5 Replies to “Driverless Cars, 1959 (Emma Fortier)”
Hey Emma! There’s a lot to like here. I loved your commentary on the new automotive design studies and customization showcased in 1950s depictions of the future. You’re spot on in identifying that period as a transformative one for automotive design. I was a little concerned with your statement that cars prior to the 1950s were as standardized as Ford’s Model T; that car is a great example of the American manufacturing system but not necessarily a reflection of the entire automotive industry during its production run, let alone twenty years past it. (In 1927 you could buy Ford’s own Model A in fourteen different body styles and not one but three whole color choices!)
Great observation that no one is driving alone in those advertisements, I had never noticed that aspect of the depiction of automotive life in advertising. The inclusion of WWII context and some of the less-subtle carpooling propaganda made for great context.
I would love to watch Magic Highway USA, I’m sure there are plenty of comparisons to be drawn there. I would have loved to see a video clip from that episode to give some structural variation in your presentation but I tried to do so with my project and couldn’t figure out how to make it work in iMovie so, I understand. Maybe for the final!
Really enjoyed some of your closing points on the contrast in the intended use of self-driving cars. That older depictions maximize leisure time and newer ones minimize dead time is an excellent example of how societal value has shaped the technology.
I really liked the way you framed context in this presentation. The main focus was not necessarily the actual prediction, but the context and story behind it, as well as the story the actual self-driving car tells as you look at its design through the years. A self-driving car is a very interesting topic because it is a futuristic technology that we are seeing come to fruition right before our eyes.
You did a great job of noting that the imaginary design of self-driving cars was based on space travel and the excitement surrounding the idea of new vehicles as a result of advances in space travel. I actually like the design of the cars sort of like limousines with no drivers. I really appreciated the connection you made between that idea and the growing fear of the era about having too much leisure time. It shows the very presentist idea that technological advancement in society was close to reaching perfection, and that we would run out of things to improve upon, therefore running out of things to do.
Lastly, I liked the way you brought it around to the cars today, less about the technical, and more about why the things people are doing inside the car are so different. Society is different with the invention of computers and it is different in the way we think about spending time in the car. The focus in society now is more about speed than before, where it was about relaxing after two world wars. Overall an excellent presentation that did a great job of telling full story in a short amount of time.
Good stuff, Emma. I think a highlight of yours was how you always presented two sides to each point. For example, you talked about how the driverless cars of the past were made to increase leisure time, and yet they did want to have too much leisure time for various reasons. This paints a really good picture for each point without leaning too far in one direction and making any sweeping generalizations.
I learned a lot about the propaganda surrounding cars in the 50s. The images that encouraged people to carpool sent a message that, once I heard you explain them, made a lot of sense but I had not previously known. I also did not know that present driverless cars are being marketed to increase productivity.
I think you could have elaborated more on driverless cars right now and the future. They are a hot topic still and have a lot of controversy surround them that it did not sound like existed back in the day. For example, the ethics of self driving cars and the overlying context of AI did not seem to come up when they were first being imagined.
Emma, your slidecast is incredibly clean, and when I say that, I mean that the sound quality is great, you spoke at the perfect pace and the pictures were fantastic. I loved how you used the “zoom” feature appropriately as not all the images used that. I learned a lot from your podcast, one of the coolest factoids being that many of the car designs in the 1950’s are based after space-like structures. That totally makes sense to me and it explained why cars from that era look the way they do. I also thought it was interesting how the lack of solo driving seen in ads can be attributed to the propaganda from WW2. It’s interesting how they see driving alone as a “waste of gas”. This almost seems environmentally conscious. Lastly, while your whole slidecast was interwoven with many of the elements we talked about in class, I thought the technology and gender identity topic was well said during your slidecast, particularly with the image of Disney’s nuclear family that was often portrayed. I honestly have no critiques, I thought you did an awesome job!
This slidecast was really interesting and well done for many reasons. First off, I really enjoyed this topic. I wanted to watch this one as my extra video to see how it differs from so many of the conversations that I have had in our class and other classes about driverless cars. I really like the way you set up by discussing the historical context and the cultural values that went into even the thought of the idea of driverless cars. For example, I like how you emphasized society’s desire for leisure time because so many of the technologies that sparked from that era also had that same goal in mind. Especially because people valued the right about of leisure time. The emphasis on the relationship between time saving and technology being both implicit and feared was worded very well because there was still that underlying fear and anxiety of technology and the world beginning to move too quickly for society with technology also taking over the roles of humans. I like this point a lot because it really enforces Kranzberg’s 1st law of technology being neither good nor bad nor neutral.
Lastly, I believe the way you contrasted the desire for driverless cars during the 1950s and now was a very nice touch at the end. Overall, great podcast!
