Comment by JumpCrisscross 2 days ago
> unbelievable how we have a level of autonomy here and now, and not too many people know about it
Would note that most premium cars sold in America currently have advanced self-driving capabilities. I've personally been more impressed by Mercedes' kit than Tesla's, mostly because the former seems to have done a great job of defining where you can almost trust the system to just work.
> it just makes the drive so much more enjoyable
If I had to hazard a hypothesis, I think we'll see two forms of self-driving kit make it into the market. One that's aimed at being enjoyable, even at the expense of edge-case performance. Another that's aimed at being effective, even at the expense of breadth of use. Folks who fundamentally enjoy driving their cars will probably be appealed to by the former. Those who see them as mere tools, probably the latter.
I agree with that. I use FSD for interstate driving primarily and also open road driving like the Keys where its just flat and open highway. Inner city for me I like to drive, because I am admittedly an aggressive driver, mainly because Miami calls for it(to get into lanes, to get out of a driveway or deck, etc if you're slow you get nowhere) but lately I have let it rip on my commute through Brickell and downtown and it has gotten more bold.
I may be going out on a limb, but I think Tesla is popular with people who like to drive but also like technology. I work for one of the largest software companies in Miami and almost all the tech workers have a Tesla and when they talk about it, it's like talking about a video game system they are currently obsessed with.
Don't get me wrong, Tesla's FSD is way cooler. It feels more futuristic, takes more risks and has more-entertaining animations on the display. But it also drives like a 16-year old on PCP, which means I never quite trust it. Mercedes, on the other hand, built something that I can get into and intuitively trust. That's impressive in a different way from the roller-coaster approach, and I'd argue in a more useful way when it comes to cars, but it's really a distinction between what one values in the driving experience. (I'm pretty meh when it comes to driving. As evidenced by my owning a Subaru. All that said, Waymos are the only one I've taken a nap in and I believe that will be true for a long time.)
that is fair - you're the first person I've ever talk about it!
As someone who has tried both, FSD is still so much better in my experience. I use FSD in Miami and drive down to Key West often and it drives more than 99% of the trip and it just makes the drive so much more enjoyable. Even with all the recent road work going on, it handles it almost without error. I have the occasional take over due to things like it not wanting to get over soon enough into a lane for a turn or whatever and I just get impatient, move over myself and then re-engage it and relax again. I collect all of the car telemetry via API into graphana and it just amazes me all the sensors and telemetry I can look at and understand while also not driving!