- Related Stories
-
Digital home entertainment hits the road
October 19, 2004 -
Microsoft: Linux may mean price cuts, fewer sales
September 3, 2004 -
Playing the convergence game
August 16, 2004 -
Ballmer: Microsoft needs better sales pitch
July 6, 2004 -
The next Java frontier: Your car
October 16, 2000
(continued from previous page)
A little mood music for the ride
Another market that's viewed as ripe for computerization is in-car entertainment, which is still dominated by CD and, especially in larger SUVs and minivans, DVD players and video game players. That seems about to change, with billion-dollar electronics suppliers such as Thomson, Pioneer and Delphi saying this week that they'd like to find ways to let drivers take the equivalent of their home entertainment systems on the road.
Microsoft's answer is simple: because there's already a Windows box with speakers in the vehicle, just provide a connection where drivers can plug in their USB device, Compact Flash card, or SD Media card with audio files on it. (The Hummer has a connection on the dashboard.)
"What happens when I want to bring digital music into the car? It's a little tough to stream that over cellular networks," Wengert says. "Our philosophy is to put your music on a storage device. That's going to be a lot cheaper. People don't want to have to buy an iPod to play their music."
Apple Computer's wildly popular iPod does offer a USB connection, but in an effort to curb piracy, hides the music files when it's connected to a PC. Wengert says whether it will work on a Windows Automotive system is a "question for Apple."
Wengert argues that Microsoft is a more attractive option than Linux or other free or open-source operating systems: "Car companies want their supplier to have skin in the game. Who would Ford go to for support and help if they adopted Linux?"
Rival suitors
Microsoft is hardly alone among traditional computer companies trying to convince auto makers to take their technology for a test drive.
Dealers would love it, just imagine the add ons they could sell
with a car now: Virus software, pop-up blockers, ...etc.
The idea that it would be a Microsoft OS is the stupid idea. I
cannot get past, nor comprehend, the inexplicable logic that
could lead anyone to come to the conclusion to use software
from a company that has nothing but a long history of
instability.
Get off the crack pipe people.
And the Fiat Lancia Thesis seems promising...
So far, their implementation of Microsoft software don't reflect your opinion of "stupidest idea ever."
I don't think so. Besides crashes do we have to fear everyone we drive by with a notebook computer or PDA because the care has so many security holes we could be care jacked?
Do we really want to take our cars in every week or even once a month for patches to be installed?
I don't think so.
Robert
Thank but I'll leave the monthly patches to my desktop. I want a proprietary close system for my car something that:
1. Won't have security that any 2 bit script kiddy or hacker might know about.
2. Isn't well documented on the net so some smuck can easily figure out how to hack my system. E.G. Hacking the BT stack so they can mess around with my car's settings.
3. Thanks but I'd rather not have to do soft rests for my car's computer system (even if it isn't tied to the cars critical computer systems.)
I can honestly say that having a Microsoft OS in a car would actually shy me away from purchasing a car from that manufacturer.
2 Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3 Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4 Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5 Only one person at a time could use the car unless you bought "CarNT," but then you would have to buy more seats.
6 Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive- but would run on only five percent of the roads.
7 The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "General Protection Fault" warning light.
8 New seats would force everyone to have the same sized butt.
9 The airbag system would ask "are you sure" before deploying.
10 Occasionally for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
11 GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of Rand McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even though they neither need nor want them. Attempting to delete this option would immediately cause the car's performance to diminish by 50% or more. Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by the Justice Dept.
12 Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
13 You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
Source: http://www.eccentrix.com/members/computeaser/
Do we really need the blue screen of death while we are driving
our car?
An OS so stupid that you have to click START to turn OFF your
computer, but smart enough to be in your car?
Virus riddled software that may cripple your transportation...
Is Big Brother Bill keeping track of where we are driving to now
with GPS-MS-MAP Search?
Is there no place on God's Earth that Citizen Gates & his brown
booted Softies can shove their Longhorn up our collective black
holes?
Bill the Borg: Resistance is futile, you will be assimulated.
-Eyes wide open in Seattle-
Yes, Linux is far, far more stable then windows xp.
2. Microsoft OS has never been put in charge of "critical" automobile functions. Again, you demonstrate a lack of understanding of the topic at hand.
chances than ever even ENTER a car with Windows running in it
-- even for "entertainment" purposes!
This is absolutely the worst idea ever propagated.
it seems that the best thing they can do is make ridiculous
decisions and make people laugh at them. Quickly,
someone pass the clown suits to the MS executives! Don't
they look just adorable? Haha!
If they can't get it right on a computer - after how many
years - would you trust this company to insert its
handicapped software on your vehicle? Hey, we are talking
about your safety and that of your loved ones! Yup, you can
replace a computer, but can you replace a life? I don't think
so!
If this occurs, the number one cause of death in the USA will
be Microsoft.
MS is like a virus...it attempts to spread itself everywhere
and destroys all things it touches.
http://java.sun.com/features/2000/08/ford.html
only get your attention when they fail, and that doesn't happen
very often with embedded Java.
Yeah, this is what we need - more distracted drivers playing with more gadgets in the car, tying up traffic with their inattentive driving and causing accidents. Every day I see people who can't even handle talking on a cell phone, keeping the speed limit (usually go too slow), and staying in their lane!
Its an LCD screen that gives engine lights, odometer, tachometer, speedometer, etc instead of the traditional mechanical dials.
Yeah lets drive blind when the screen turns blue with a cryptic error message (Microsoft tech support: "Just pull over and reboot your car").
Lovely
Thank you for setting this matter straight.
MS) in voice recognition software, OS control, so this is only NEW
to MSOS. Audio & DVD? Apple was once again WAY ahead of MS
in integration of CD-Roms & DVD+R integration & software. Plus
Apple has been involved in the nusic business for decades which
is why the Mac,iTunes+iPod is so successful in music & why MS
is scrambling to catch up.
Get the facts JOE before you start to BLOW.
-Eyes wide open in Seattle-
One needs to get thier act together before going on the road.
My old Ford is reliable enough without computers.
John Bruggeman talks about the "tipping" point happening now for Linux in the Automotive Industry. Check it out:
http://blogs.windriver.com/bruggeman/2006/10/linux_and_autom.html
(67 Comments)
John Bruggeman talks about the "tipping" point happening now for Linux in the Automotive Industry. Check it out:
http://blogs.windriver.com/bruggeman/2006/10/linux_and_autom.html
