By Peter Norton
Technology companies like Mobileye say their high-definition (HD) digital maps can make our roads safer. But it’s up to the rest of us to ensure that they really do.
Read More »If HD Maps Make Driving Safer, They May Make Walking More Dangerous
We know that humans and machines can coexist. They’ve been doing it for centuries. But the key to this harmony is knowing what machines can—or can’t — do, and defining the human role in this equation.
In the world of autonomous driving, I see society teetering above a slippery slope. On the one hand, transparency about AV capabilities is decreasing. A California Superior Court ruling last week allows Waymo to treat certain safety-related crash data as trade secrets. On the other hand, human drivers are growing both more complacent and more confused about their responsibilities in highly but not fully automated vehicles.
Read More »A Blurred Line: AV Capability and Human Responsibility
By Bolaji Ojo
The collapse last week of Nvidia Corp.’s proposed acquisition of semiconductor IP vendor Arm Plc surprised very few, but it still left us with (too) many questions, most of them unanswerable.
How did Nvidia wobble into such a quagmire and how can the industry avoid such in future? Nvidia paid a hefty price for the unconsummated deal. The company lost its $1.25 billion deposit, drew the ire of competitors and some of its own OEM customers, and injected unnecessary controversy into its operations. Nvidia will recover from the negative impacts of the deal and may have reaped some benefits, but was the plan worth the wasted time and resources?
Read More »Nvidia Bid for Arm: Was It Just a Lark?
What’s at stake?
Last week’s congressional hearing on autonomous vehicles (AV) exposed the limited knowledge among lawmakers on what automated vehicles are, let alone differences between AVs and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) — which look like disclaimers in the fine print for most people. The hearing could have used more discussion to clarify complex AV issues and elevate the debate beyond the talking points of special-interest groups.
By David Benjamin
“Well, congrats! You’ve just reinvented the subway.”
— Derek Wise, electrek.com
One of Covid-19’s few blessings is that it has spared me the annual trip to Las Vegas for the grind, hype and tedium of the Consumer Electronics Show. I can’t say that I missed CES this month, but I slightly regret a lost opportunity to experience, in person, the unfortunately named Elon Musk Boring Company.
Read More »The Wizard of Oz Comes to CES
What’s at stake?
At CES 2022, the IoT community was giddy over Matter, the new IoT application layer that unites wireless devices in a smart home. While Amazon, Google, Apple and Samsung are Matter’s headliners, who does the plumbing for the Internet of Things? Devils linger in the details.
The interoperability of consumer devices – whether installed in “smart homes” or traditional dumb houses – has long been a tough nut to crack.
Read More »Who Does the Plumbing for IoT?
By David Benjamin
“As someone who doesn’t drive, I am not sure how an AI would handle icy road conditions… Autonomous cars are not going to get angry, commit road rage-related crimes, or panic when suddenly confronted with black ice.” —Johnna Crider, CleanTechnica, Dec. 23, 2021
Like many other folks, I’ve faced the prospect of death a number of times. But in none of those circumstances was I ever palpably scared — until the whole horror was over with and I had a chance to think of how close I’d come to strolling into the sunset hand-in-hand with the Grim Reaper.
Read More »The Inscrutability of Black Ice
Dear Ted,
Velodyne’s recent announcement introducing you as its new CEO didn’t surprise me. You’re the right executive arriving at the right time to correct the course of a vision-challenged company that has lost its way.
Velodyne went public in September 2020 through the dubious mechanism of a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with blank-check company Graph Industrial. Since then, as the corporate board and its largest shareholder have relentlessly exchanged accusations, Velodyne has become best known for its dysfunction.
Read More »Open Letter to Ted Tewksbury, Velodyne’s New CEO
By Bolaji Ojo
The electronics industry is at it again. Notorious for offering bewildering solutions to chronic and possibly unsolvable problems, OEM and semiconductor executives are convulsed with figuring out a fix for the supply shortages that have shuttered some automotive manufacturing plants and crimped sales as global economies struggle to recover from the pandemic.
Read More »JIC is a Poor Replacement for JIT
Dear Zuck,
You can hide behind a rebranding, but you can’t run from your most egregious accomplishment: You’ve delivered, in a most terrifying way, on that infamous slogan of yours, “Move fast and break things.” You’ve broken people, societies and dented American democracy. What you’ve built is nothing less than “a toxic propaganda guidebook for the ages,” according to New York Times columnist Kara Swisher.
Read More »Open Letter to Zuck: Prove to Us That ‘Ethics in Tech’ Is Not an Oxymoron
