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Auto Manufacturers Running Out Of Unique IDs
wakebrdr writes "Y2K all over again? A story in today's Detroit News explains how the vehicle ID numbering system (VIN) will soon run out of unique numbers. According to the article, a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers says, 'Longer codes would require a major overhaul of computer systems that would dwarf the challenges and expenses spawned by the Y2K computer dilemma.' Golly, if it's that serious maybe I should start stocking up on MREs and ammunition in preparation for the day the assembly lines come to a screeching halt."
Just use NAT.
"Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
Does reading "userfriendly" make anyone else around here want to strangle someone?
How about extending the allowable characters in a VIN to include certain ASCII or Unicode symbols? Perhaps make them case-sensitive? That would preserve uniqueness--at least for awhile longer--although it might make the codes harder to verbalize (i.e. to an insurance agent).
I *knew* we'd find a use for Dingbats Font someday!
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
I'm not worried about the assembly lines coming to a screeching halt... I'm more worried about the assembly robots revolting and attacking the population!
*Duck and cover*
My car has a seven digit number as a VIN.
I had a lot of issues getting it registered and insured, although in most cases it was just a training issue -- the people I was dealing with didn't know how to enter it correctly.
The Massachusetts RMV had no idea what to do with an odometer in kilometers though, so my title says 9,999,999 miles on it.
Actually maybe they already do? If so, then start using the !@#$#$%^%^&*)(*& symbols!
Those symbols are usually reserved for use *after* the accident with the uninsured driver.
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
Perhaps this will speed the transition to VINv6...
Shades of Grayden
Let's see... how many manhours can a consultant charge the PHB to run the following SQL query
alter table VEHICLES modify column VIN varchar(50);
Yup.. that took countless manhours.
...vehicle ID numbering system (VIN) will soon run out of unique numbers
Ewww, ewwww...quick, rename it VINv6, adopt the change, talk about it for years on end, scare folks with the apocolyptic visions of a VINv4 disaster, implement sparingly, even have some Finish dude incorporate it into his own car line he started from scratch(obviously stolen from Ford ideas) and have absolutely NO ONE use it due to their legacy cars!
Virtual Private Vehicles. It's sort of a blend between a public mass-transit system and your own private vehicle.
Your car would not have its own VIN while traveling. To get to your destination, you "tunnel" your vehicle into the back of a flatbed truck. Your vehicle would be packaged into the flatbed truck along with other vehicles. Once your vehicle arrives, it would be unloaded and you would take it alone to finish the local part of the trip.
Right on, man! Next thing you know they'll want to put unique ID's on all network interface devices.
Fight the power!
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Yes, Mr. Insurance agent, I've got my VIN right here. It's A-1-D-1-squiggle-smiley face-squiggle-1-2-W-musical notes-e with two dots over it-female symbol-B-5-open paren-heart.
I am not a crackpot.
"Golly, if it's that serious maybe I should start stocking up on MREs and ammunition in preparation for the day the assembly lines come to a screeching halt."
No, it's time to stock up on VINs. Anyone want to buy the rights to 4S6RN38F94L296406 ?
--- What?
How about a VINv6?
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
>2005-??-?? ??? - "Some *really* old versions of UNIX (e.g. 16-bit BSD) die in 2005.".
See! BSD is dying!!
...would be an even better headline.
let me get this straight:
you traded a '68 Mustang for a '92 Prizm?!
"[...]would dwarf the challenges and expenses spawned by the Y2K computer dilemma."
So, in this engineer's opinion, we've got more systems using VINs than dates?
Impossible! How would they reach us, why they'd need a million cars to... oh. Crap!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I speak from experience
>> do with an odometer in kilometers though, so my title says 9,999,999 miles on it.
Obviously it's not a ford.
Well, it could be - probably right after the purchase he had to roll it backwards a few feet to get it up on the blocks.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Now, we just need some clueless politician and/or judge to decree that we need to be able to keep the same VIN when we switch cars. After all, it's just as personal as a phone number or an IP address, right?
Who cares if it completely neuters the data model, is hard if not impossible to implement, and results in massive confusuion and overhead nightmares, it's the in thing to do, making all these pesky numbers portable.
Come to think of it, my VIN already is portable, I put a few hundred miles on it a month.
Excellent idea except for the problem that make universe takes a really long time to compile.
How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
Sounds like everything's going according to plan.
It's too bad the plan sucks.
I ground the VIN numbers off my car everytime I ermm....get.....a new one :-D
If you can't say something nice, make sure you have something heavy to throw.
Finally - a slashdot comment that is both insightful and a load of bull!
So it's really just the US that's having problems, right? So now we'll be taking over countries for their VIN prefixes....
Yeah. Those conspiracy-lovers think it was all about oil. But in reality it was the unused VIN prefixes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Thanks to the internet, we can now all die alone together! -SomeWoman
Unlike telephone companies, which simply created new area codes to cope with a surge in households, cell phones and fax machines, ...
Simply? Donchya just love it when a complex problem can be dismissed with that simp... er, ... single word?
We're running out of area codes too.
Then there's large metro areas that have switched to 10 or even 11 digit dialing. Say you move to such a place and you take your phone with with you -- you know, the one with all your those numbers programmed into it by your wife -- and you need to add the area codes to all of them. Going the other way, some (many? most?) areas that only use 7 digit dialing and you gotta remove the area codes.
No big deal you say? Chances are it's her phone and she lost the manual. Or maybe it just seems to always happen that way.
Then there's area code splits. I'd hate to be responsible for any sizable contact database when that happens.
Good thing that phone numbers can be dealt with so simply.
:^j
OK, show of hands: how many of you know two or more VINs? Good. Now all you smart asses put your hands down. Ah. I see one hand up in ... I think that's Montana ... and there's three in North Carolina. OK, hands down.
Now, how many of you know three or more phone numbers?
[earth's orbit shifts slightly]
Thank you.
"Where's my other sock?" - A. Einstein
"It's 1 Z D R J (aleph) (delta) (omicron) (one quarter vulgar fraction) (ordinal indicator, masculine) (cyrillic capital letter KJE) (surjection, z notation finite). Oh shoot, I forgot the (german penny sign). Lemme start all over..."
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
recycle it's VIN number
recycle it is vehicle identification number number?
the automotive industry has used dingbats for years!
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I know because Billy-Jim-Bob two pages up said Y2K was no big deal, and everyone knows 15-year old Slashdot posters are the most knowledgable geeks in the known universe.
Quick, someone patent VIN's with one more digit....
It puts the numbers in the correct boxes, or else it gets the hose again.
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
Really, I was going to post the same thing. Seems kind of like the way things were supposed to work. Makes you wonder what they were thinking in 1981.
"Hmm, this new VIN thing is good for 30 years."
"Then what'll we do?"
"I don't know, I'll be retired."
"Oh yeah, me too"
"Let them figure it out."
"Yeah, at least we'll get to 2000 OK, let's see those banks and nuclear reactors do that."
Not really. You are some 40 year old SAE guy in a room thinking 30 years? Great! I'll be retired by the time the shit hits the fan. After that, who gives a rats ass.
Yeah, but it's not like cars hadn't been around a lot more than 30 years by the 70s already. Did they really think we'd all be flying helicopters in 30 years? Come on.
Database geek: "We're running out of VIN's." ..."
PHB: "Okay, where can we get some more VIN's?"
Database geek: "Mmmm, Botswana, Zambia,
PHB: "Works for me! Close the plant and move all the production to Botswana."