CNBCfix review: Driverless cars
are the wheel deal of ‘Machines’
Posted: Wednesday, September 25, 2013
The first line of significance in CNBC's "Rise of the Machines" is the notation that it is "presented by GE," a wonderful reassurance that someone will still finance quality media while also an implication that viewers might be getting an hour's look at some of the latest in Ecomagination.
Whatever General Electric fingerprints exist in this production, correspondent Melissa Lee delivers a sum-of-the-parts success that unfortunately is impossibly too broad. Had Lee limited the material to transportation, she's got a home run.
The crown jewel is Lee's stint behind the wheel of a driverless car. While too much of the camerawork is focused on Lee's reactions and a lot of the operational details are unexplained (apparently if you have a sudden craving for McD's en route to the library, you switch it back over to manual), the footage conveys exciting reality: our cars may soon be our cabdrivers, allowing motorists the equivalent of a train ride.
Trains are another area that Lee addresses, and one wonders whether a nationwide fleet of future freight trains could be controlled by one person out of Omaha. Yet Lee's focus here is on uninteresting track sensors that purportedly can detect derailment risks before human inspections.
Inexplicably, Lee omits warfare entirely. While drones have emerged as perhaps America's preferred weapon against terrorism, the subject gets a complete pass from the program. The same is essentially true for commercial aviation, whose safety record has soared to staggering heights, although for various reasons we probably shouldn't expect pilotless planes for the masses.
The critical opening 10 minutes deliver gratuitous, heart-wrenching close-ups of premature babies to illustrate medical advancements that 1) seem decades overdue (we're just now finding links between heart rate and infections?) and 2) are too much inside baseball, which is why Lee switches gears to smartphone apps used by joggers and bicyclists (who might've appreciated a moment to towel off before being thrust on camera).
Electronics whizzes Tom Coates, Alex Hawkinson and Jeff Hagins reveal all the things you can do with a wired home, specifically keeping track of what's on and off while you're away and, perhaps for example, instructing lights and security systems when to come off and on. All of which seems innocuous and a little beyond the technical grasp of most homeowners; it's a groan moment when Hagins claims the computer tells his kids when they can watch no more TV.
The obligatory CNBC overseas entry for this program is Rio, where producers include obligatory bikini, beach and vista shots but the most ground-breaking issue Lee can find is only an emphasis on surveillance cameras in a crime-afflicted city whose colorful mayor seems to enjoy the attention.
Lee, who has tackled cybersecurity in documentary form, is experienced at trying to make computer and smartphone screens look interesting. She and her viewers would've been best served by an hour of either consumer smartphone apps or computer-controlled transit. But someone paid for "Machines" to rise, and in the media business, that's progress.
"Rise of the Machines" (2013)
Featuring: Dr. Andrew James, Dr. Carolyn McGregor, Dr. Jeffrey Olgin, Heidi Dohse, Andrew Balo, Dr. Eric Topol, Tom Coates, Alex Hawkinson, Jeff Hagins, John Matherly, Raj Rajkumar, Bran Ferren, Bryan Riemer, Jarrod Snider, Pedro Junqueira, Eduardo Paes, Márcio Motta, Samuel Caruso, Andrew McAfee, Todd Snyder, Lynden Tennison, Andrew Rose
Correspondent: Melissa Lee
Senior producer: Oliver Miede
Executive producer: Charles Schaeffer
Producers: Na Eng, Valerie Parker
Lead editor: Patrick Ahearn
Editors: Rich Korn, Allison E. Stedman
Associate producers: Meghan Lisson, Michael Beyman
Production associates: Kayla Ruble, Tiffany Champion
Additional editors: Justin Famolari, Daniel Shaw
Announcer: Deng Spies
Camera: Marco Mastrorilli, Gerard Miller, Oscar Molina
Additional camera: Jim Caruso, Carl Filoreto, Jerry Frasier, Bill Irmscher, LeRoy Jackson, Jeff Kleinman, Gim Lay, Raul Marin, Mask Mostad, Jim Mulligan, Mark Neuling, Ron Pearson, Brian Prentke, Preston Swigart, Michael Vaughn
Audio: Shaun Baker, Edward Chick, Mark Edelstein, David Foerder, Richard Gin, Keith McManus, Tom McMurtry, Andre Palai, Pedro Rodriques, David Schumacher, Eugene Steward, Rebecca Usnik, Peter Yu
Field producer, San Francisco: Beth Tribolet
Field producer, Brazil: Luiz Eduardo Lerena
Translator, Brazil: Bruno Murtinho
Field producer, London: Carol Grisanti
Manager and chief photographer: Angel Perez
Director of post production: Vito Tattoli
Global creative director: Victoria Todis
Senior art director: John Rehm
Senior designer/animator: Jacqueline Dessel
Designer/animators: Chang Jeong, Nick O'Connor
Coordinating producer: Christie Gripenburg
Production manager: Tracy Lawrence
Media coordinator: Richard Marko
Rights & clearances, manager: Maryanne Decandia
Archives manager: Lawrence Beer
Archivists: Kathy Baruffi, Kyle Kinder, Debra Schooley
Music librarians: Salvatore Carosone, George Lin
Interns: Melissa Adan, Caitlin O'Kane
Special thanks: Bridgewater Driving School, Goryde
Vice president long form programming: Mitch Weitzner
Senior vice president long form programming: Ray Borelli