The Twilight of Car Culture?

Technologies are always about meaning, about how people define themselves.  For much of the twentieth century the automobile was the defining technology, economically, socially and culturally, of the United States.  Recently some commentators have suggested that the car's role in American society, particularly its cultural significance, has diminished.  Last week the Washington Post had an article on the waning of America's love affair with automobiles.  It particularly suggests that for millennials, with the rise of digital technology of all sorts, cars do not play the same role that they played for previous generations.  It notes that only 50% of millennials have a driver's license by the age of 18.  Cars used to be central characters in movies and TV shows--not so much any more.  Ford is starting a car sharing program, suggesting that it realizes that a car is not so important to people's identity.  The Washington Post article also implied that while the automobile used to be a symbol of freedom, it is not that any more.  Does the automobile mean the same thing to you as it did to your parents?  

Google Car Needs to Study Psychology

The New York Times recently had an article discussing the problems that the Google car was facing.  The problems highlighted were not purely technical ones, but what we might better call socio-technical problems.  Specifically, it is hard to design a car that can cope with the idiosyncrasies (and maybe idiocies) of human drivers.  The article recounts an incident when a Google car was not able to get through a 4-way stop sign because the human drivers kept nudging forward and the Google car was too polite.  In another case a Google car was spooked when an oncoming car approached a red light at a speed the Google car judged to be unsafe.  It took evasive action, but the driver of the oncoming car did stop for the light.  This article highlights the idea of socio-technological systems which we have discussed in class.  Maybe there will be some day when only automated cars are on the road, but until that day,  would-be makers of automated cars will have to program in human behavior.