The Connected Car
Today, the Internet is everywhere, and it's easy to forget that five to 10 years ago, many people wondered if the World Wide Web was simply a fad or if it was here to stay. But while the tech industry has made huge progress in creating Web connectivity in plenty of other products, the connected car remains an unfulfilled promise.
In-car connectivity is coming, no question about it. The question is, exactly how? While it could be through a grand, built-in system based on something like the recently announced collaboration between Ford and Microsoft, perhaps the best solution is for somebody to figure out how to make your car simply act as another input/output device for your phone, PDA or laptop.
Let's face it, the amount of computing power you can hold in your hand has become truly amazing - for example, making cell phone calls today is almost an afterthought. Handheld devices can now help you surf the Web, check e-mail, pay for purchases, listen to music and get directions. In the future, why not just throw your handheld device in the glove box where it wirelessly connects to a large display screen in your car, and then is voice-activated for whatever you need? No need to learn another interface that's unique to your car, no need to sync music files, no need to have redundant navigation systems. Just put your life on your handheld and go.
This could happen, but I'm betting on some serious speed bumps along the way to true in-car connectivity, no matter how it happens. That's because, while the future always sounds great, the reality is that today's efforts (such as Bluetooth connectivity and voice-activation) still have issues that need to be addressed. In fact, one of the most common problems reported by new-vehicle owners relates to Bluetooth connectivity, according to J.D. Power and Associates automotive research. It just doesn't work very well and can be a huge distraction. The devil is in the details, and those details are still devilishly difficult.
