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b_b  ·  3531 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Mercedes Robo-Car That Made Me Want to Stop Driving

Forget the interior; what about the exterior? Why should there even be a concept of front and back anymore? It's not like there's a transmission that dictates in which direction the car moves fastest. For single gear electric motors whose direction is dependent on the direction of the current, can't we imagine a perfectly symmetrical vehicle that doesn't have a concept of reverse? LED lamps means that either side can shine red or white. If no driver is required, then we needn't worry about sitting in the driver's seat. Therefore, with all these factors, front and rear are meaningless. Perhaps from an aerodynamics perspective it makes more sense to have a dedicated front end, but aerodynamics aren't a big consideration for commuter type vehicles anyway, as the fuel economy is mainly dictated by stopping and starting, and not drag at high speed.

Anyway, I think I'm the only person left on planet earth who isn't looking forward to the day when everyone can watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians on their morning commute. I have very few pet peeves I loath more than driving behind a minivan that contains children watching a video of some sort. At least driving forces us to focus on something. I find it hard to believe that we'll have a better attention span for anything once our main barrier to TV watching during non-work hours is removed.