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| Coming soon to a road near you. |
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My response
If you had told me when I was a child that the stuff of sci-fi films like self-driving cars would happen in my life, I would not have believed it, even after we landed on the moon in my primary school days. Even less imaginable in those far off days last century was the internet, which quickly became a major disruptor of traditional ways of doing things. I can't remember the last time I actually went into a bank to do something. Actually, I can. When I was in Australia last July, I popped into my local bank to ask them to give send me a new debit card. But when I'm in Australia, technology has come so far that I never, ever use cash. I had been carrying the same Australian banknotes in my wallet for more than ten years. Every year when I went back, I put them the AUD $200 in my wallet in case I needed cash for something, but I haven't. On my last visit, I was also able to pay for almost everything with just a tap of a credit card! For bills or more than $100, I still had to enter a PIN, but I did not sign my name even once in a week with plenty of shopping and paying for meals.
Getting back to cars, I'm sure that the the self-driving ones really are coming soon, and I'm looking forward to them. I hated driving when I was in high school, and I pretty much stopped owning a car or driving when I moved to Sydney. I've never even thought of having a car in Bangkok. I would much prefer to pay a bit more to live on Silom Road so that I can get by perfectly well on foot or BTS for most things. If I need more, I grab a taxi.
I'm hoping that autonomous cars will, like most machines with expert intelligence in some area, do much better than human beings at driving cars safely and in the most environmentally friendly way. I'm even optimistic that fleets of robo-taxis might replace both buses and private cars. I think people should still be allowed by law to own a car, although perhaps not to drive it themselves. But how many people will choose costly ownership if cheap robo-taxis are available on demand via an app?
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Reference
As I first wrote it, the last sentence used an unreal conditional, but on review before clicking the orange "Publish" button, I decided the real conditional was appropriate.
ReplyDeleteWhich do you prefer: the published version above, or "But how many people would choose costly ownership if cheap robo-taxis were available on demand via an app?"
Why do you think the real condition more appropriate?
DeleteI think it is likely to become reality, apparently much sooner than I had expected.
DeleteI think they are both appropriate. In my opinion, when you use the real conditional, it suggests that readers imagine themselves living in the near future and and then respond.
DeleteThe topic on self-driving cars makes me think of something different. There are a psychological effect that people tend to be more comfortable when we can control the situation.
ReplyDeleteFor example, which one do you think is more risky? to travel by airplane or by car? Most people will think that airplane one is more risky. Despite this misconception, evidences show that the accident rate in car clash is distinctively higher. People, however, prone to perceive risks based on their controlling factors. Airplanes are never considered safer than automobiles unless there seems to be no risk in traveling by airplane at all. Hence it is crucial for producers to assure safety for drivers with 100% certainty.
People may think that airplane is more risky because there are more factors that they cannot control such as people coming to the plane or the engine of the plane that they are sitting in. We tend to be afraid of dark because we can't see anything, doubt makes us worry. Also,if there is some slightly mistake in plane's engine, there will be a giant consequences. Unlike planes, car are more tangible because we are the one who control this machine, if there is something wrong, it is likely to be the drivers fault.
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DeleteThis makes me think of ethical dilemma of self-driving cars(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixIoDYVfKA0). This video is quite interesting after google's self-driving car crash (http://thenextweb.com/google/2016/09/26/googles-self-driving-car-involved-worst-crash-yet/#gref).
ReplyDeleteThis topic quite interesting. I haven't thought about this issue before, It would be very challenging for self-driving car companies and programmers.
DeleteI would prefer an unreal conditional for the last sentence because a real conditional means what we normally do in real-life situations. But in real life, we don't have any robo-taxis on street so we must think for imaginary situations which should be written in an unreal conditional.
ReplyDeleteBesides, I think that self-driving cars are coming soon as well and hopefully I will get a chance to try them. Also I wish that they could help end traffic jam around the world.
Self-driving car will play important roles in our lives for sure. If that autonomous cars was used in Thailand, I hope it would solve traffic problems that always annoy me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I prefer an unreal conditional for the last sentence. Although self-driving car seems to be possible in the future but now that cars is not used in everyday lives.
For support for my revised decision to use a real conditional, see the second screen shot in my blog post "Book review: Practical English Usage by Michael Swan.
ReplyDeleteOops - it's the first screen shot.
DeleteThe second one is Swan on so.