I found this link after hearing a story this morning on CNN about a Ford Fiesta that has been modified with Wifi and an onboard computer to Tweet the status of the car e.g. location, speed, number of brake applications, windshield wipers engaged, etc. as a thought toward being able to gauge traffic patterns, weather along a route etc. Makes me think that our vehicles will be the next wired "place". There's even talk about an in dash iPad! Go figure . . . .
I dont' know Kem- as a car enthusiast and a person who likes to stay alive on the road, I find it difficult to deal with cellular phones, texting, screaming babies, and a McD's hamburger to very comfortable with this. I see a future in which cars are linked up, and I think it could carry with it several benefits, but with the knowledge that texting while driving is the equivalent of being legally drunk, I can see some pretty negative implications of this. I'm all for having passengers linked up, but the loose nut behind the wheel is who I'm worried about.
ReplyDeleteBrust - I would agree with your assessment as it relates to driver interaction, especially in regards to iPads in the dash. However, the car providing data via Twitter might have some utility. It'll be interesting to see how this all pans out. I'm waiting for a head's up display in cars like aircraft have . . .
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm wrong, but doesn't OnStar and other similar services already track those kinds of things so they can provide information to emergency services? It seems like the main difference would be broadcasting to the Web instead of to an OnStar server...
ReplyDeleteWould agree; OnStar is a subscription service. Obviously Twitter is not.
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