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Re: Why are cars usually behind in technology? Posted by Caarma [Email]  (#592)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Caarma) on Mon, 26 Sep 2005 07:08:25
In Reply to: Why are cars usually behind in technology?, NickR, Mon, 26 Sep 2005 04:07:24 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Having worked on the automotive technology side, I can tell you it is this way because everything in a car is held to a much higher standard of reliability and it goes through much more extreme environments and vibration than portable electronics. If you portable MP3 player with Bluetooth (which rarely sees temperatures outside of room temperature range) breaks after a few years, you probably tell yourself, "well it's time for a new one anyway, what's a few hundred dollars?" If the same technology broke in your car, it would still be under bumper-to-bumper warranty and the car company would have to replace it, paying for parts and labor. Also, there is a lot of electromagnetic radiation going on in the car. Any new technology has to be developed and tested as a component, substystem and at the vehicle level. This takes time and lots of it! Add to that human factors issues of making sure a driver doesn't get into an accident because they couldn't figure out how to work Bluetooth and it all makes sense.
Also, I've mentioned this before, but new technologies come out earlier in Japan and Europe because they have a less litigious environment than here. In the U.S. where big car companies (easy targets) get sued every day whether its justified or not.
As far as the cassette example goes, fleet owners like cassettes for instructional tapes, there are still older people who have all their music on cassettes and need a tape player so companies try to cater to them as well. On the flip-side, how many people do you know that have a Bluetooth cell phone?
Vehicle manufacturers have to balance this with all the changes in emissions, fuel economy, safety, hybrids, and you see what falls towards the bottom of the list.
Atul
posted by 12.47.84...
, Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:33:39
, Mon, 26 Sep 2005 11:33:53, Mon, 26 Sep 2005 07:08:25 <-- Viewing This Message
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