http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/ Engadget Comments for Microsoft's TBox auto computer road-ready? http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/1. For no reason whatsoever your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to
buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason,
and you would just accept this, restart and drive on.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn, would cause
your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would
have to reinstall the engine.

5. Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought
"Car95" or "CarNT." But then you would have to buy more seats.

6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, reliable,
five times as fast, and twice as easy to drive, but would only run
on five per cent of the roads.

7. The oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would be
replaced by a single "general car default" warning light.

8. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.

9. The airbag system would say "Are you sure?" before going off.

10. Occasionally for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out
and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the
door handle, turned the key, and grab hold of the radio antenna.

11. GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of
Rand McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even though they
neither need them nor want them. Attempting to delete this option
would immediately cause the car's performance to diminish by 50% or
more. Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by the
Justice Department.

12. Everytime GM introduced a new model car buyers would have to learn
how to drive all over again because none of the controls would
operate in the same manner as the old car.

13. You'd press the "start" button to shut off the engine.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
- Vikram
www.FaeLLe.com]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
I'll pass...I mean, I'll pass the car on the side of the road while they reboot.]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
- Vikram
www.FaeLLe.com]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
[comment spam deleted - ed.]]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/1. FIAT = Fix It Again, Tony. So it is a marriage made in heaven! Poor European schmos who buy FIATs !!!
2. Let's pray that the good folks at Microsoft will never branch into flight computers, black boxes and avionics. (Not that I would like to open yet another bag of "if Microsfot made airplanes" jokes :-)))]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
My friend's 10-year-old Range Rover did this. Without help from Microsoft.

"7. The oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single "general car default" warning light."

My mom's Accord has a "service light" that comes on periodically. You have to turn the key backwards while pushing on some button to turn it off.

"12. Everytime GM introduced a new model car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would
operate in the same manner as the old car."

Throughout the years, I've driven many cars with "non-standard" controls, especially the light switch: on the dashboard, underneath the steering column, foot-activated high-beams, etc.]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
The second you took your hand off the keyboard, you would crash killing all members of the family and 3 members of the family of strangers who were also using the OS nearby.

]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
I actually owned a newer GM. The car would randomly decide that the oil needed to be changed and warned you with a light. Every time you 'reinstalled' the oil, you had to, from the off position, turn the car only *part-way on* (careful- not too far!) while holding down the brake pedal for *exactly* three seconds just to get the stupid warning light to go out. This was annoying as hell because sometimes you'd have to try five or six times turning the car on to see if the stupid thing worked, turn it off again, and start all over. Kind of reminds me of removing spyware on a PC.]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/






]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
www.mp3car.com]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/My car has a starter button (no keys, you know, one of those first but anonymous uses of RFID for keyless entrance, as a factory option on my regular mid-size Renault Laguna).
And apparently you have no clue about cars: ALL cars that have a starter button don't have a Shutdown button but you just press Start again. Microsoft's software is involved in all critical national defense systems etc., why don't anyone complain about that before bugging about the (almost always) single-citizen used cars ...?]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
the-X @www.car-pc.info the german car-pc community]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
Even on regular cars, you do in fact use the start button to shut off the engine. It's just called the 'ignition' instead of the start button. How silly.

I like #10 though. =)
]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/The perks would be great, from simple as being able to adjust your turning radius, to (a little farther in the future) self driven cars.]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/
I wonder it will take a while for automobile industry to use a high level OS/software to control of thier machine.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://fiat.com/cgi-bin/pbrand.dll/FIAT_COM/news/news.jsp?contentOID=1073977405

Could they be having, um, delays?

- Yishay
]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/05/microsofts-tbox-auto-computer-road-ready/www.dashboardmonkey.co.uk

I like to blog here too about my home made car computer installs!

]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM