January 2nd, 2007
Autonet Mobile, Avis to Team Up with Wireless Hot Spot in Rentals
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
How much distraction while driving is OK, or should even be allowed?
Yesterday I wrote a story about Ford and Microsoft teaming up with “Sync”. This will allow not just pairing and use of Bluetooth headsets, but email as well.
That level of distraction is bad enough, but today I read that Autonet Mobile and Avis will be teaming up to offer a Wireless Hotspot in your Avis car (for $10.95 a day), starting in March.
For $10.95 a day, Avis will issue motorists a notebook-size portable device that plugs into a car’s power supply and delivers a high-speed Internet connection to passengers.
A mobile Wi-Fi hot spot that lets laptops and personal digital assistants link to the Internet without the benefit of wires represents an important step toward what technology experts call the “connected car” — a vehicle in which both passengers’ devices and the car’s essential systems are always online. Source: IHT
We Say: The “connected car” and the “disconnected driver” … people have enough trouble driving while talking on a cell phone (which is one reason I really wish the “hands-free law” in California would kick in before 2008), much less surfing the Internet. The article does point out (and I would agree) that there will be questions about the legality of surfing the Internet and driving. I hope that if legislation ensues, common sense will prevail.
John says:
You’re not even considering the ‘connected’ car. VERY Big-brotherish to me. Monitoring speed real time among other things comes to mind.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Steve Paine says:
open-source mapping of roads and real-time traffic info come into my mind. Cool!
Steve.
January 2nd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
John Corliss says:
It always astonishes me that ANY cell phone usage by people driving a car is legal. It’s been proven conclusively that the effect it has on driving is akin to drunk driving, yet it’s still allowed. As a motorcyclist, I can’t tell you how many times some idiot on a cell phone has almost driven into me. To heck with “hands free” (although it’s better than nothing), they should simply OUTLAW using cell phones as well as other similar distractions while driving.
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:33 am