The latest attempt at a Microsoft car

[Paul Sutton]

On a more serious note, I think the more toys and distractions there are 
in cars, the potential for accidents increases,  there are laws here in 
the UK regarding eating, or using a mobile phone while driving,  as it's 
takes your attention away from driving,  in a similar way as putting a 
cassette or cd in to a player does,  in that split second anything could 
happen your eyes are off the road. ,  in a city some one could run out 
in front of a car,  either yours or the one up the street, a ball could 
roll in to the road, meaning someone has to break or swerve, forcing you 
to react accordingly,   if you are focused on the road in front you can 
react quicker than if part of that focus is elsewhere, 

is talking to your car navigation system (and have it not recognise your 
voice properly ) any different to talking into the phone in terms of 
brain activity,  this would make a intersting research paper,  for 
someone at university,  I don't actually drive, however I do find as 
with any activity that requires concentration, even the slightest 
distraction can sometimes throw your concentration,  you could get 
distracted and type rm -r / dirname instead of rm -r /dirname if someone 
distracts you, while not the same as perhaps hitting someone while 
driving, the results are in every way disasterous.   Even a small thing 
such as something rolling around in the trunk (or boot as we call it), 
can be distracting,  esp when it sounds like part of the car is falling 
off. 
   
    What do people think to this,  are all these additions a good thing, 
in a car,  Regardless of who writes the software.   Probably a bit off 
topic, but I think related to technology in cars,   It has it's place, 
perhaps as accurate fuel gauge, or even as a distance counter, or as a 
computer controlled air bag,. 

Paul
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