Description: CNN’s Jim Boulden talks to Bill Ford about safety and security concerns as the automaker launches new high-tech vehicles.
Source: CNN .com
Date: Feb 29, 2012
Questions for discussion:
- DO you think that adding this extra technology is a good thing? Why or Why Not?
2. What is the biggest drawback of all this new technology added to the vehicle?
Jillian
Technology is constantly changing and becoming more advanced with increased advantages. Ford is converging the mobile industries with their vehicles using cloud computing and sync processed through voice recognition. I believe adding this technology to vehicles is a good thing. The distracted driving law came into effect September 1st, 2012; the fine for violating this law is $172. Since the distracted driving law was implemented my opinion is that overall it did not deter active smart phone users from using their phones while driving. With this advance in technology, people will be able to activate all aspects of their phone hands free. As stated in this video, users can now look at the road and have their hands on the wheel while driving. Cloud computing will be beneficial and efficient for busy people. The advantages as also discussed in the video are not limited to, but do include, turning off lights in your car, checking your calendar, checking blood pressure or blood sugar reading, finding unknown destinations and a route to take you there.
The biggest drawbacks of this new technology are the security issues. Your car will know where you are at all moments, which means that someone else may know where you are at any second. I suppose it’s not good that others know where you are at all times, but to me this doesn’t seem like a huge deal; perhaps it’s because I am ignorant?
Cody
Sounds interesting, i like the idea of being able to do so many things hands free. Instead of taking calls handsfree then trying to write down the message you could or write a reminder for an appointment you could simply tell the “cloud” to store the message or appointment as a reminder while focusing on the road. So many possibilities to be more productive while doing something like driving, while still keeping your focus on the road. Obviously the only major drawback, as they talked about is security. If someone were to hack your cars system or steal your car, there’s a lot of information they would have access to, that you may have wanted to be private. However if people are skeptic for that reason alone should remember social networking sites like Facebook do the exact same thing, sharing your information and letting people know what you’re doing all the time.
I would love this technology in my vehicle. I have Siri on my phone and use it all the time! having it my vehicle to go along with that would make my life much more convenient, i feel. I would be able to live with the security issues however would feel better about it if they find a way to improve them.
Logan Woo
As Jillian said “technology is always changing” and evolving creating more products and devices to give the user a more “hands free” living. As of having the honor of receiving one of these 172$ tickets for texting and driving I do believe that introducing these programs into your vehicles will increase safety as well as accessibility to your data that you require. Although I do agree that introducing the sync program and Cloud computing will be extremely beneficial to the safety of drivers. My only concern as to adding these products into your car is privacy, I am individual that advocates for privacy at all times , although that is hard to achieve due Facebook and the new law for Google browsing (have 100% access to your cookies and internet preferences). I believe that introducing the Cloud computing system into the car in an extreme invasion of your privacy. In order for this program to operate efficiently it must have access to your: home computer, cell phone, laptop, house, and even your blood samples as they said with checking your “blood pressure and blood sugar reading (diabetics)”. My concern is once they have this information what are their uses for it, is it going to be sold, stored in a database, and how are they planning to insure the safety of our information.
carl
It is amazing how fast technology is advancing these days. At first glance I would say that this technology is helping us greatly, people don’t have to be distracted by holding a phone, your car will tell you if meetings are cancelled, the locations of your favorite food/beverage place. But then I think to myself is this really necessary, do I need a computer telling me where to go what to do. What happened to the good old days of looking up something or somewhere that I wanted to see. The first problem that I see is that this technology in your car just seems like one more thing to break, and electrical problems are one of the hardest and most expensive problems to diagnose and fix,good luck trying to figure out what’s going wrong by yourself. Whether it be 5 or 10 years down the road when this technology is stone age, and your car wont be able to start because there is something wrong with the computer, not the actual mechanics of the car. The second and maybe more important problem is the security aspect of having all this personal information loaded into your car; date of birth, where you live, banking information, everything that makes you who you are, will be easily taken by hackers. In conlusion I will stick to my 1990 benz station wagon that runs great, cause I believe this technology is extremely unnecessary, and in the long run will only add unneeded stress and hardship
IDR
This is great news. This notion is the “near future concept” we have seen in movies and tv shows, like the nightrider, and now it’s here. I think this is a good idea. