First World Problems...

It seems like all modern cars have some sort of display to take up the space that used to be filled with cassette decks and 8-track players and CD players. Now...I am not quite enough of a luddite to reject the tremendous technological advances in the automotive industry...modern cars are amazing! They handle spectacularly, they get great gas mileage, they are safe, and they don't require much in the way of repair. We can discuss the conspicuous lack of soul in most of them another time.

But that big screen in the middle of the dash is simply a gateway into the minds of automobile designers without any tech expertise, their reluctant partners the software engineers who don't have a clue about design, and the redheaded stepchildren in the office...the hardware guys, who always say, "yes, that will work," while muttering under their breath, "sometimes."

So we are plagued by their worst ideas, turned into technology that doesn't really work all that well. For instance, embedded navigation systems (a system sold to us at a premium) that aren't nearly as good as the ubiquitous GPS systems on a typical smart phone. Connectivity to customer service to do...what? I have no idea! The ability to schedule service via the car? Whoopee!

But the worst part is the connectivity to your smart phone. You know...the device that already has your nav system and your phone and your music and all that sort of stuff. but connecting your phone to the car runs into overlapping systems, and the car manufacturers want you to use theirs! Hell, my newest car wants me to use its embedded phone! At extra cost. Why the hell would I do that?

Okay...I'll get to the point. When I run my phone through the car systems the screen does not display outside temperature.

Yes...the suffering at Chez Dildo is indescribable!

posted by CBD at 02:00 PM

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