow and get them installed.
Lather, rinse, repeat.......
Click to expand...
Where in the world are you planning to have it? I suggest you start in Russia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves
 
JCrz said:
People need to give up on this idea of Apple building a car. They will never do it. They are working on in-car electronics. And they should work with Tesla (or buy Tesla, too).

Profit margins on cars are slim. The market is saturated with established companies. And there's enough liability to bring down the company.
Click to expand...

I think Apple is working on in-car electronics as well. Apple getting into the car business would be a horrible business decision, far worse than releasing a TV or watch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JCrz and Benjamin Frost
McGiord said:
It had happened already in many traditional labor intensive line of work: horses, shoehorn makers, sewers, cloth washers, miners, locomotive drivers, mechanics, line operators replaced by robots.
It will continue to happen, however there will be new kind of jobs for those that are skilled in the new tech.
Those who used to make bread in local bakeries no longer are needed as they were replaced by massively produced bread.
Farm workers replaced by tractors and some automation, etc
Another industrial revolution is coming.
http://www.economist.com/node/21553017
Click to expand...

Yes, I know.
This is why I am unsure if governments around the world will allow it.
The whole world revolves around mass transport in many ways and to make these jobs obsolete over what would in the grand scheme of things be a relatively short timeframe

I can honestly see legislation being put into place to block/slow down self driving vehicles.
They may/will come up with new laws to protect jobs from such devices.
 
McGiord said:
By federal law the car needs headlamps, tail lamps and side signals that would need to be redundant in your design, and also the other traditional vehicles drivers would be very confused when driving together with your proposal. Additionally crash validation test requires significant extra test cases to validate your design proposal of a movable seating accommodation, it would be very expensive to develop and make money out of it unless the other design advantages are saving the cost needed to make it feasible.
Click to expand...

Lights are already changing over the LED and other forms of lighting.
It would be so simple to have duplicate colours on both ends.
Think about how easy it is to change colours, or have a few extra LED type lamps in the car lights. It would not even be a problem doing that on todays new cars.

As for the crash test, indeed yes. The car would need to be made structurally identical front and rear. Which is a good thing. Who wants a car strong at the front, but you get killed as the back is weak.
If the structure is correct it would be a shell equally strong at either end.
 
Lazy said:
And how exactly are electric cars fundamentally flawed?
Click to expand...
1. Battery tech has been at a standstill for about 10-20 years. Most increase in battery power come from smaller chips and more efficient software.

2. Battery powered cars are useless at saving the environment when the majority of the worlds power is produced using fossil fuels.

Battery powered cars are not the future. The future is hydrogen powered cars.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost
navaira said:
"This car's software has to be updated. In order to do that, drive into your house and connect the Car to your computer using USB-C."
Click to expand...

That would never happen.
Car like this will be SOOOooooooo Connected to Big Brother, monitored via Satellite with other multiple tracking devices that any software will be done automatically without the user needing to do anything.

Remember, this should be the end of many traffic problems, as your car will be On-the-Grid so to speak, the overall system will know your destination, along with everyone elses and will change your speed and route to keep all traffic flowing in the best possible manner.

Systems in place are not going to be throwing all the cars down the same route to get to the same place and creating jams. Speeds of cars, Junctions, Routes will all be altered to keep everything flowing.
 
This will only be possible, though, if all cars become self-driving. And that will take a LONG time, especially in America (if you don't believe me, try to take Americans' right to own a gun away and see how that goes).

I read somewhere that when they were testing Google cars they had 14 (might be wrong, quoting from memory) accidents and all of them were caused by human errors. BUT at the same time there are lots of people driving around that never had an accident, because they know to expect human errors and how to compensate for them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back