By now you’ve all heard that computers are coming to cars in a big way. It seems that all the automakers are rushing to put some kind of personal computer-like experience into the car. Web browsers, MP3 players, video, internet radio, restaurant lookups, and of course texting, Twitter, Facebook and social networking of all stripes – it’s all coming to a dashboard near you. Our cars will be online at all times.
This week it was Volkswagen’s turn to announce their version of the “car of the future.” In a story reported in Computerworld and elsewhere, VW CIO Warren Ritchie described a high-touch environment of connectivity, touch-screens, autosensing technology and so on. To make the point, Computerworld said “the car of the future will be both a product and a service.” The vehicle would access data in the cloud and integrate with the customer’s own electronics, like a smartphone or tablet.
I think most of us have either embraced ubiquitous computing or given up trying to fight it. Either way, the integration of computing with the car is not hard to imagine. Computer chips have been under the hood for years, and in-dash GPS and dashboard diagnostics have become common enough. But now we’re about to see the whole PC-like, perhaps Windows-like environment inside the vehicle. I think this leads to two concerns we should all be thinking about.
One: distraction. Two: security.
Driver distraction is a major issue. No one can resist the eye and brain candy of the web, games, social networks and the rest. If this is within sight and reach of the driver, all but the most basic functions must be disabled while the car is in motion. (Good GPS units do this now.) Incredibly, not all automakers have pledged to do this. The response from some car makers (Ford is one example) is that the system will be voice-activated, so as not to take drivers eyes off the road or hands from the wheel. I’m not convinced this is good enough. We’ll have to see if safety trumps marketing or the other way around. I wouldn’t be surprised to see regulation prevail, if common sense doesn’t.
Security is the second big risk here. Consumer software – in which ease of use is priority one – is always going to carry a risk of intrusion. Combine that with wireless connectivity and you’ve got a honeypot for hackers. Think it can’t happen? Check ABC News’ coverage of this last August. In a story called “Scientists Hack Into Cars’ Computers: Control Brakes, Engine” they describe how researchers were able to fake out a car’s onboard diagnostics systems to control the car in motion. The implication is that once the system is even more open (read “Windows based”) and wirelessly online, the hackers will have a field day. Frankly, I think this is more realistic than it is alarmist.
We can’t deny that more and more of our everyday devices are going to be running software and connecting to the network. For example, all the major appliance manufacturers now offer refrigerators with touchscreens that can access email, the web, MP3 players, and so on. Yes, I said refrigerators. Why? Because they can, of course. I once joked about being able to pull up stock quotes on your microwave. It sounded funny years ago, but now we’re there. Cars – where we spend so much of our time already – are not going to be exempt from this trend.
We have to preserve a balance and weigh all the priorities. I’m first in line when it comes to adding technology that will enhance my life and serve me better. But let’s remember that we share the road with a million other drivers. I want them to be secure and distraction-free for my own safety as much as their own.
3 comments:
Dear Howard,
You certainly choose interesting topics for discussion. I am conservative by nature and not usually an early adopter of technology.
Today it seems all manufacturers that use digital components are getting into the "Digital Age is Better" mode. Is it to better my world and better my usage of the product (or service) I am consuming? In my estimation, probably not.
Saftey, in this case, should be an overiding consideration; by the manufacturer, the government regulatory agencies, the insurance companies, but most importantly, by the "user" who seems to be taking less and less responsibility for the safety and care of those around them, including their own families.
In moving vehicles (I am on the road routinely for business), I see way too many phones to ears and heads looking at something other than the road and traffic. A momentary lapse in concentration can be catastrophic. As distraction is added to the drive time of so many people, this is little expectation that roads will get safer. Let's see, totally tinted windows all around, cell phones galore being used despite legal resptictions, laptops that plug into accessory outlets, wireless access from moving vehicles. dvd players (installed or used through accessory ports. There are additional digital "distractions" that I haven't listed, and safety on the road assumes that the driver is responsible when only driving the vehicle! Manufacturers can lock me into my car the minute the car moves forward and turn on headlights and wipers automatically. What's really wrong in locking down the digital "stuff" when the car is in motion. My safety when driving is important to me, even if it isn't to others who make product and action decisions.
We have the ability to use the digital world to serve the betterment of the public as a whole. However when manufacturers and regulatory agencies defer their responsibilities for public safety, I can hardly expect each individual to do so.
Note, digital application. If speeding really needs to be curtailed for safety reasons, would it not be possible to use the bar code on toll road tickets or EZ Pass transactions to stop those who are exiting in less than the time alotted by the speed limit??? Could be a bit more effective than random speed checks with radar guns.
But then I'm one who absolutely believes that more isn not necessarily better.
Dave Gillespie
I don't think the issue here is distraction or safety. I think this trend will be purely market-driven. Yes, we can certainly have all these things in our cars, but do we need them? Some, like GPS and system monitoring, we need. Others we don't. I might like to have a refrigerator in my car, and the technology certainly exists to have one, but do you see automakers offering them? No.
Remember car phones? The projections were that every car would have a car phone in the future. Now, they virtually no longer exist. The cell phone rendered that obsolete. I believe it will also make most of the new technology available for automobiles obsolete as well.
It's the technology you carry with you at all times that will ultimately win, not that in an automobile or even in the home, that's only accessed as small percentage of your time.
What's appropriate for a car will succeed in a car. No more.
Nick Policastro
Personally, I see some of this rush to put technology (read PCs, apps, wi-fi, etc) on/into everything as a waste of time, talent and resources. Really, I NEED to access email on one more device- namely in my car? It's not enough that I can look up restaurants on my smartphone, while in my car? I need to be able to do that via the car's device as well?
And, finally, I am always amused by folks who have come to rely on their digital technology to such a degree that when it fails they are at sea. Just recently I encountered a young woman who had no idea how to get home from her location without her GPS, which had failed. She had no road maps, had no clue what major roads she'd need... To my mind, this is not a good development.
As the old saying goes, too much horse makes for weak legs.
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