undefined | Better HN

0 pointsrglullis1y ago0 comments

You are starting to seem dishonest when you resort to outliers and present them as the baseline.

> To the extent we can compare them on capital efficiency

We can not. This logic is stupid. This logic will take you to the idea that the best thing to do is to get everyone a helicopter because helipads are cheap to build and it costs zero dollars to "build roads in the sky".

Yeah, you are right. These things are not competing. Yes, you are also right that proper infrastructure (re)development in North America will take a lot more money than what Big Tech has invested in self-driving cars.

The upsetting part is to see even supposedly smart people buying into the idea that American Exceptionalism is a real thing, and that you can keep holding on to the hope to find a shortcut away of your problems. Self-driving cars or not, the US is still going to be an expensive, inefficient country that can boast about its amazing economy, yet most people living there are at third-world country levels of development.

0 comments

JumpCrisscross1y ago

> Self-driving cars or not, the US is still going to be an expensive, inefficient country that can boast about its amazing economy, yet most people living there are at third-world country levels of development

For fuck’s sake, the world’s largest rail system and navigable waterways say hello.

I’ve advocated for public transit. But it’s turning into zealotry when an $11bn project showing actual gains is turned into a soapbox for decrying a pet project.

rglullisOP1y ago

If Waymo/Google/Alphabet really cares about people's safety and this is nothing but a pet project where the amount raised ($11bn) in 15 years is ~3% of their whole revenue in 2023, they wouldn't mind open sourcing their whole system, including for other commercial ventures.

Until then, the whole thing is nothing but a Trojan horse to let encroach themselves even more into another aspect of our lives.

Also:

> world’s largest rail system

The world's largest freight rail system.

JumpCrisscross1y ago

> they wouldn't mind open sourcing their whole system, including for other commercial ventures

You seem to just not like that this is done by Google. (Or by any private entity.) That is fine. I, like, hate this one restaurant in New York. But be honest about your motivations and check your biases.

This isn’t self-driving cars vs public transit debate because there isn’t one. If Google were funding a leg of passenger rail I suspect you’d be similarly incensed.

> world's largest freight rail system

The world’s largest rail system, period. It’s also the largest freight rail system. But passenger and freight are types of rail systems.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsrglullis1y ago0 comments

You are starting to seem dishonest when you resort to outliers and present them as the baseline.

> To the extent we can compare them on capital efficiency

0 comments

JumpCrisscross1y ago

For fuck’s sake, the world’s largest rail system and navigable waterways say hello.

I’ve advocated for public transit. But it’s turning into zealotry when an $11bn project showing actual gains is turned into a soapbox for decrying a pet project.

rglullisOP1y ago

Until then, the whole thing is nothing but a Trojan horse to let encroach themselves even more into another aspect of our lives.

Also:

> world’s largest rail system

The world's largest freight rail system.

JumpCrisscross1y ago

> they wouldn't mind open sourcing their whole system, including for other commercial ventures

This isn’t self-driving cars vs public transit debate because there isn’t one. If Google were funding a leg of passenger rail I suspect you’d be similarly incensed.

> world's largest freight rail system

The world’s largest rail system, period. It’s also the largest freight rail system. But passenger and freight are types of rail systems.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse