As are cars. There is a lot of things touched on here that I can't go into detail on right now. I didn't claim self driving vehicles should be mandatory or are a sole solution.
I don't follow your point. Seems like self-driving cars would offer some advantages and might be nice to have, but we are surviving without them. Get rid of cars and sure the Boy Scouts would survive, but the country would spiral into craziness pretty quick.
The main benefits (speculative) of autonomous vehicles are: Safety Speed/Efficiency Cleaner Additional benefits might include productivity gains and improvement in work/life balance. Hell, potentially better mental/emotional health.
I think autonomous vehicles are going to be a tough sell. I still think to a majority of people a vehicle is one of the largest symbols of personal freedom in this country.
That's a big reason I see it as the only option a good way off. It's definitely going to happen, but will take some time for folks to accept/trust, etc. It will start out in larger metropolitan areas/connectors alongside manually driven vehicles and will grow from there. A near full autonomous vehicle society is minimum 50 years out, in my opinion.
From a purely philosophical standpoint, cars are no more "mandatory" than self driving cars or trains or air travel or other means of transportation. From a practical standpoint, manually operated cars are essential to society as it currently exists. Removing their existence would require major changes to society in the US. Instantly removing the existence of self-driving cars from society as it currently exists would cause barely a ripple in society, relatively speaking.
We cannot equate the two, but it is a fair comparison in terms of emerging technologies. We don't know the full potential of autonomous transportation on society. Impactful as the internet? Doubtful, but plenty of potential.
I would not think it is applicable as you are buying a service from a private corporation. Biggest problem is the monopoly that many cable companies have for the best hi speed. Dsl for instance just won't cut it these days and satellite is not good either because of latency and weather disruptions.
I think that's fair. The technology will obviously be of more use in urban areas, but there are some potential benefits to rural areas. That doesn't change my original opinion that bandwidth problems should be the manufacturer's problem.
Until you are forced off the road by one of those semis, you lose your horses, and X-24 comes and kills you and your family in the night because you accepted the help of a friendly family passing by. It's not so safe then.