I know the article said this will augment "existing audio and electronic systems" in the vehicle. I wouldnt bet a whole lot on their ability to execute to this spec without touching any of the rest of the onboard computer systems (which is usually ONE modular package sitting behind the dash or under the roof).
Interesting tid-bit: CDMA phones do play havoc with the cruise control in some cars. A car on cruise will accelarate, BY ITSELF, when the Paging message goes out to the mobile handset.
Doesnt seem like all manufacturers EMI/EMC test their cars against interference from the most used frequency band. Guess what frequency Wireless LAN uses?
As for plugging in the iPoD - guess I'll just have to go out and get a pair of those darned expensive bose headphones:)
Since I trust Microsoft products to function flawlesly and reliably here is a list of the functionality that I would like excluded from the purview of this telematic system -
1. ABS
2. Fuel Injection
3. Engine timing
4. Automatic Transmission (or ratios in stick models)
5. Airbag deployment
6. Cruise control
7. Door locks
And before you mod me down for being a paranoid tinfoil-hatted troll read about the Phillipine minister who was trapped in his BMW that refused to unlock and let him out? The HAL-in-a-car was very likely a Microsoft Telematic system.
They can mess all they want with the radio - I'll be switching it off listening to my iPoD anyway:)
Any technological product that does not contain within itself the seeds of its obsolescence is hughly unlikely to reach the market, even if it were possible to design and produce.
What prevents that from happening is less the state of scientific or technological development - rather it is governed by simple marketplace economics. The call for a "perpetual" product denies the necessity of transactional perpetuation that is indispensible to sustaining the economy. And our daily survival is closely interlinked with this whimsical beast that we all love to loath.
This article is really a call for a change in both the economic and pilitical models that are in place today. I don't know if the author did'nt realise that or deliberately chose to focus on the near issue, but it is an expression of dissatisfaction with the way we do business today.
Which is strange - we routinely accept impossible deadlines in our jobs - deadlines that are dictated by transparently artificial business urgencies.
Makes me wonder what would happen if the growth rate of ALL companies in the world were to be scaled back by say 15% in some kind of economic Slo-Time....:)
On one hand, a deliberate, parity maintained global slow-down might improve everybodys quality of life. On the other hand it might just make things worse and result in a month of Black Tuesdays. And on the gripping hand the offended ghosts of Smith, Keynes and company might curse humankind to be confined to a barter economy for evermore.
My bad! Euro it is. Blame it on caffeine and self-inflicted sleep deprivation. (Theres is one "Rumsfeld interrogation stress technique" that the true/.er won't be fazed by!:)
All the signs
- Unclear domain name ownership
- Bad, very bad, truly horrible copy
( c'est abominable!)
- Hyperbolic yet inconsistent specs for the "7 low-frequency parallell processor technology)
- PayPal and Escrow for orders placed in dollars - you'd think a French company would also quote prices in Francs - French jingoism isn't what it used to be:(
And the cherry - the highest, fully loaded configuration possible would cost you 1655 dollars.
Assuming you chose to pay for that you'll probably end up with a cheap video game made in China.
This set of patents is a veritable gold mine for the holders - its not just web update/patch/dnld mechanisms that are involved. For example Akamai uses a lot of similar technology to sync and distribute content between their different nodes - and the folks at BTG can, doubtless, hear the CHI-CHING!!! of the cash registers. If you own a set-top box that is remotely programmed/updated with firmware through your phone/cable/satellite conenction - CHI-CHING!!!! If you write a small client-server software for your startup and the stars smile on your IPO - CHI-CHING!! I can see these patents keeping a large army of sharkskin suits in business for a long time indeed.
This news came as a surprise to me - that you NEED government regulation to force the separation of phone and DSL. Here in Stockholm, we tend to take it for granted that you can choose different providers for local phone, for long distance and for DSL - anytime you want (unless you are locked in by a cheap offering that holds your soul in escrow for 12 or 24 months).
And to those fellow./ers who are as lazy as me when it comes to dealing with multiple vendors (and bills and payments...) I have two words for you - Bill Pay !!
I wouldnt be so sure about their need for knives - I have been trying to acquire a traditionally made Gurkha "Kukri" for my collection. The kukri, with its angled blade is a formidable multipurpose tool - serving much the same purposes as the machete in South America. Of course, it doesnt come with a flip-open screwdriver - I guess thats what made the swiss A-knives popular items!
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Interesting tid-bit: CDMA phones do play havoc with the cruise control in some cars. A car on cruise will accelarate, BY ITSELF, when the Paging message goes out to the mobile handset. Doesnt seem like all manufacturers EMI/EMC test their cars against interference from the most used frequency band. Guess what frequency Wireless LAN uses?
As for plugging in the iPoD - guess I'll just have to go out and get a pair of those darned expensive bose headphones :)
1. ABS
2. Fuel Injection
3. Engine timing
4. Automatic Transmission (or ratios in stick models)
5. Airbag deployment
6. Cruise control
7. Door locks
And before you mod me down for being a paranoid tinfoil-hatted troll read about the Phillipine minister who was trapped in his BMW that refused to unlock and let him out? The HAL-in-a-car was very likely a Microsoft Telematic system.
They can mess all they want with the radio - I'll be switching it off listening to my iPoD anyway :)
What prevents that from happening is less the state of scientific or technological development - rather it is governed by simple marketplace economics. The call for a "perpetual" product denies the necessity of transactional perpetuation that is indispensible to sustaining the economy. And our daily survival is closely interlinked with this whimsical beast that we all love to loath.
This article is really a call for a change in both the economic and pilitical models that are in place today. I don't know if the author did'nt realise that or deliberately chose to focus on the near issue, but it is an expression of dissatisfaction with the way we do business today.
Which is strange - we routinely accept impossible deadlines in our jobs - deadlines that are dictated by transparently artificial business urgencies.
Makes me wonder what would happen if the growth rate of ALL companies in the world were to be scaled back by say 15% in some kind of economic Slo-Time....:)
On one hand, a deliberate, parity maintained global slow-down might improve everybodys quality of life. On the other hand it might just make things worse and result in a month of Black Tuesdays. And on the gripping hand the offended ghosts of Smith, Keynes and company might curse humankind to be confined to a barter economy for evermore.
My bad! Euro it is. Blame it on caffeine and self-inflicted sleep deprivation. (Theres is one "Rumsfeld interrogation stress technique" that the true /.er won't be fazed by! :)
All the signs - Unclear domain name ownership - Bad, very bad, truly horrible copy ( c'est abominable!) - Hyperbolic yet inconsistent specs for the "7 low-frequency parallell processor technology) - PayPal and Escrow for orders placed in dollars - you'd think a French company would also quote prices in Francs - French jingoism isn't what it used to be :(
And the cherry - the highest, fully loaded configuration possible would cost you 1655 dollars.
Assuming you chose to pay for that you'll probably end up with a cheap video game made in China.
syrinje
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes
And to those fellow ./ers who are as lazy as me when it comes to dealing with multiple vendors (and bills and payments...) I have two words for you - Bill Pay !!
syrinje
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes
I wouldnt be so sure about their need for knives - I have been trying to acquire a traditionally made Gurkha "Kukri" for my collection. The kukri, with its angled blade is a formidable multipurpose tool - serving much the same purposes as the machete in South America. Of course, it doesnt come with a flip-open screwdriver - I guess thats what made the swiss A-knives popular items!