Ford Introduces Next-Gen Connectivity Suite

[MTK]

Looks pretty sweet

Ford Introduces Next-Gen Connectivity Suite Called MyFord; Should Be Awesome - Car News - Car and Driver

[firstdown]

Looks like a bunch of new stuff to break. I like a simple car with the standard features because I feel its less stuff to break. Take for example those automatic closing doors and rear hatches. Are people really that lazy they cannot open their own door and when my buddies broke it cost him $1,800 to have it fixed. He said its the last car he buys with things like that. Give me power locks, seats, windows and I'm pretty well set.

[tryfuhl]

The added features are great.. but also a pain to repair when they do go out.

It looks pretty sweet, the current Sync system is neat as it is

[MTK]

I'm really excited about having Wi-Fi in your vehicle.

[mredskins]

Is it just me but are we losing the art of driving? These cars do everything but focus on improving your driving. So many distractions to the driver.

I am also with firstdown, less options = less headaches. I am a buy a car new keep it ten years guy so I always think what will break in years 6 on...

[MTK]

Well they do have things like back up cams and collision detection, so I would say things like that improve safety.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Looks like a bunch of new stuff to break. I like a simple car with the standard features because I feel its less stuff to break. Take for example those automatic closing doors and rear hatches. Are people really that lazy they cannot open their own door and when my buddies broke it cost him $1,800 to have it fixed. He said its the last car he buys with things like that. Give me power locks, seats, windows and I'm pretty well set.

Godsends to mothers around the world.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Well they do have things like back up cams and collision detection, so I would say things like that improve safety.

I hear you.

My wife's Acura has a back up cam, let me tell you if you just want by that cam good luck! I never even use it.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

Godsends to mothers around the world.

great point

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Is it just me but are we losing the art of driving? These cars do everything but focus on improving your driving. So many distractions to the driver.

I am also with firstdown, less options = less headaches. I am a buy a car new keep it ten years guy so I always think what will break in years 6 on...

Personally, I would be just as happy if my car were my own personal taxi, get in, tell the computer "Take me to work" and then I read the morning emails, updates, etc while the car navigates the idiocy of the morning rush. As in I Robot, it would have to have an override in case the robots try to take over the world, but I am good with letting the car drive me around.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

Personally, I would be just as happy if my car were my own personal taxi, get in, tell the computer "Take me to work" and then I read the morning emails, updates, etc while the car navigates the idiocy of the morning rush. As in I Robot, it would have to have an override in case the robots try to take over the world, but I am good with letting the car drive me around.

BBC News - How computers took over our cars

With this level of electronic driver support, won't cars soon be able to drive themselves? In fact car makers have built prototypes that can do just that. But for years into the future they will stop short of selling them. It's too onerous to take legal responsibility away from the driver.

Even so, cars will continue to harvest more and more information about the world around them. Rival manufacturers are co-operating to lay down an automotive wifi standard. The aim is that in a few years from now vehicles will be able to set up ad-hoc car-to-car networks. Cars would send and receive their position, direction and speed to neighbouring vehicles. Your car would warn you if a vehicle was around a corner, coming towards you but hidden. If you don't apply the brakes, it could.

Guess the liability question makes a lot of sense, no personal taxi for me in the near future. This article is a really interesting look at the past and future of electronics in cars