[Animats]

"And what are we going to do for self-driving cars? These are almost certainly going to rely heavily on internet access to perform basic driving functions."

Actually, no. Google's Urmson has spoken at "connected vehicle" conferences and indicated they don't need car to car communication.

[uxp]

Agreed. The key word here is "basic". Maps have been and can be downloaded, and algorithms to get to point B from A have been embedded for a decade at least. It's only the newer devices (phones) that have managed to push that all server-side. Real-time data like traffic conditions or weather hazards can be added as supplementary data through secure channels, but the entire system does not require an internet connection to work.

Thinking that "basic driving functions" will need to rely _heavily_ on internet access is thinking wrongly.