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The iPad As In-Car Entertainment System Killer
theodp writes "Cars.com's David Thomas speculates that the iPad could prove to be a serious problem for automakers that charge a ransom for rear entertainment systems. The base iPad, Thomas notes, costs far less than most DVD options offered by automakers. Ford charges $1,995 for a dual-headrest-mounted DVD system in its Flex crossover. In the Acura MDX, its single-screen system, with three wireless headsets and a 9-inch screen, costs $1,900. At $500 a pop, giving two kids their own iPads would cost far less than what the automakers charge for an ICE system. The Cars.com article mentions some of the advantages of ICE, including being weather-tested to work from -5 to 160 degrees F (-20 to 71 C), and being far less prone to breakage."
Dick waving contest. I always love driving behind a car that has two tvs in the headrests that are on and no one in the backseat.
Damn right!
Kids these days with their "in car entertainment" and their "iPods" and whatnot; when I was their age all we had to do in the back of the station wagon was fight with our brothers and sisters and make faces at the cars behind us! And we were damn glad to do it!
Now get off my lawn!
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
...to steal the factory installed DVD system than they are to grab the two iPads in your back seat.
Maybe one day Apple will develop an iPad which is portable so that it can be removed from the vehicle? One can only hope!
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
No, but if IT geeks work for you, you probably are. :(
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
The Cars.com article mentions some of the advantages of ICE, including being weather-tested to work from -5 to 160 degrees F (-20 to 71 C)
Great! Glad to know the ridiculously expensive option allows the little tikes to enjoy their Disney fare while dying of hypothermia or heatstroke.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
So what is so new with the ipad in this sense?
When you really want to buy an ipad for yourself, and you tell the wife its actually for the kids.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
No kidding! We made our own entertainment as kids. We played games, and not just the tame ones like "I spy" and the like. We made our OWN games, thus increasing our creativity! We played games like, "What's that smell?" and "Does this hurt?" and "Let's make the veins pop out on the driver's forehead"! And, of course, the ever popular "I'm not touching you!" while waggling a finger mere millimeters away from your siblings body after being instructed not to touch them. This last game was a real challenge, as a pothole or sudden change of direction could jostle you just enough to come into contact with your sibling, and therefore breaking the "rules" and getting you into trouble.
Ah, good times. Good times.
psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo
At $500 a pop, giving two kids their own iPads would cost far less than what the automakers charge for an ICE system.
And the only drawback being they can't play DVDs at all? Why not replace the ICE system with a shiny rock they can look at, even cheaper than the ipad and it can't play DVDs either.
LOL. I swear to God, one time my kids got into a fight because "SHE'S LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW!!!".
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
what was fun was mooning and flipping people off from the back seat in the station wagon. Dad cant see what you are doing and he wonder why everyone passing is honking at him and flipping him off.
P.S. doing it to a cop will get you in trouble.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Heck, it can cause an accident just from sliding around and somehow ending between your feet and the brake.
Is that you, Toyota?
These days, what often brakes in cars are the electronics
Unless it's a Toyota.