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"I've taken some stick for passages in Altered Carbon which people complained had sickened them, but then violence should be sickening."
- Richard Morgan
 |
| Driverless Car | ||
| A car that drives itself; an autonomous vehicle. |
John Poorson, inventor, was inspired by an all-to-common circumstance:
"And that is just one more reason why the average human being should not be allowed to drive such a powerful machine!" he mused to himself. "it has taken the combined intelligence of all the scientists of modern time to perfect the automobile and yet it is sold to and driven by any moronic fool who is able to gather together the few dollars necessary to buy a secondhand one."
Now, let's see what he created in response to this incident.
The glancing blow from the recklessly driven automobile had spun him into the gutter, but had injured little except his pride and his clothing.
| "I want to show you something new in the way of an automobile."
"Nothing new about this," laughed Babson, scornfully. "One of our best and most familiar models." "How about the steering wheel?" "Where is it?" "I do not need one. Sit down and make yourself comfortable. Now watch me. We are going into traffic..." |
| From The Living Machine,
by David H. Keller. Published by Wonder Stories in 1935 Additional resources -
|
Just think of the advantages of the self driving car!
As far as I know, this is the first reference to the idea of an autonomous automobile.
Compare to the Automatic Control Car from Arthur C. Clarke's Imperial Earth.
Old people began to cross the continent in their own cars. Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting. The blind for the first time were safe. Parents found they could more safely send their children to school in the new car than in the old cars with a chauffeur.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Living Machine
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and Technology by David H. Keller
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Tech news articles related to works by David H. Keller
Driverless Car-related
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- A Baker's Dozen Of Autonomous Car-Related Revolutions
- Google Should Name Roads After Science Fiction Authors
- Baby Boomers Will LOVE Autonomous Cars (Trust Me!)
- Tesla's To Eye Future With New Sensors?
- Sex In Driverless Cars? Updated With Video!
- Cruise Autonomous Car Drives Aimlessly For An Hour
- Autonomous Waymo Jaguar I-PACEs In San Francisco
| Tianjin Solar Vehicle From Hanergy (2022) Looking Like Heinlein's (1940) |
| Sky Cruise Nuclear Powered Flying Hotel Concept |
| Lightyear 0 World's First Production-Ready Solar Car |
| Elon Musk: Production Of Robotaxis In 2024 |
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'... the two pairs of waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
'THE SPACE VESSEL was traveling swiftly… For over five thousand years they had Voyaged on and on.’
'They circled the vast audiences, dancing, twittering, chirping...'
'The sun-quilt was a patchwork of colors and materials on the inward side, but silvered on the outward side...'
'Jim, I saw them reduce four of my doctors and nurses into those little cubes!'
'Fats Jordan was hanging in the center of the Big Glass Balloon, hugging his guitar to his massive black belly above his purple shorts..'
'When confronted by hills, or rough terrain, it did not stop, but simply slowed until the task demanded equaled its steady power output.'
'... the brain is no longer subjected to the accustomed pull, and it expands slightly in all directions.'
