if you own a self driving car, you could either have it sit in your driveway doing nothing - or you could hook it up to an api provided by uber to put your car to work.
if everyone does that with their self-driving cars, the cost of transportation will go down. it'll change the economics of car ownership; the cost of using a car will go down because the cars that exist will be put to greater use - so why bother buying one?
that whole thing could precipitate a sea-change in how the auto industry works. we'll see far fewer cars, built to be maintanable with easily replaced parts, sold to people who use them as investments that generate returns.
it's even going to change the _retail_ model if you think about it. couple the ability to see anythign you want with an occulus-rift headset, and lower traffic (thanks to fuller cars driving smarter) means it'll take less time to get where you want to go, and the model of 'a target every 1 mile' will just stop making sense.
if everyone does that with their self-driving cars, the cost of transportation will go down. it'll change the economics of car ownership; the cost of using a car will go down because the cars that exist will be put to greater use - so why bother buying one?
that whole thing could precipitate a sea-change in how the auto industry works. we'll see far fewer cars, built to be maintanable with easily replaced parts, sold to people who use them as investments that generate returns.
it's even going to change the _retail_ model if you think about it. couple the ability to see anythign you want with an occulus-rift headset, and lower traffic (thanks to fuller cars driving smarter) means it'll take less time to get where you want to go, and the model of 'a target every 1 mile' will just stop making sense.
the FUTURE!