Offices On Wheels?
That's a selling point for new model Ford vehicles, that they come equipped with electronic devices enabling text-messaging? Give me a break. Who needs it? We've got offices to go to in order to conduct business. We've even got home offices to enable us to conduct business from our very homes. We are able to access computers through public libraries and Internet cafes. Why do we need to have our cars equipped?Silly of me, but it's always impressed me that road vehicles are enabling machines for transportation. To get from point A to point B. Safely, in good time. And with modern road vehicles, be they conventional cars, SUVs, vans or trucks, safety is most certainly an issue. With more traffic on our roads and highways than ever before, maintaining a sharp eye for erratic drivers has become a necessity for survival. Why would drivers want to impair their ability to react, let alone their judgement by distractions such as office technology installed in their vehicles?
Because, obviously, they're not too bright. If any potential purchaser of one of these new brands of Ford vehicles is attracted to the nuttiness of owning a vehicle which transforms their driving experience into a moveable office with all the latest technology loaded down for entertainment, communications, cellphones, digital music and media-storage devices other than these, they're more than a trifle tetched.
Why does the Ford Motor Company feel it incumbent upon themselves to offer this questionable bonus to new-vehicle purchasers of the Ford variety? Well, let me take a guess: because their line has proven to be inadequate to the tasks at hand of conveying people and goods from point A to point B. For one thing technical reliability isn't so hot, for another their safety record could be better, and lastly because they haven't adequately focused on efficiency.
So isn't it handy-dandy to mask these shortcomings with the allure of new technologies utterly incompatible with driving a vehicle, but which is bound to be a compelling sell-feature to all the mind-hampered idiots out there who think their personal space within their personal vehicles frees them of all responsibilities to others sharing the roadways.
We know why Bill Gates and Microsoft feel so blissful about this partnership in mobility/technology. It's simple enough; both he and it are technological predators who don't think beyond the ever-expanding bottom line and its endless potential. The ethics of twinning these technologies seems to be beyond their ken. A driver intent on utilizing the new technologies to their utmost potential while negotiating difficult traffic or weather situations cannot be all too different than one driving under the influence of alcohol.
Inattention, blase driving performances, have been responsible for far too many accidents. You can free a driver's hands with voice-activated start-ups and hands-free cellphones, but the mind abstracted and distracted is still the single most potent ingredient for incipient disaster. A marketing and social trends expert at University of Ottawa's School of Management claims:
"To a number of people, the car is their office on wheels. For some, it's central to their profession, so anything that could help them send or receive files could improve productivity." Please - not.while.driving. He states further: "It'll be interesting to see how the insurance industry prices a car with these kinds of options." And I agree, it will be interesting.
Owners of such accidents-in-the-making posing as technological marvels should face stiff insurance penalties through high monthly premiums.
Labels: Particularities/Peculiarities
posted by Pieface @ Monday, January 08, 2007
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