Tesla software update

Why do we not like change as human beings? Not all of us, the vast majority prefer the status quo, prefer not to upset the apple cart. I would assume that upsetting the apple cart 300 years ago would result in many apples becoming dirty and "running away" from you. We are resistant to ideas of change, perhaps as it requires mental strength to think that something should be different, it would be easier that way. Tesla is a business that can change your product overnight, whilst you are catching some z's. The software update on the Tesla autopilot will take place over the next couple of weeks. It may not work for "seeing" deer when the system switches to radar (fluffy animals apparently to Elon Musk) in snow, fog and dust.

Plus, the new software will engage in emergency braking when you are in "control" of the vehicle. I am not too sure about what you think, I trust millions of hours of collective driving and by extension learning over a teenager who has 50 hours of driving experience. Or bad habits built through decades of driving in changing technology. In the press release yesterday - Upgrading Autopilot: Seeing the World in Radar, the same cheeky Tesla style remains:

"The net effect of this, combined with the fact that radar sees through most visual obscuration, is that the car should almost always hit the brakes correctly even if a UFO were to land on the freeway in zero visibility conditions.

Taking this one step further, a Tesla will also be able to bounce the radar signal under a vehicle in front - using the radar pulse signature and photon time of flight to distinguish the signal - and still brake even when trailing a car that is opaque to both vision and radar. The car in front might hit the UFO in dense fog, but the Tesla will not."

The company may solve transportation issues globally and it may take a long, long time for driverless fleets of vehicles to be mainstream, I for one am very ready for the machines to take control. They never tire, they never lose concentration, they do not drink alcohol, they are more reliable than us. They will greatly reduce the death rates on the roads, the World Health Organisation suggests that there are around one and one-quarter of a million deaths on roads globally. Around half a million in India and China alone! It may take us decades before we all adopt this technology, our great grand children will look at these as all preventable, perhaps in the same way we look at common infections and the common colds nowadays relative to 100 years ago. Another big moment for Tesla, the release of their version 8 of the software, pushing boundaries and continuing to innovate.