As to self-driving cars: it will be interesting. If the density of the on-call fleet is such that a car will reliably appear at your door within a couple of minutes, do you really want to undergo the expense of a personal automobile? The self-driving car will still take you anywhere you want to go.
Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But I want that option, and I don't want that option cut just because that makes life a little sweeter for (future) Big Auto. Do I want to heat my house with wood? Do I want to cook my own food? Do I want to pump my own gas? Do I want to paint my own house?
The self-driving car will still take you anywhere you want to go.
Unless / until:
- I slowly roll to a stop, or don't slow to a stop at all, because a bug or virus in the software in the car or in "the intelligent road" says so.
- Somebody figures out how much fun it is to broadcast fake or noise laser / lidar / radar / whatever signals to every car on Highway X for five minutes, either causing a crash in front of me, or me being in that crash.
- Some state or local or federal computer decides that I am the same Mr. Jiggy Boy who didn't pay his taxes or child support / is now on the Terrorist Watchlist / has violated parole / died yesterday / etc. (NB: One of these mistakes has happened to me.)
- Same but for my car: it's reported as the getaway car in a bank robbery / is overdue for maintenance / is owned by an Amber Alert guy / etc.
You get the idea.