The changing meaning of autonomous cars from the 1920s to 2017

Since the first “autonomous” car emerged in the 1920s, its role has changed and repeated itself in the course of history. Autonomous cars were seen as a solution to a social problem, response to a social need (“family togetherness”), their concept (autonomous driving) was embodied in other technologies (guide wires) and was an essential part of wider social changes (magic highway). However, after the initial euphoria, autonomous driving went from being a concept to technological features embodied in driving assistants, followed by an increasing technologization of the car. Although they were in general considered enablers of a better future they were depicted as killing machines and enablers of a totalitarian society. Today they have a mostly positive perception and are associated with multifold functions such as being a pale or mobile office. The autonomous car as a “fantastical object” and solution to a social problem by being a “traffic optimizer” It was in the 1920s when increased traffic fatalities (as a consequence of mass motorization) started receiving increasing societal attention. Since the human driver was considered fatality cause number one, removing the driver from the equation seemed like the best solution (infrastructure and car design as causes for fatalities entered

How flexibility and comfort might influence the autonomous car’s adoption

The consumer interest in flexibility and comfort [1], as well as changes along the “flexibility/comfort spectrum” in mobility, is an area that will influence the autonomous car’s adoption. Concretely, this discussion encompasses the following categories: Changing consumer habits and user practices Contribution to traffic optimization Integrative transport use Changing consumer habits and user practices Here we have three ongoing processes that might contribute to the autonomous car’s diffusion: Consumer’s changing buying and owning habits Consumer’s changing using habits Consumer’s changing preferences and expectations towards cars Consumer buying and owning preferences In the long-run people’s increasing use of online shopping (with home delivery) will play into the driverless car’s diffusion. Driverless vehicles will make package delivery cheaper by eliminating drivers and enable decentralized car selling. In this decentralized car selling, the cars consumers want to purchase will come to them instead of them, the consumers, visiting dealerships. Furthermore, consumer’s car ownership preferences will be another enabler for the autonomous car. As the rise of ride- and carsharing shows, people are interested in getting directly to any place at any time without owning a car [2]. Driverless taxis would play perfectly into that interest. The car’s underutilization (cars are vacant for some

How safety and reliability might influence the autonomous car’s adoption

I think it is fair to say that “safety and reliability” (such as the reduction of traffic accidents) is one of the most recurring selling points of autonomous cars (ACs)*. Although I consider the reduction of traffic accidents a weak relative advantage of the AC (relative to the manual car), I believe that “safety and reliability” encompassing, besides traffic accidents, the prevention of crime (such as car-based terrorist attacks) and recall rates will be much discussed in the autonomous car’s diffusion and will thus — paired with other factors — influence its adoption rate. How these discussions might look like and how it might affect the AC’s adoption I have explored in this post. Less to no traffic accidents Believing that human errors are the cause of 90% of crashes involving “passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses”, there is no doubt that the ACs could be useful here. However, considering that drivers don’t care about traffic accidents society doesn’t care about traffic accidents drivers’ and society’s attitude is not expected to change and that autonomous cars might lead to new types of traffic accidents and adverse consequences caused by temporarily higher accident rates this alleged potential of the autonomous cars will

MediaMarkt — Eine Analyse

Die folgende Analyse wurde inspiriert durch Assignment #2 des Foundations of Business Strategy Kurs auf Coursera. Die ursprüngliche Aufgabenstellung war anhand der Redhook Ale Brauerei folgende Punkte zu diskutieren Konkurrenzanalyse: In welcher Industrie operiert das Unternehmen, welches sind die größten Konkurrenten und hat das Unternehmen einen Wettbewerbsvorteil. Umweltanalyse Five forces analysis Was sind die Zukunftsaussichten und würdest “du” in den IPO investieren? Die Nachfolgende Analyse wird versuchen Antworten zu diesen Fragen für den Elektrohändler Media Markt zu geben. Dabei wird ein Fokus auf den österreichischen stationären Markt gelegt. Konkurrenzanalyse Media Markt operiert in der Elektronikeinzelhandelsbrance. Die Strategie (siehe unten) lässt eine Teilung in folgende Strategische Gruppen zu Großflächenmärkte mit großem Filialnetz Spezialisiertere, flächenmäßig kleinere Unternehmen mit großem Filialnetz Lokal ansässige (Fach)händler “Vertikale Konkurrenz” Onlinehändler Großflächenmärkte Red Zac (Teil von Euronics — 165 in Österreich ) https://www.conrad.at/de/stores.html Megastores in Wien, Linz, Graz Salzburg und 24 Partnershops. Umfangreichere Produktpalette(Zusätzlich zu Computer und C.: Auto, Werkzeuge, Energie etc.) , gesonderter Fokus auf Geschäftskunden Spezialisiertere, flächenmäßig kleinere Unternehmen mit großem Filialnetz EP:Electronicpartner (ca. 1000 Geschäfte ) Conrad: Sechs Megastores verteilt in Wien, Linz, Graz und Salzburg. Zusätzlich 24 Partnershops. Umfangreichere Produktpalette (Zusätzlich zu Computer und Co.: Auto, Werkzeuge, “Energie-Artikel” etc.) und gesonderter Fokus auf Geschäftskunden. Hartlauer (161