The next Big Thing that the manufacturers are going for is cars that are connected to the internet to allow you to surf the web more easily while driving. Obviously safety is a consideration so they are addressing this by adding in an app that phones an ambulance automatically when the driver smashes their car into you. No I am not making that up, I wish I was.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Computers, GPS, 'Smart' 'Phones
Internet Cars
(16 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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Yet more buttons to press and distractions to look at is exactly what we need to make citys safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
SMIWCITTPSOFB
(Sorry Mate, I was Checking-in to this parking space on face book)
Posted 11 years ago # -
I saw an ad a while back for a car which had one of its big selling points that you could access Facebook on the console and remember thinking at the time, "Just... Why?"
I presume the screen and input doesn't work if the car is moving, please at least tell me that...
Posted 11 years ago # -
anyone watched the eddie stobart telly programmes, no but they do have n on board computer that tells drivers where to deliver or pick up, it also doubles as a lorry phone, obviously they cant access things while on the move, right ! The screen emits the message,
screen locked while vehicle is in motion,
under neath is a button which says.............
UNLOCK SCREEN !
Not that the ose drivers would do that, they seem however to be able to look at maps,instructions or talk to persons holding cameras in the rear of cabs, (BEDS )no belts etc.
without due care and attention sir !
oh and the ambulance that the app sends for will have the same system as well, but they have blue lights so thats okPosted 11 years ago # -
On the same lines as Splitshift, when Top Gear was demonstrating the Lexus LFA, JC showed how you could now speak to a Real Life Person to get directions. None of that boring programming-before-you-go stuff, now you can do it on the move, by looking at the screen in the middle of the dashboard, and operating a little joystick to select the relevant options.
I was annoyed at TG for implying that taking your eyes off the road to operate a computer was somehow normal, even desirable. If JC ever met safety-techie William Woolard, they would probably annihilate each other in a massive stream of gamma rays. Baryogenesis is probably why JC is on TV and WW isn't.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@Splitshift, a friend who is on the ambulances mentioned to me that although they have and use satnav, the driver isn't allowed to see it, it's positioned so that only the passenger can see it and it is them who directs the driver. Idea is that they have enough to concentrate on just piloting the vehicle without thinking about directions as well. Sounds sensible.
Perhaps it's time for a law that all computer/satnav/phone controls should be automatically (properly!) disabled when the vehicle is in motion (unless positioned on the far left of the vehicle so that only the passenger can reach them)?
Posted 11 years ago # -
I don't footer with the satnav when the car is moving but it is sometimes handy to see the map view and know what the road ahead is about to do. On rural roads it can warn you about bends before the chevrons and in town you have a better chance of being in the right lane.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I would prefer if people could see out their windows than look at a SatNav screen. If you must use one, don't stick it to your windscreen.
Posted 11 years ago # -
If you fit it lower down then you need to look away from the road. I've got it in the bottom right corner of the windscreen, nearly resting on top of the dashboard.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I could have done with SatNav on Saturday when I took my two eldest to see All Time Low at the O2 in the Gorbals. That one way system beats me every time.
Posted 11 years ago # -
And if you leave it in the Bridge St park and ride you'll be there for ages afterwards. On the other hand it can be touch and go getting back to Queen St on time for the train.
I've tried using satnav in my pocket on a bike and it works but seeing the display makes it much easier.
I only have a stupid phone.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@smudge, yes i too have a friend who pilots for the amb service, and while the screens ar supposed to be set so the driver cant see them, he reckons they can and are angled toward the driver sometimes, names changed(ommitted ) to protect , blah blah blah.
no matter what the device, even the radio for musak,its all covered by due care and attention,are police drivers actually capable of inmporting more peices of info than you or I while we travel at 120mph ?and talk through it, or record evidence ? I started but never completed the IAM driving course, and its actually quite difficult to keep talking in a manner thats understandable while driving and keeping up with the incoming information, not quite rocket science just damned annoying !
Even blue tooth stuff where i had a borg like thing in my ear, isnt great, i missed a turning and got into a bit of a pickle in the lorry, while engaged in a conversation about dinner with my mum, on a road i had been hundreds of times ! I no longer use it. The phone will ring and i just pull in when safe to do so and call the very important person whom i missed ! Every time you do something other than driving is dangerous, all that stuff is not needed! Besides, I still dont trust sat nav, good old fashioned map before you leave, pre planned route and the ability to THINK has stood me in good stead so far !Posted 11 years ago # -
Sat nav kills peoples brains! Was being given a lift to Alien Rock the other day by a friend who goes there regularly, however this time he had forgotten his sat nav and despite his regular attendance had no-idea how to get there.
I didnt make a great substitute as I kept trying to direct him along the route with the smoothest tarmac and least climbs...
Posted 11 years ago # -
"Sat nav kills peoples brains! Was being given a lift to Alien Rock the other day by a friend who goes there regularly, however this time he had forgotten his sat nav and despite his regular attendance had no-idea how to get there."
It's a bit like people who use the Underground all the time having no idea of the layout on the surface.
Most taxis these days seem to have sat nav too. I presume they still have to have 'da knowledge' but I can imagine it's easy to lapse into 'follow the arrow' at the expense of thinking about a route and taking more sensible options based on local understanding.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Regarding the whole ambulance/sat nav thing.
Drivers have to be able to see the screen, as when you're bringing the patient back to the hospital from wherever they were, your handy crew and map reader is in the back. It's also one of the worst designed pieces of software I've ever seen. Top down OS map view, that doesn't display upcoming turns until you're on top of them and the screen only updates as you get to a few inches off the edge.
We tend to keep a more modern sat nav on the windscreen, so at least if you are unfamiliar with the route you can go off that rather than using something mounted near your left knee...
Posted 11 years ago # -
Sat nav kills peoples brains!
On the other hand if you're going somewhere new, the stress and frustration it relives over having the wife navigate must have surely saved at least one life by now!
Posted 11 years ago #
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