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Well, not everyone will see it this way. My example:

> Imagine never having to park

I like knowing where I parked. Further, we have something called valley parking, in most places that I would want to get off for a while.

But besides, in crowded cities, how do you actually imagine that? Most car owners in the NYC take subway to go downtown, because it would either take 2 hours to find a parking spot, or it would be very far from initial destination. With AC, I can imagine people just getting off at their destination (right in front of the door) and won't give a damn what their car will do in the meanwhile until they are back in 45 minute. So you will have jam packed streets with empty cars driving around waiting for their masters to come back -- total horror on the streets! Otherwise - what? Have the car to drive back home empty and come back in 45 minutes?? That putting even more traffic on the street and more pollution.

> Imagine never having to get someone to drop you off at the airport. Your car can just go home afterwards. Sure, or I can take a cab which will be the same result - I will get to the airport after all. The only difference, I can have one or two to relax at home with wife, before the flight.

> Imagine getting your oil changed or other maintenance. The car can do this on its own when you don't need it.

Yes, so I am even more disconnected from the real world. Instead of making a Saturday trip to change an oil and chat with mechanics about good old days, about whether, girls, beer, or whatever it is, I am sure better staying home to chat on Facebook, while my car gets oil change on its own...

> I believe that we'll see a lot of marketing geared towards the people who would never let a car drive them around.

Probably not. I would guess all makers will jump ship quickly. There will be money to spend on advertising new technology, not the old one.

> This will be a great stepping-stone to help convince these people that it's safe.

If its going to be safe, noone will need to be convinced. I am sure, even reading this thread, you will find enough initial adopters for them to pass the word to the masses how safe AC really are.

Instead of making a Saturday trip to change an oil and chat with mechanics about good old days, about whether, girls, beer, or whatever it is, I am sure better staying home to chat on Facebook, while my car gets oil change on its own.

If that's how you prefer it, that's fine. But all my mechanic ever chats with me about is about how much I need his $49.99 radiator purge. It's not how I want to spend my time.

If its going to be safe, noone will need to be convinced.

Many people have an innate fear of things they can't control. Think about all the people who fear flying on commercial airliners -- quoting them a statistic about its safety doesn't make their fear go away. There will need to be a lot of convincing.

I like knowing where I parked. Further, we have something called valley parking, in most places that I would want to get off for a while.

You wouldn't need to know where you parked: a quick text message retrieves your car.

I will get to the airport after all. The only difference, I can have one or two to relax at home with wife, before the flight. The end result for the self-driving car is identical to the cab case, you can still have your drinks because you will not be driving the car. However, removing the cabbie from the equation will cut costs dramatically.

Again -- where all those cars will be parked, knowing before I would either take a cab, or take a public transportation?

Will we get millions of parkings underground built the same time AC hit the streets? Dont think so.

Further, you saying that removing cabbie will cut the cost. Hmm.. my take is that it is the city that makes the most money out of cabbies. I can bet my left arm (Im lefty) that if the city will realize they losing large chunk of money due to AC driving everywhere, I am sure they will smack you with such an AC ride tax that taxis will become again a reasonable alternative!

Will you allow your car to decide what a fair price for parking is?

I think it's an underrated step between self-driving cars and cars that drive unoccupied, as in your example of cars that go park themselves. Adverse weather conditions, mechanical failure, a simple flat tire -- if something goes wrong with a car, we expect the owner to be there to deal with the problem.

That's not to say that the problem can't be solved, but my guess is that it will take time and culture changes to adapt to these cars before people have the kind of comfort level to allow empty cars to roam around.

For mechanical failures, such as flat tires, the car could just pull to the side of the road and fire off a text message to you and AAA (maybe we require you to have something like a AAA membership if you want your car to drive itself). They come and fix the tire, tow you to an auto shop, or whatever needs to be done. You're inconvenienced, but certainly no more than you would be otherwise.

As for cultural changes, here's what I imagine will happen: At first, people will be uncomfortable with self-driving cars. As another commenter noted, people don't feel safe with things they don't control. But most users of the cars will need very little time to get used to it. They'll hop in their car, tell it where to go, and proceed to pay no attention at all to what the car is doing. Once enough people have had this experience, it won't be difficult to convince the public to allow the cars to strike out on their own.

I totally agree. My point is that Google has the potential to become part of the value chain - not replace it.