I said this before but this time it's actually appropriate:
The sony e-book doesn't handle the web particularly well, but there are plenty of articles, not to mention the daily paper, that I would really like reading on e-paper. This screen on the back of connected device like the Nokia 770 would be perfect: articles could be fetched on the main screen and sent to the e-paper display.
Plus, the beauty if e-ink is that it's supposed to be cheap to make, so that it could be added as a second display.
I know that this thread isn't exactly about gadget lust, but I think that the 770 could be a killer device with its 2nd revision, if it includes...
a second e-ink screen on the back. Sony just introduced an ebook, but its software is too closed, and its hardware too limited. A sturdy e-ink screen on the back of the 770 would make it the perfect device to read the articles you've found through browsing on the main screen.
My 2cents.
Your point about light trucks remaining the same weight is a good one, but it ignores the current elephant in the living room, SUVs. Light trucks served a different purpose 35 years ago; chiefly they were trucks. They were driven by experienced drivers, mostly for work, and nationwide they were far less common then cars.
High & Mighty, a great book on the subject, painstakingly shows how American car companies shoe horned SUVs into the light truck category to avoid safety and environmental requirements. Free of these requirements, SUVs evolved to become as dangerous to fellow drivers as possible. They were built high, with bumpers that rode over other cars, and stiff under bodies that did impaled its victims. The government looked the other way, protecting American Motors, and then Chrysler, until it was too late.
And your other point about the physics of big cars being fundamentally safer ignores all the improvements in car design that has occurred over the past 35 years. Cars are now built with air bags, crumple zones, and unibody construction. I'll let others who are more knowledgeable than me weigh in, but I think a modern Camry is actually safer for its occupants than a 1972 mid-sized car.
In closing, nobody's evil here, I have close family who drive SUVs, and calling them names doesn't go over well at reunions. That being said, Randy Cohen, the New York Times' Ethicist eloquently concluded that it is selfish to drive a vehicle that puts others at mortal risk for style or comfort. Food for thought when deciding what our next vehicle should be.
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The sony e-book doesn't handle the web particularly well, but there are plenty of articles, not to mention the daily paper, that I would really like reading on e-paper. This screen on the back of connected device like the Nokia 770 would be perfect: articles could be fetched on the main screen and sent to the e-paper display.
Plus, the beauty if e-ink is that it's supposed to be cheap to make, so that it could be added as a second display.
I know that this thread isn't exactly about gadget lust, but I think that the 770 could be a killer device with its 2nd revision, if it includes... a second e-ink screen on the back. Sony just introduced an ebook, but its software is too closed, and its hardware too limited. A sturdy e-ink screen on the back of the 770 would make it the perfect device to read the articles you've found through browsing on the main screen. My 2cents.
High & Mighty, a great book on the subject, painstakingly shows how American car companies shoe horned SUVs into the light truck category to avoid safety and environmental requirements. Free of these requirements, SUVs evolved to become as dangerous to fellow drivers as possible. They were built high, with bumpers that rode over other cars, and stiff under bodies that did impaled its victims. The government looked the other way, protecting American Motors, and then Chrysler, until it was too late.
And your other point about the physics of big cars being fundamentally safer ignores all the improvements in car design that has occurred over the past 35 years. Cars are now built with air bags, crumple zones, and unibody construction. I'll let others who are more knowledgeable than me weigh in, but I think a modern Camry is actually safer for its occupants than a 1972 mid-sized car.
In closing, nobody's evil here, I have close family who drive SUVs, and calling them names doesn't go over well at reunions. That being said, Randy Cohen, the New York Times' Ethicist eloquently concluded that it is selfish to drive a vehicle that puts others at mortal risk for style or comfort. Food for thought when deciding what our next vehicle should be.