Or, taking an optimistic perspective, the driverless car demonstrates the kind of game-changing killer apps that are now possible in almost any industry.
With abundant communications and abundant power, they argue, entrepreneurs will be inspired to invent the next generation of killer apps, jump-starting the economy and catapulting the U.S. back to the top in key measures of economic and technological progress.
The Google car is nothing more than a mashup of widely available technological innovations, and similarly bold killer apps will upend every information-intensive industry.