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digitalmerc

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Exactly. I wouldn't either, but they said "when they ship". Pre-ordered one for my lady friend as well.

Doesn't say on the site, but is there an expected ship date?

Ah says in the email:

> You’ll only be charged once your Automatic Link ships in May (for iPhone) and Fall (for Android).

Well I think I have it right, while the trading algorithms are networked, they essentially operate independently of one another. So just how a trading algorithm reacts to market movements, the radar on top of the car would react to road conditions and other drivers.

I couldn't even imagine them all networked, although it may actually be better, it seems like even more danger.

One thing that always comes to mind, and this may just be the pessimist in me, but remember the "flash crash"? Where a bunch of trading algorithms triggered short sells as a reaction to other trading algorithms triggering short sells?

Well think of that, but with cars, with people in them...

Edit: I think it's being misconstrued that I am somehow against Google Cars, when in fact I'm very much for them. Regardless of the likelihood of the aforementioned scenario, I agree that it's still far better than the wildly unpredictable human factor. And ultimately I think that self-driven cars will be a boon both for road safety as well as fuel economy and overall emissions. (Not to mention traffic, I can't wait for a world when traffic is basically non-existent)

One thing I realized after making this comment too, is that road situations are far easier to predict than the randomness of the market, and the consequences are much higher than 0's in a bank account, so I'm sure there will be fail-safes.

"I'm trying to be less hyperbolic"...

"I'd be honored if you followed me on Twitter."

While I agree with the thesis, and I'd like to start doing so as well, that was kind of funny.