Self-driving cars to Note 7: Among many things, technology has taught me to trust it and accept its flaws

Last year, among the most popular news stories was a series of device accidents involving the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Sometime towards the end of the year, I boarded a flight to the United States. Typically, the route involves flying over cold regions reeling under winter weather conditions. I was supposed to land at Frankfurt Airport. We were ready to descend. All safety related announcements were done. The pilot only announcing that visibility was low. I didn’t get the extent of how low visibility was till the air hostess asked us to open the window shades in preparation for landing. Truth be told, I was scared. I was sitting behind the wing of the aircraft. An Airbus A380. And I couldn’t see the wing. The weather wasn’t pleasant. As a result of that experience, I was beginning to go wary of air travel.

The pieces of technology that work together

Since I’m obsessed with technology, there were several thoughts that went through my mind during descent. What is the state of current technical capabilities in civil aviation? With Airbus? I remembered reading articles on the superior statistical record around civil aviation. Helped me to an extent. But who wants to be in the data set that is a rounding-off error?

I also wondered if Airbus outsourced any of its critical software modules to a software company in India. Here I was, in the span of a moment, wondering every nut, bolt and screw or line of code associated with that aircraft would take me through the thick fog and cloud cover to land. The capabilities of Indian software did instill some confidence in me. It wouldn’t be for nought that the world looks to India for good quality software.

The aircraft did take me through. But I couldn’t see the wing till touch down. There was thick cover even on the runway. Usually, street lights and lights around residential areas give you a sense of arriving at your destination. But this time, it dawned on me, that in reality it’s the on-board computer that handles navigation and critical manoeuvres. It theoretically didn’t need a pilot in the first place.

Self-driving is already here. It’s called autopilot. I’m interchanging the terms here for the sake of a broad level understanding and driving across a point.

If we can fly autonomously, why are we sceptical of cars?

Remember self-driving cars by Google? They’re pods, pretty much what a kid would imagine a car to be. Without any visible signs of sensors, or cutting edge technology to intimidate. There are superior components in these works of engineering marvel that use cloud computing, big data, radars and cutting edge technologies with high bandwidths to process real time information to make the drive as effortless for you as possible.

But self-driving cars always find themselves in the news even if a human driver gets involved with it in an incident. Humans will always be humans. I’m sure if I was in one of those cars zooming away at a 100 miles per hour, I’d be equally traumatised as I was in the Airbus A380 at 900 miles per hour. Despite being at a lesser scale, my pessimism rested on the thought that the streets are filled with idiots .

Quite a few companies are working on self-driving technologies. But the very instant one of these computer science-automotive hybrids experience an on-road crash, many questions are raised in popular discussions. It wouldn’t matter what kind of number crunching the car’s array of sensors do in real time, with how wide a data bus or bandwidth. It wouldn’t matter if self-driving cars is the innovation the world needs. Each incident with a self-driving car involved would be looked down as the failure and futility of a work of engineering. To be fair, I’d have doubts in my mind about how efficient algorithms are.

I saw widespread criticism of Samsung as well

Ever since the first Samsung Galaxy Note 7 ‘ blew up ’ global media did pounce on the South Korean giant. Somehow, the fall of a titan makes for a great story. Now I don’t discount the magnitude of the flaw with number of incidents with the Galaxy Note 7. What I felt was alarming how questions were raised on the stability of the Samsung and its Galaxy stable.

The cause for this phenomenon could be several. From genuine fear, uninformed users, confusion arising out of a lack of information due to miscommunication, or even disgruntled individuals. As the numbers emerge, it turns out the total damage is pegged at $5 billion. It’s not a small amount, but is certainly an amount that Samsung has the wherewithal to handle.

Every once in a while, there are reports of failures. And some of these failures stun the world. For all its superior technology capabilities, Japan is yet to make a mark in the space realm. India, in comparison, has made steady progress. Seven years ago, the rocket system carrying the GSAT 5P blew up shortly after lift off.

So when I saw the investigation result from Samsung, I was content with the amount of information put out . The company did do well in going to the smallest detail. Failures are only stepping stones to success. I’m sure not just Samsung, but the whole tech fraternity would learn from the episode. And all of this would result in more efficient and safer battery technologies. For now, it seems to be emerging victorious .