driverless car | Lamarque Ford

The Future Is Transportation | Lamarque Ford | New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner

May 7, 2014 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Two days ago, Nokia announced a $100 million investment in “connected and intelligent vehicles”. Nokia, which was once the world’s largest phone manufacturer, already has a big footprint on in-car technology with HERE, its map service. The phone maker’s plan consists of a fund that will “identify and invest” in companies that relate to intelligent vehicles. The announcement comes as a surprise while the company is still struggling to come out of its own financial troubles. However, Nokia’s move paints a different picture for the future of automobiles.

Self driving cars

Why are tech companies investing in auto technology?

While we don’t have a definite answer, there are several reasons that come to mind. First, let’s remember that car production and innovation have been handled only by a few companies during the last hundred years. These are the incumbents, and they’ve done a great job at setting up the current models of production, which have in turn allowed for more affordable, better quality cars for mostly everyone. The incumbents have model refresh timelines (seven years?) and technology advancements build on existing ones, which serve their current customers. Although this model has its benefits (established production network, low cost labor, highly automatized), it is not perfect and discourages disrupting innovation*.

Tech companies however, small ones in particular, operate differently. They’re used to faster changes and are more agile at implementing new technologies. Today, the ball seems to be moving towards the future of transportation, and there’s an overall sense that a big change is coming. Tech companies don’t want to be left out when manufacturers move towards autonomous cars.

Also, 2007 brought in new entrants to the phone business (Apple, then Samsung with Android), allowing the creation of new value incumbents never imagined. Many tech giants saw their fortunes evaporate because they failed to see beyond their business and customers, which has made them more concerned about the future. Now these very companies are betting their futures on automobile technology.

This is all great news for the future of transportation, as there seems to be a new wave of interest in vehicle autonomy and other new technologies. Don’t be surprised to see more tech companies investing in automobile technology, or car companies partnering or buying tech startups.

*The word innovation is tricky and often misused. Disrupting innovation is one that creates new and additional value by creating new markets while draining resources from incumbents (e.g. The Ford production model disrupted the car industry by shifting to a streamlined one that no one foresaw, yet everyone copied. Ford created new value as it could produce affordable cars faster, and it ended up stealing the incumbents’ customers).

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Lamarque Ford is proud to be one of the premier dealerships in New Orleans, LA. Located in Kenner, LA, Lamarque Ford is committed to providing you the best customer service and vehicle service for the life of your vehicle. Whether you’re on the market to purchase, finance, or service a new or used Ford vehicle, you’ve come to the right place.

The Case Against Self Driving Cars | Lamarque Ford | New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner

April 29, 2014 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Last week we reviewed the prospective benefits of a driverless car future, where computers and other sensors take charge and all we do is sit back and enjoy the ride. But there are concerns over privacy issues and hackers hijacking overly-computerized cars. Today we will evaluate the risks and other concerns over autonomous cars.

Liability
It’s already complicated enough in today’s world to determine who’s at fault in an automobile accident. Not only are the drivers involved, but other factors such as mechanical malfunctions, inclement weather and so forth. Can you imagine a collision involving a self driving car? Who would be liable? The car company? The software maker? This is a serious questions that would have to be answered before this technology becomes mainstream.

Security
Today, our concerns over car security mainly refer to unintended individuals getting physical access to our vehicle. We all fear our beloved cars being stolen or broken in, and we have some security devices in place to minimize these situations. However, driverless cars continuously broadcast their locations and have sensors that communicate back and forth with other cars, servers and their users. Security researchers have already hacked into vehicles computers using the OBD port (the one used for car diagnostics) and using cellular networks.

Legality
As always, our laws are the last elements of society to catch up with technology. Because of the fast paced nature of computer innovations, early regulations may have unintended consequences that may benefit or affect future developments. As of today, only a few states allow us to test autonomous cars in open roads, and the ones that do, require a human to be ready to take control of the car, which kills the whole purpose of it.

These concerns are just scratching the surface of what might come in the near future. Unsurprisingly, we won’t know the real risks until we put these things on the roads in great numbers. By then, hopefully the laws will me more relaxed and allow this technology to propagate faster. Keep your local dealership in mind when the time comes to purchase your self driving car!

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Lamarque Ford is proud to be one of the premier dealerships in New Orleans, LA. Located in Kenner, LA, Lamarque Ford is committed to providing you the best customer service and vehicle service for the life of your vehicle. Whether you’re on the market to purchase, finance, or service a new or used Ford vehicle, you’ve come to the right place.

The Case For Self Driving Cars | Lamarque Ford | New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner

April 24, 2014 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Driverless cars have been the topic of science fiction editorials and movies ever since the first automobiles appeared. As with any new technology, we like to dream up the limits of it and capture our wildest fantasies through pop culture. The 1950’s and 60’s TV and cinema opened the floodgates for futuristic predictions, going as far as describing the psychological effects of rapid technological change (see Futureshock). Today, however, the new generations are used to the fast paced technology industry and can better conceive rapid changes within one’s lifetime. And let’s face it, out of the hundreds of far fetched tech ideas, the driverless car seems to be the most feasible one. Here’s why.

The technology is ready.
Most of the technology used in the development of self driving cars has been used for decades. GPS, radars, cameras, robotic inputs and other sensors have been used by other industries and it’s already been packaged into promising models that show the technical aspects of autonomous cars. Also, car manufacturers are exploring different algorithms that will better address the needs of these vehicles. Most of today challenges lay on the legality of the matter, as states across the U.S. are not ready to deal with the big changes self driving vehicles might bring.

The benefits are enormous.
Having driverless cars on the roads has many positive implications. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, most car crashes are caused by human errors, so taking the humans out of the equation should dramatically reduce the number of accidents. Also, computer controlled cars would allow for cars to drive closer to each other and at higher speeds, so traffic jams would be a thing of the past. In addition, passengers (let’s not call them drivers anymore) that would be otherwise unable to drive could hop on the car and just go. This last benefit could have a great impact in the lives of handicap individuals as it would allow better access to cars.

Social implications.
Just like automobiles changed society as a whole when they were first introduced, self driving cars will have a deep impact in our world. Cars will become more about the things you can do while commuting and about comfort

What are your thoughts on self driving cars? Stay tuned for the next Ronnielogues as we will present the potential negative implications of these wonder machines.

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