Morning Tea: Johnny Cabs

I’m cool with driverless taxis; let’s get the party going, already!

I’ve been taking the driverless robotaxis around SF.

They’re safe and fun. Also slower and less efficient than Ubers, because they’re strict rule followers.

What’s wild is that we’re back to a world human-taxis are expensive and hard to find. Suddenly it’s easier and cheaper… pic.twitter.com/7kIpxu5soH

— Mike Simonsen 🐉 (@mikesimonsen) September 23, 2023

One overlooked concern is how this wonderful evolution will impact the taxi genre in pop culture?

Just in movies alone we have (duh!) Taxi Driver to Collateral which shifted to Uber now: Equalizer, Stuber and No Hard Feelings.

This is a busy and bold genre…what will happen to it?

The Western has been dying for decades now but still keeps on having high noon gun battles.

Maybe nothing will happen to the genre?

Maybe the genre will evolve into something better?

I dunno. I remain curious. and impatient.

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Sammy Verdict: We’ve come a long way since Total Recall’s Johnny Cab in 1990? How much more do we have to go before the future is here?

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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.