Self Driving Cars to dominate roads by 2030

Just saw this from LinkedIn. Kevin Ashton, the man who invented the expression ‘Internet of Things,’ foresees that by 2030, self-driving cars will be the norm.

Self driving cars being the norm in 15 years is not so surprising given that self driving cars from Tesla, Google, and Apple are already testing their own prototypes. In an FT article, Tesla has promised self-driving cars by 2018, Nissan has promised self-driving cars by 2020. Traditional car companies like Toyota, Volvo, and Continental also have experimented with self driving cars. Not to mention a bunch of startups like Auro Robotics, and countless more. Given the nature of competition in a free, open and technology-driven market, it is quite conceivable that self driving cars will be the norm in 15 years.

Its not flying cars, but it will do. For now.

(Btdubs, who is this Kevin Ashton and why have I not heard of him before?)

Apple Watch is taking preorders!

The wait is over. Apple is taking preorders for the watch.

Personally, I wont be buying the 1st generation watch. It's not me. I will wait for version 2.0

Why? Well, looking at how huge the change was between the first iPhone, iPod and iPad and the second generation, I feel like it is not a good value to be on the cutting edge. The potential for the iWatch is huge but the practical uses for it and the software and features that will come out from the use cases that will result from the first gen watch will not really surface until 2.0


It is still a great stock to own though.

"The smart watch wars are still in their early days. Only time will tell how this story unfolds."

Chicago Booth professor comments on the below tweetmaps of Apple and Samsung smart watches:

"The Apple Watch tweets are focused largely on the attributes of the product– design, functionality, technology– and some negatives: accidents, warnings, etc. <snip> On the other hand, Samsung’s messages appear to dwell less on attributes. <snip> There is a lot of attention paid to its competitor, Apple, and its products. This asymmetry between Apple and Samsung might have implications for how much each product needs to compete for consumer mindshare."

Apple Watch Tweets

Samsung Watch Tweets

- See more at Blog of Kilts Center at Chicago Booth