What would be in an Apple iCar?
This article discusses the possibility of Apple and Volswagon merging to make the iCar. Forget about mechanical controls, such as steering wheels, shifters, and pedals. You control the iCar with touch surfaces and gestures. When you want to turn right, drag your finger across the dashboard-mounted touch screen toward the right. If you want to speed up, drag your finger forward on the touch screen. There is one mechanical control — a switch mounted unobtrusively under the dashboard to turn the car on or off. I think this could be pretty cool and it would sell to just because the word car has and “i” in front of it. “It makes me want to live in an iWorld. Imagine waking up in an iBed, taking your iCar to work, doing your iJob all day, then having a couple of iBeers at the end of the day.” This article can be found at http://www.cnet.com.au/software/0,239025597,339282907,00.htm
Izhak Shahdin
My father is a master tech for volkswagen and they send then to school over a year or two in advance for training on all new cars and sytems. I haven’t heard anything about this icar, is it being released soon.
I think this is an interesting concept but it seems like it could create new hurdles. Can the average driving test be all that you need to drive this car? Will there be restrictions on who buys these icars? The government can’t do that, but not everyone is as saavy as mac and ipod owners. As demostrated in class with the electronic pen and paper, is it really easier to manuever electronically rather than manually?
I think that this idea is pretty insane. Knowing how touch screens sometimes tend to have a mind of their own and do what they want, it seems like it may be dangerous. I know on the GPS in one of the cars my family has, when you hit it a certain way, another option comes up and not what you want. I feel like this would be a great invention, but it may also be quite dangerous at the same time.