My Car’s USB Port
Posted by bmackay on June 12, 2009
With the end of the car culture upon us, it has suddenly become unfashionable to own big, expensive cars.
For the very first time, Americans are driving less than ever before. This is bad news for bankrupted GM as the market for its products has perhaps gone forever.
Americans Driving Less for the First Time
Today, the best car to own is no car. That said, I did replace a gas-guzzler for a small car recently. While not a hybrid or electric vehicle, the car gets excellent fuel economy and qualified for a tax incentive because of its ultra low emissions.
For all its green values, the thing I like best about the car is the iPod interface. That USB port connecting the iPod to the car and 4,000+ songs and audio books had me thinking about how simple technologies could make driving really better. If I had a smart-phone connected to my car’s USB, (instead of my first generation iPod) and that USB talked to all those sensors in the car, I could transmit speed, location and my direction to a car “network” to other cars sharing the road, we’d have some pretty cool things happening.
This network could improve traffic flows and reduce air pollution by load balancing roadways based on current use. Toll booths and truck scales could be eliminated through automation. Accidents could be reduced by automobile equivalents of collision detection systems. New business models like metered use of shared cars and insurance-by-the-kilometer arrangements could be developed.
Imagine if you just wanted to borrow/rent a truck for the afternoon to move some unfeasibly large wicker chairs. Your smart phone would tell you where an available truck-for-hire was waiting. You could then unlock the vehicle from your phone and do your errand, leaving at it your house for the next user. Heck you wouldn’t even have to own a car at all.Or if you owned one, you could rent out your vehicle on the car network while you were toiling away at work.
Maybe GM could build this network, using open source standards…
There’s a great article in this week’s Economist on Automobile Technologies on this topic too.