Learning to live with Waymos
newyorker.com18 points by njrc an hour ago
18 points by njrc an hour ago
It continues to bewilder me how wildly different some people's experiences with Waymo are than mine.
My very first time getting a Waymo, as soon as it got going it immediately tried to make a left turn out of a right lane. Then it decided to go 15mph down a 3-lane wide road with a 45mph speed limit for several miles. No warning beeps or anything, it just decided to do that for some reason.
I waited a few months before trying it again. This time I took it to the airport. It worked great... until it got to the airport and caused a traffic jam because it couldn't figure out how to complete a lane change in traffic. Embarrassing, for me and the car.
Waymo is bound to capture the imaginations of people who haven't seen these things before. They certainly made me smile the first time I saw one at the beginning of this year. But god help you if you actually use one.
The thing I unexpectedly like most about using Waymo is not having a stranger inserted into your conversation.
Every time I've taken a taxi in a group, the conversation ends when we get in and the driver is suddenly a part of our conversation. It's weird to have them sit there listening to your discussion but not participating, and it would be weird for them to participate. Inevitably the conversation turns to the mundane, questions about whether it's a busy day, how often do you drive in this part of town, etc.
I got a Waymo with friends and the conversation never missed a beat as we got into the car, rode for 15 minutes, and got out.
Yeah, now some future LLM from Google is a partner in your conversation, lol. "This call may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance and training purposes, and for future llm training"
They make it quite clear in Waymos that nothing/no one is listening until you call them or they have a safety need to interrupt. I've never experienced that, but from those I've spoken to that have, apparently it's very immediately obvious, as it should be, and rare.
Just wait until someone installs a listening device somewhere in the cab. Doesn’t need to be Waymo doing the listening. Target Waymos that operate around financially important areas like tech and finance companies and profit.
That can be done in any cab. Heck a driver would have a much easier time covertly recording you.
They’re surely not recording your conversation. Today’s convenience is the soil of tomorrow’s turmoil.
This also makes it a lot nicer to take a call or FaceTime.
Absolutely! Or even just be alone with your thoughts.
I always felt weird alone in a taxi – having someone serve you that directly in that way, particularly if you're sitting in the back seat, just feels a little uncomfortable. But in a Waymo it's just me.
I used Waymo several times while in Nashville this summer. Fantastic experience. I'll choose Waymo over a human-driven vehicle everytime I have the choice.
I don't use Waymo anymore because it has decided that my street is busy (it isn't) and so picks up at the parking lot across the street from me instead. Which is disappointing. (This is despite filing multiple feedback reports for the issue.)
Funnily I kept reading the link as "Learning to live without Waymos" until I actually was about to actually click it. (Yes, I live in San Francisco.)