Hey Emma! There’s a lot to like here. I loved your commentary on the new automotive design studies and customization showcased in 1950s depictions of the future. You’re spot on in identifying that period as a transformative one for automotive design. I was a little concerned with your statement that cars prior to the 1950s were as standardized as Ford’s Model T; that car is a great example of the American manufacturing system but not necessarily a reflection of the entire automotive industry during its production run, let alone twenty years past it. (In 1927 you could buy Ford’s own Model A in fourteen different body styles and not one but three whole color choices!)
Great observation that no one is driving alone in those advertisements, I had never noticed that aspect of the depiction of automotive life in advertising. The inclusion of WWII context and some of the less-subtle carpooling propaganda made for great context.
I would love to watch Magic Highway USA, I’m sure there are plenty of comparisons to be drawn there. I would have loved to see a video clip from that episode to give some structural variation in your presentation but I tried to do so with my project and couldn’t figure out how to make it work in iMovie so, I understand. Maybe for the final!
Really enjoyed some of your closing points on the contrast in the intended use of self-driving cars. That older depictions maximize leisure time and newer ones minimize dead time is an excellent example of how societal value has shaped the technology.
Overall, really liked it! Learned things!
I really liked the way you framed context in this presentation. The main focus was not necessarily the actual prediction, but the context and story behind it, as well as the story the actual self-driving car tells as you look at its design through the years. A self-driving car is a very interesting topic because it is a futuristic technology that we are seeing come to fruition right before our eyes.
You did a great job of noting that the imaginary design of self-driving cars was based on space travel and the excitement surrounding the idea of new vehicles as a result of advances in space travel. I actually like the design of the cars sort of like limousines with no drivers. I really appreciated the connection you made between that idea and the growing fear of the era about having too much leisure time. It shows the very presentist idea that technological advancement in society was close to reaching perfection, and that we would run out of things to improve upon, therefore running out of things to do.
Lastly, I liked the way you brought it around to the cars today, less about the technical, and more about why the things people are doing inside the car are so different. Society is different with the invention of computers and it is different in the way we think about spending time in the car. The focus in society now is more about speed than before, where it was about relaxing after two world wars. Overall an excellent presentation that did a great job of telling full story in a short amount of time.
Good stuff, Emma. I think a highlight of yours was how you always presented two sides to each point. For example, you talked about how the driverless cars of the past were made to increase leisure time, and yet they did want to have too much leisure time for various reasons. This paints a really good picture for each point without leaning too far in one direction and making any sweeping generalizations.
I learned a lot about the propaganda surrounding cars in the 50s. The images that encouraged people to carpool sent a message that, once I heard you explain them, made a lot of sense but I had not previously known. I also did not know that present driverless cars are being marketed to increase productivity.
I think you could have elaborated more on driverless cars right now and the future. They are a hot topic still and have a lot of controversy surround them that it did not sound like existed back in the day. For example, the ethics of self driving cars and the overlying context of AI did not seem to come up when they were first being imagined.
Emma, your slidecast is incredibly clean, and when I say that, I mean that the sound quality is great, you spoke at the perfect pace and the pictures were fantastic. I loved how you used the “zoom” feature appropriately as not all the images used that. I learned a lot from your podcast, one of the coolest factoids being that many of the car designs in the 1950’s are based after space-like structures. That totally makes sense to me and it explained why cars from that era look the way they do. I also thought it was interesting how the lack of solo driving seen in ads can be attributed to the propaganda from WW2. It’s interesting how they see driving alone as a “waste of gas”. This almost seems environmentally conscious. Lastly, while your whole slidecast was interwoven with many of the elements we talked about in class, I thought the technology and gender identity topic was well said during your slidecast, particularly with the image of Disney’s nuclear family that was often portrayed. I honestly have no critiques, I thought you did an awesome job!
This slidecast was really interesting and well done for many reasons. First off, I really enjoyed this topic. I wanted to watch this one as my extra video to see how it differs from so many of the conversations that I have had in our class and other classes about driverless cars. I really like the way you set up by discussing the historical context and the cultural values that went into even the thought of the idea of driverless cars. For example, I like how you emphasized society’s desire for leisure time because so many of the technologies that sparked from that era also had that same goal in mind. Especially because people valued the right about of leisure time. The emphasis on the relationship between time saving and technology being both implicit and feared was worded very well because there was still that underlying fear and anxiety of technology and the world beginning to move too quickly for society with technology also taking over the roles of humans. I like this point a lot because it really enforces Kranzberg’s 1st law of technology being neither good nor bad nor neutral.
Lastly, I believe the way you contrasted the desire for driverless cars during the 1950s and now was a very nice touch at the end. Overall, great podcast!