Wireless Net Access in Your Car

Alex writes "If this item is any indicator of the next big rage, then perhaps lawmakers may want to expand the limits on cell phone use in a moving automobile. Broadband2Wireless is about to launch a wireless MAN that would allow one to connect to the internet from anywhere in the city. While the service is not aimed at vehicles, the "company demo-mobile" is bound to attract copy-cats looking to be the first on their block with a network in their car. " 1.5mb for $50 a month? They don't plan to support mobile users quite yet, but the article says they will when they have the coverage. It sure would be awesome.

Comments

It's NOT a traffic jam...

[Hobaird]

...it's a Beowulf cluster. :P

here comes -1

Hype

[Animats]

I dunno. I left the site after closing the annoying pop-up and seeing that the main option on the site was "Play Flash Movie". Looks like a classic dot-com loser pattern - hype first, deploy someday.

Wireless MAN

[cswiii]

o/~ Wireless Man, Wireless Man

Doin' the things that your wireless can

What's the latency, it's not important

Wireless Man

Is he bluetooth? Is his IP spoofed?

Do potholes set his data aloof?

Or do his checksums always tell us the truth?

Nobody knows

Wireless Man o/~

another mindless, "one size fits all" law

[mr_death]

I personally think cellphone driving should be dealt with in a similar manner as drunk driving - who's with me?

While most drivers have had to maneuver in extremis to avoid some bozo who isn't paying attention to his or her driving, I heartly oppose any simple-minded "no cellphone use while driving" law.

The problem isn't the use of the cellphone (or shaving, eating, applying makeup, talking to a passenger, etc.) -- the real problem is Driver Judgement (or lack thereof). The government gives minimal training to new drivers, tests them to absurdly simple standards, then gives them a license to drive a two-ton death machine. Any biped with a pulse can get a license. So why would anyone expect said biped to have a clue?

Refuting the claim that "cellphone use is as dangerous as drunk driving" is easy -- just ask any pilot. Pilots navigate in three space, keep the greasy side down, listen and respond to the radio, listen to other people's conversations (and determine if they are affected -- "where is that Learjet who just called in?", for example), and visualize other traffic and topology. They manage to do all these tasks safely and quickly.

The way pilots can handle this kind of workload is simple -- they prioritize their tasks. Aviate, navigate, then communicate. We're trained to say "stand by" to a controller if we're busy with an aircraft control task.

While in a car, I do the same thing. If I'm in heavy traffic, I won't pick up the phone if it rings. However, on a lightly travelled freeway, I will pick up, and increase my following distance. If conditions change (traffic incrases, or it starts raining), I might say "I'll have to call you back". Judgement is the key here.

So, I say we should determine driver judgement by results. Specifically:

1. no mindless "you can't do X while driving" laws.

2. a $10000 fine for any at fault accident, and a 90 day license suspension. You screw up, you pay.

3. Mandatory driver retests every two years. Retests cover freeway driving (how to merge, how to use turn signals, no camping in the passing lane) and emergency procedures (lane change, spin recovery, etc.)

OK, who's with me?

Re:We shouldn't be encouraging car use

[Zachary Kessin]

Well the problem is that for many of us who live outside a major population area if you want to get anywhere you have to drive. I can't take the bus to work or the store, there isn't one. (There are a few busses here in Nashua NH but they don't really go anywhere usefull, like my flat.)

And it would not make sense to put busses in because there are not enough people to ride them.

Here's a new idea for an in-car activity...

[Anonymous Coward]

... I like to call it "driving". Maybe you people with cellphones and TVs and Internet access in your cars should try it sometime?

Is this really a good thing?

[C.Thomas]

After nearly being hit by drivers talking on cell phones, I am really not relishing the idea of these same people surfing the web while driving. I personally think cellphone driving should be dealt with in a similar manner as drunk driving - who's with me?

Mobile office

[perdida]

GOSH I need this. I have been waiting for this for years.

We do not need to clog up our infrastructures anymore by locating the offices in the few widely dispersed areas with the high bandwith..

we can decentralize these operations, saving space, energy, commute time, the air, preventing sprawl.

As a journalist I would love to be able to step into my car and have all my databases, research and editing tools at my fingertips.

I am aware this will come with an accompanying loss of speed. It's not my fat university T-1. But who's to say that people might not turn away from the flash, shockwave, and heavy, slow websites and towards a lightweight, text oriented, rapid delivery system? A fast-downloading site will become marketable again if its market is wireless.

We should all SLOW THE HELL DOWN for a bit, anyway.

Good for maps and OnStar-like services...

[Bonker]

... Not so good when you're playing EQ or Q3A while stuck in downtown traffic.

Seriously, depending on the range of this kind of WAN, assuming it's going to run something like cellular or PCS, this could be a serious boon to those who like the in-car navigation systems or services like OnStar. Since OnStar is supposed to be able to do things like unlock your car doors, I'd want a data-firewall to go along with my engine firewall to keep some l33t script-kiddies from haxxoring my car and going for joy-rides.

The idea of being able to play EQ (I think Q3 or Unreal Tournament wouldn't be able to hack the lag) as a *passenger* during a long commute or roadtrip would be a pretty damn nifty.

"Billy, you stop downloading porn back there or I'm turning this car right back around!"

Research so far...

[3G]

Has people from Daimler-Chrysler in Germany controlling their prototype cars from the 'net already. In fact, they've already created a peer-to-peer networking system that allows drivers to exchange, for example, their insurance information automatically after an accident (assuming the thing isn't totaled. More on this from TheFeature. Carnegie Mellon has been looking into this for some time as well.

Re:Wireless vehicle...

[StandardDeviant]

You could already do this I suppose using the already-extant satellite internet access systems. But why would you want to if you live in range of the MAN? Yes, the bandwidth is about the same, but your latency will be MUCH less than to a satellite transceiver (the difference it take an EM wave to travel from car to city 10 miles distant and back (way shorter than you'd notice) compared to from your car to orbital bird and back (quarter second and up depending on altitude)). Wouldn't matter for email and web surfing probably but net games and remote shelling would really be feeling the difference.

--
News for geeks in Austin: www.geekaustin.org

Cell phone user / drunk drivers

[SpinyNorman]

Actually New York is trying to do exactly that. There's some dispute about whether NYC will go first or whether they'll try to make it law for the whole state right away.

It turns out (the reason they're doing it) that cell phone users cause just as many accidents as drunks!

A F1r57 Post from the Interstate

[the_other_one]

could earn you a Darwin Award

internet radio

[mr_burns]

finally our minds won't be the ground for coroprate radio marketers dumping britney spears and eminem!!!

live365.com

now all the small timers and indie rockers will be on equal footing with CBS Radio.

All of a sudden, the RIAA's marketing monopoly just got a punch in the gut. We have a better distribution system. Soon we'll have control over what songs get beamed to our cars and radios....at least get to pick the station our friends set up with all the new, local, cool stuff.

Now all we need is a live365 type thing for music videos.

Internet killed the video star!!!