This is inspired by a post at Freakonomics, which discussed trains.
In my case, I'm referring to horse and buggy. It's true horses don't require nearly the amount of close attention that cars do. My mother would remember driving into Binghamton with a load of cabbage and potatoes, spending the day, and allowing the team to find their way home that night.
I'm enthusiastic about the idea of Google (and others) self-driving cars--especially important with my declining abilities as I age, but I'm not ready to go back to horses.