VIEW Finding New Love With Connected and Driverless Cars
Around 4 pm on July 8, Junaid and his friend went out for for a walk from Peer Takia to the adjoining village of Sheikh Takia and beyond. As the duo reached Bemduru village, they met a local, Abdul Mehmood, who informed them of high security cover in the area, since some official was expected to visit the place.
The two boys walked ahead till they heard gun shots, and began running back home in Peer Takia. Instead of taking the main road, they took the shortest way through the paddy fields. In less than five minutes, they were at Peer Takia and the firing had stopped.
At Peer Takia, a group of men had already gathered, proceeding towards Bemduru, the spot where gunshots were heard. The group was unaware of the actual situation but were marching to save whoever had been caught in the encounter. Ten minutes later, the firing resumed, this time to banish the crowds that had reached the spot. The gun shots were heard till late in the evening but the operation was over, slaying 22-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and two others.
Connected cars now sync your smartphones automatically as soon as you sit inside them. They even have apps integrated in them for your convenience like navigation and emergency dials. The next step is towards driverless cars.
Audi and Volkswagen have already shown their love for technology with Auto piloted parking. The cars park themselves inside a parking spot now. And then this year Mercedes Benz and Audi showcased their driverless cars at Consumer Electronic Show, 2015 in Las Vegas.
Driverless cars really dont mean that nobody’s driving them. It just helps the driver to multitask and be safe. Consider it like auto-pilot in an airplane. I am sure not all of us think of commuter roads as race tracks. And with all the traffic around if the car can drive you to your destination, what’s the harm?
Technologies like ABS (Anti Lock Braking systems) and ESP (Electronic stability program) along with airbags makes the passenger feel safe and when the time comes they have been known to save lives. Sure these things limit drivers to experience the adrenaline rush, but if you really feel the need for speed turning off these systems is easy. Press the disable button.
Plus look at the posh and plush buttons most of these cars have to offer. They are just beautiful.
If you want a rush in your life, I say, buy a dune buggy or a car like Thar which is low tech. But if you are an daily driver, these cars won’t be able to save your life in an even of an accident.
Connected cars is the future guys, and it’s awesome. You can still have that adrenaline rush and drift your car around corners, but trust me parking a car in a country like India is no fun. If a car can do it by itself, why bother.
I love driving over the weekends, but when I drive to work all I need is a bit of comfort some good music and safety.
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Finding New Love With Connected and Driverless Cars
COUNTER-VIEW Death of Romance in the Time of Driverless Cars
Predictive text is irksome. Why? Because you don’t want the machine to think for you. And as smart as your phone might be, it doesn’t have an iota on human instinct.
Driving is a very personal thing, sometimes, I believe, more so than being in love. It is something fiercely intimate and possibly the only time when man and machine can come close to having a cohesive relationship.
Then comes the issue of gadgetry like ABS, EBD and those 30 other buttons you see nowadays that are replacing a driver’s skill, that will never be trumped. Cars are becoming lounge furniture and it is very disturbing.
A machine at the wheel will be purged of the very human need to accelerate to thrill, it shall be a world of controlled gear shifts, slow corners, higher fuel efficiency. And seriously, nobody wants a dehumanised terminator at the wheel.
A car is about theatre, histrionics, character. I believe we’re rapidly losing the entire plot with every new car that rolls out, some talk to you, choose songs, dial wrong numbers, control the air conditioning and I think it all started out with killing fun and promoting mediocrity.
With cup holders and oak and mahogany finishes on the dash. If you hurl a car in a corner and come out smoking, in the days of yore, I’d have worshipped the person at the wheel, now it’d probably be a button on the console.
The sheer adrenaline that’s getting drained from machinery the world around is symbolic of our deadening curve towards the end of the greats. The V12s are all but almost gone.
Cars are quieter, efficient, fast but well, neutered for the lack of a better word. Formula 1, at least the last that I saw of it, was ear splitting noise that was beautiful, unapologetic, and symphonic.
When you’re in the grandstand and a whiff of black, red or green comes hurtling down the final straight at well over 370 kmph and brakes at the exit, when the downshifts sound like gunshots, it’s an ear splittingly uplifting experience, it was even more so in the times of Senna, or Villeneuve, the elder, of course.
Today, it’s like Santa Claus taking kids to school. Of course, it’s still fast but I’m sure racing isn’t all about the statistics. They just killed the drama school section with the quieter turbo charged engines.
The wonder of a mean, minimal and mental naturally aspirated engine is not something that the now tamed herd human mentality is ready for. As I was discussing with a friend one day, leather has given way to linen. It is more of what a machine would want, convenience over thrill. And unfortunately, we’re giving in.
We took what could be a beautiful relationship, tinkered with it and dropped it into a rut. Human nature, is a terrible thing.
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round 4 pm on July 8, Junaid and his friend went out for for a walk from Peer Takia to the adjoining village of Sheikh Takia and beyond. As the duo reached Bemduru village, they met a local, Abdul Mehmood, who informed them of high security cover in the area, since some official was expected to visit the place.
The two boys walked ahead till they heard gun shots, and began running back home in Peer Takia. Instead of taking the main road, they took the shortest way through the paddy fields. In less than five minutes, they were at Peer Takia and the firing had stopped.
At Peer Takia, a group of men had already gathered, proceeding towards Bemduru, the spot where gunshots were heard. The group was unaware of the actual situation but were marching to save whoever had been caught in the encounter. Ten minutes later, the firing resumed, this time to banish the crowds that had reached the spot. The gun shots were heard till late in the evening but the operation was over, slaying 22-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and two others.
