‘Fate of the Furious’ has me dusting off 30-year-old Volvo stickshift
Apr 17, 2017, 7:01 AM | Updated: 8:32 am
The self-driving car hacking in "The Fate of the Furious" maybe isn't that far-fetched. (AP)
(AP)
Look who else is getting into the self-driving car business! On Friday, California gave Apple a permit to put three self-driving Lexuses on the road.
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Apple has a leg up in this race because if you have an iPhone they already know everywhere you need to go!
So this is getting serious. Especially since millions of you saw over the weekend what this technology can lead to.
I refer, of course, to the zombie car scene in “The Fate of the Furious,” where Charlize Theron hacks a thousand self-driving cars in the middle of Manhattan.
“Hack ’em all”
Then she hacks parked cars and launches them from high rise parking decks.
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And it’s all in good fun until you realize – this is not so crazy. Self-driving cars are in constant communication over the internet to get software updates. And you remember two years ago those guys who hack an actual Jeep Cherokee?
“It can be remotely hacked through a cellular connection to its entertainment system,” reporter Adam Greenburg said.
That was real. They freaked out the driver even though he knew what they were going to do.
“I stomped on the gas but the Jeep slowed to a crawl,” Greenburg said.
So all I’m saying is – if you’re OK with your car being updated in the background, by unelected people you don’t know, the way your smartphone is, the future is for you.
But, just as we all keep a few candles handy in case, you might want to have a 30-year-old dumb Volvo stickshift stashed somewhere.
Just in case.
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Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.
