BBT 10: Emerging Technologies and Automobiles

Technologies in Development

•  The technology that I think is the least likely to happen is probably the networked cars. It seems pretty unlikely that these GM EN-V's will be able to be basically like taxis minus the driver, kids and seniors or the elderly will be be able to take these. Even if this does happen, it will likely only be in cities.
•  I think that car to car communication will have the most impact on today's society. This is basically like the cars telling each other where they are going and how fast they are moving at and although it's pretty strange, it will likely prevent a lot of accidents. The cars will know where each other is and if it is safe to pass.
• The technology that is almost a reality is probably the Tesla Supercharge Stations. I think this because they already have some of them around, in places like California and Florida where the people can actually afford to get electric cars. It may be a little unreasonable for rural places like Blackville, because they probably wouldn't have a local "charging station" and a lot of people here couldn't afford the electric cars. 
• Ford's"Driver Workload Estimator", from what I can understand, measures the levels of stress the driver is under in certain situations. This could be safer for people, because some accidents may happen from things occurring on the road. For example, they may be under more stress while passing a car and another car is coming at them, causing them to panic and maybe lose control. This new system helps monitor these stress levels.
• Personally, I think these new flying cars are unnecessary. They are a waste of money because only the rich people would be able to afford them, not any middle class people like us. The time and money put into bridges and road conditions would just be wasted, jobs would be lost and many more things could happen, all because of these stupid flying cars.
• I agree with the people that think these autonomous automobiles are taking the experience of driving away. I don't yet have my driver's license or permit and I won't for a few months, but driving is fun, on open roads anyway. It likely isn't as enjoyable in populated and busy cities or anywhere with a lot of traffic actually. I can see where these people's  ideas are coming from, but these new cars will just take away from the experience of driving.

Tech for the Sake of Tech?

• It didn't surprise me at all that the younger generation, age 21-38, didn't want this technology. They've grown up in the age without smartphones, or if they did have smartphones growing up, they've used them the "old-fashioned way", as the article says. I think the results for this survey towards my generation might be a little more positive, some of us might want these in-car technologies because of all the emphasis put on in-car safety. 
• I think that these technologies only make it more dangerous, because the people would probably be more preoccupied with trying to figure out how the technology works than driving. Or showing the car off to the passenger they have with them. This causes them to look away from the road for longer than they would if they were texting, calling, picking music, etc.
•  For many people that I know, they don't really consider the technology when buying a new car, they more so focus on the durability and the amount of space in the vehicle. They might care about the cruise control options, and some of them may like the in-car calling options, but overall, in-car technology isn't a big concern. 
• When purchasing my own automobile, I think I would look for the in-car cell phone connectivity options. These are important, because some of them, you can do everything via Siri or voice control, or on a touch screen in the car, causing you not to lose as much focus on driving. 
• One new feature that older drivers may have thought was useless is in 1935, when flashing turn signals were invented. They may have thought it unnecessary because they could just communicate by maybe yelling, head nods and hand signals, or something physical, not in the car.