Columnists
Along the curve
I confess I am not an early adopter, especially not for my age. I understand technology, I use it because it is useful, but my disdain for it and resistance to it has probably been to my detriment.
But like many human beings, I can give in to laziness. When a thing makes my life easier, makes my tasks easier, ostensibly gives me more free time, I will eventually break.
I began my photography career by learning film, but was quickly persuaded to use digital cameras, partly because I was interested in photojournalism, but mainly because film was too pricey.
In 2013 I got my first smart phone. It was hardly that. An old, used Blackberry device, one I got for work, despite everything inside me telling me not to do it.
By the time the Blackberry gave out a year later, I was eagerly purchasing a newer Android device. I still wouldn’t give in to the newest, shiniest thing. I got a modest, used device. I would never be one of those people, I told myself.
Today, I own a smartphone that is bigger than my hand and still marketed in local phone shops. I also own a digital camera that can take enormous photographs and high definition video. I am ashamed.
So when I tell myself that I will never, under any circumstances, embrace the idea of self-driving cars, some small part of me points out my hypocrisy.
On June 30, 2015, a tech company owner and early adopter of technology sat in the driver’s seat of his Tesla Model S sedan, riding along an American freeway and watching Harry Potter on a small screen.
The car, failing to distinguish a white transport truck from the bright sky, collided with the turning truck at break-neck speed. Literally.
When firefighters extracted his broken body from the twisted metal machine, Harry Potter was still playing, the characters blissfully unaware of the carnage.
Of course, this was an extreme case. The Tesla Model S has a self-driving element, but is not meant to be used without paying attention to the road.
But.
Over the weekend, a Volvo XC90, owned by rideshare company Uber, tipped on its side in an accident that was, apparently, not its fault. There were two test drivers in the car at the time, drivers whose job was to react to emergency situations by taking manual control of the vehicle. The driver in the other car had failed to yield, and was cited with a traffic violation.
Fortunately, apart from the car, no one was hurt.
Still, the incident does not inspire faith in selfdriving car technology.
Proponents of the technology, despite these incidents, say the cars are more safe than those driven by humans. Perhaps, someday, when the technology is more advanced, that will be true.
In the meantime, I’m content with an automatic transmission and a smartphone.
Or am I?
Despite horror stories of phone batteries catching fire, I continue to keep a phone in my pocket. I have even been guilty of falling asleep with one on my bed. I have sacrificed that bit of safety, however perceived, for that technological comfort. Who knows how far I might go?
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