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Driverless Cars … Insane??? Welp, Google’s Got a Trademark

pygmalion05 —  June 26, 2012 — 2 Comments

Lots made of driverless cars lately.

Completely insane?

That’s the theory posited by one recent post from the Nine Shift blog. (To be totally fair, this author is CLEARLY not a fan of the driverless car, by any means.)

The blog offers some of the standard arguments that Google’s theories that driverless cars will lead to zero road deaths are a hunk of, um, malarky. (And, let’s face it, that’s what they are.)

But the post goes even further: “Only the Americans could be so stupid as to propose driverless cars. All part of Google’s ongoing attempt to destroy its own motto, ‘Don’t be evil.’”

‘Google Driverless Car’ Icon Trademark

All driverless car nuts, make sure to check out this recent post from patentbolt.com, that talks through how Google has filed to get the trademark on their “Google Driverless Car” icon.

Which one did they choose?

Well, their selection was the one that’s a little bit more … creepy.

The choice is a weird yellow car with two eyes on the front, that’s slightly tilted like it’s damaged or there’s something wrong with it.

What’s going on … ?

The search giant went for their trademark under International Class 12, which covers “electronic system that allows autonomous driving of vehicles.”

Has anyone here seen I, Robot?

Yeah … let’s all get ready for this …

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Ummm, Who Can AFFORD That … Google’s Driverless Car to Cost $150,000???

pygmalion05 —  June 17, 2012 — 4 Comments

Wow.

Don’t put your orders in yet, true believers … because this sucker ain’t cheap!!!

According to a recent piece by ABC News, Google just disclosed that their super-buzzy driverless car prototype would cost U.S. consumers about $150,000 (an uber-pricey, $70,000 laser radar system is apparently a big part of that).

Ummmm, OK, so I hope that Bill Gates enjoys his driverless car. As for the rests of us …

Organ Transplantation No More?

A recent, rather odd post from DriverlessCarHQ.com claims that the advent of the driverless car will lead to … less organ donors!

The piece maintains that driverless cars driven by robots will naturally lead to less road fatalities — and as a consequence of that, less “solid organ donors.”

Wow, a little creepy there …

The post mentions that the successful promotion of seat belt campaigns, helmet laws and other safety promos have all statistically led to fewer organ donors for U.S. hospitals.

Well … at least it sounds like none of us will be able to afford driverless cars until the year 2136.

So until then, let the good organs roll!

‘Crashless’! But What Will They Be Called …

Robotic, driverless cars will … not … crash!

Yeah, suuuuuure they won’t …

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration associate administrator John Maddox says, “It’s not enough to be as safe as the human driver,” according to a recent article in The Detroit News. “We need to be crashless.”

Maddox was speaking at the MotorCity Casino Hotel (at a casino! haha …) in front of the Driverless Car Summit in Detroit. (Bet cha’ didn’t know that existed, did ya’?)

So … a gi-normous fleet of robot-driven cars will take to U.S. roads and never suffer a single crash? They will be “crashless”?

Sure they won’t.

Maddox went on to say that he didn’t know if we would end up calling them “driverless,” “autonomous,” “automated,” or something else entirely.

Let’s face it … I think it will be many, many years before we have to worry about what to call them.

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