Discussion: The Pros and Cons of Life-Changing Ideas
Discussion: The Pros and Cons of Life-Changing Ideas
Changing the world with new ideas doesn’t always bring positive outcomes, such as the addition of value to a product line, a business, or a society. When faced with innovative ideas, marketers must take into account both the potential positive and negative effects of putting those ideas into practice.
To prepare for this Discussion, review articles about self-driving cars such as those that are being developed by Google. Consider the positive and negative implications of introducing these vehicles into the market, focusing specifically on the possible social and economic impacts.
Post an evaluation of self-driving cars from a design perspective. Your evaluation should include the following:
- A description of the positive and negative social and economic impacts of self-driving cars.
- An analysis of the feasibility of introducing self-driving cars in the United States and in India, given the impacts you have identified. In other words, do the benefits of the product justify the means/impacts? Explain why or why not.
@jnovak
Hi Jill,
The design of self-driving cars has positive social impacts in the United States. Elderly or disable people who have previously been immobile will be able to transport to different locations. Self-driving cars will engage the economic impact by increasing the amount of money spent, thus increasing the tax base and support of local businesses. On the other hand, there are negative aspects of self-driving cars. The units depend on the operation of global positioning systems (GPS) units. When signals to and from these units are interrupted, the self-driving cars are not operable. People will not feel safe with this barrier unsolved. Replacing worn or defective electronic parts is inevitable. Currently, the parts have a five-year lifespan. These parts are not economically feasible at this point for the average person to replace at five-year intervals (Google, 2014).
It is not feasible at this point to introduce self-driving to the public in the United States or India. The car is in the test stage and is not able to handle situations outside the norm. For example, in Oklahoma 80% of the roads are rural. Rural roads are different infrastructures for the car to respond to situations like debris, potholes, or human traffic signing. Self-driving cars in rural areas are not safe for elderly or disabled.
India does not have their roads included in Google maps. Most of India banned Google from mapping roads. They have a high privacy discipline. Besides, they do not have “normal” driving habits. The self-driving car is not able to handle new traffic encounters. Collecting mass data would take more time and money that is feasible at this point.
Googleblog, (May 27, 2014). Just press go: designing a self-driving vehicle. Retrieved from http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/just-press-go-designing-self-driving.html
Bhushan, K., (July 19, 2011). Google officials meet Karnataka BJP leaders to resume Street View project. Thinkdigit. Retrieved 7/16/2015.
Thank you,
Dr. Ferrier
The design of self-driving cars has positive social impacts in the United States. Elderly or disable people who have previously been immobile will be able to transport to different locations. Self-driving cars will engage the economic impact by increasing the amount of money spent, thus increasing the tax base and support of local businesses. On the other hand, there are negative aspects of self-driving cars. The units depend on the operation of global positioning systems (GPS) units. When signals to and from these units are interrupted, the self-driving cars are not operable. People will not feel safe with this barrier unsolved. Replacing worn or defective electronic parts is inevitable. Currently, the parts have a five-year lifespan. These parts are not economically feasible at this point for the average person to replace at five-year intervals (Google, 2014).
It is not feasible at this point to introduce self-driving to the public in the United States or India. The car is in the test stage and is not able to handle situations outside the norm. For example, in Oklahoma 80% of the roads are rural. Rural roads are different infrastructures for the car to respond to situations like debris, potholes, or human traffic signing. Self-driving cars in rural areas are not safe for elderly or disabled.
India does not have their roads included in Google maps. Most of India banned Google from mapping roads. They have a high privacy discipline. Besides, they do not have “normal” driving habits. The self-driving car is not able to handle new traffic encounters. Collecting mass data would take more time and money that is feasible at this point.
Bhushan, K., (July 19, 2011). Google officials meet Karnataka BJP leaders to resume Street View project. Thinkdigit. Retrieved 7/16/2015.
Thank you,
Dr. Ferrier
