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, Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:01:46
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Well before purchase of my 2001, I had a Motorola cell phone which was tri-mode -- it handled both digital and analog cell phone systems. Yes, analog was universal. But analog was also on the way out. One can dispose of a handheld cell, which we all do. One cannot dispose of an automobile, with a decade long, or longer life span.
Older Saabs had the ability to plug into certain cell phones. I frankly do not know if they were limited to analog as 2001 models diverted that wiring to accommodate Onstar.
The other gripe is the economic model chosen by GM. The service was so expensive that most customers, including most upscale auto purchasers, avoided the service. GM did not learn from Henry Ford. If one wants to make a mass market product, one has to price the service so that the masses will both see value and also be able to afford it. I would have kept a lower priced Onstar service just for safety purposes -- the odd incident where the airbag goes off or one punches the Onstar button because of the automobile being stranded or a medical emergency. GM could have had millions of customers paying a modest fee for such a service. Overhead would have been pretty light since the calls to the system would have been relative few across the customer base. That cash flow might well have made other Onstar services more cost effective.
It galled me to see a perfectly good satellite and cell phone antennae on my roof, but no way to use those antennae to plug in a module to a laptop for data link or a computer based mapping system, nor my own GPS unit, nor to plug in my cell phone to take advantage of an antenna superior to that in a hand held cell.
GM may have had a good idea, but they constricted the device, its method of service, and precluded the use of other technology in the car.
posted by 74.65.7...
, Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:01:46, Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:04:26
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