Sunday, August 16, 2015
Drive American = Drive 1970s
Apple and Google and others are moving FAST to develop self-driving cars. Honda and Apple have rented the abandoned Concord Naval Weapons facility........
The '70s rule also applies to cars. Not the best but the last. Unconnected. Still cheap. Pay attention.
= = = = =
From the Guardian article:
The 5,000-acre site has 20 miles of paved roads, including overpasses, tunnels and railroad crossings, according to the agency’s website, which calls it “the largest secure test facility in the world.” GoMentum Station already has an agreement with Honda, which plans to test automated vehicle systems there. Hall said his agency hopes to partner with other companies for testing self-driving cars and “connected vehicles” — cars that use the Internet and local networks to exchange a variety of information with other devices and vehicles. The tech giant’s interest in the facility was first reported by the Guardian newspaper, which cited email correspondence obtained under a public-records request. The newspaper also quoted another official at the transportation authority who said Apple insisted on a non-disclosure agreement which barred him from saying any more.I've already noted the importance of 1970's American household items. They weren't the best of American-made, but they were the last of American-made. The best products from the '30s through the '60s are fragile and rare, but '70s stuff is still usable and still CHEAP. Electronics was strictly analog with no CPUs, using discrete and sturdy transistors. Control was strictly manual, with feedback done by bimetal thermostats and centrifugal governors instead of optical sensors feeding CONNECTED software.
The '70s rule also applies to cars. Not the best but the last. Unconnected. Still cheap. Pay attention.
= = = = =
From the Guardian article:
However, when engineers from Tesla Motors tried to tour GoMentum Station in April, armed soldiers at the base refused entry to foreign-born workers and a manager who would not divulge his social security number. “At this point, I’ll retract our interest in this test site until the process is worked out,” he huffed in an email to GoMentum Station’s Jack Hall.Wouldn't it be strange and maybe even interesting if armed soldiers would protect something other than Apple from FOREIGN-BORN WORKERS? Or protect something other than Apple from ANY FUCKING THING AT ALL? Nah. Completely crazy thought. Something other than Apple is a bizarre impossible concept. Apple is all, all is Apple.
Labels: defensible spaces
¶ 2:35 AM
