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KIA Bringing News & Social Media To Your Car
thecarchik writes "Earlier this week KIA made some major announcements about their future cars. They shed some light on the details of their new UVO system, which lets you answer and place phone calls, send and receive SMS text messages, and access music via voice commands. Moreover, their new widget-based system for the on-screen controls lets you include RSS news, financial information, and weather reports, along with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn updates. If there is one thing we can take away from this and Ford's recent announcement about the MyFord Touch system, it is that we'll see some heated internet technology battles between car manufacturers."
The NY Times pointed out a few days ago that many companies are already turning their attention to dashboard computing, much to the dismay of those who warn against distracted driving.
Fatality rates are dropping annually. I'd say we're already making good progress on making crashes more survivable. Adding more "avoidance" systems only ignores the true problem - people are being encouraged to stop paying attention to driving.
Fix the drivers, not the technology.
To consider that the laws are for our own personal safety at our own hands is a very single minded concept.
It's not a matter of your own safety at your own hands that's the issue, the issue is the safety of everyone else around you. Passengers in your car do opt to rely on you for their safety. Other drivers on the road, and pedestrians do not opt to rely on you for their safety.
It's all of our responsibility to watch the road and be mindful of everyone else. That's what the laws are designed for, not you, but the others you can harm but your negligence.
It is the responsibility of the lawmakers, for right or wrong, to keep everyone else safe, due to the lack of people's ability or desire to consider those around them.
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"The way I see it... If you need both of your hands for whatever it is you're doing, then your brain should probably be in on it too" - Ellen DeGeneres
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Modern cars have expected lifetimes of way way more than five years -- more like thirty years. Are you sure you didn't flip your facts? Cars from the 70s and 80s didn't last nearly so long as modern cars, which have all sorts of special materials which break down far slower than older cars.
It's true that old 'classic' cars were easier to fix, because they were less subtle and complicated, and all of the parts were human-scale instead of microchip-scale. That is indeed a benefit to backyard mechanics, but everyone else benefits from the superior workmanship, materials, and safety systems of modern cars and trucks. In fact one part of the problem faced by auto manufacturers are that they last so long that a person need not buy a new car so often.
I also call shenanigans on your claim to know people who used up six cars in thirty years. The only way that could be possible is if you are referring to six *used* cars, which of course negates the statistic.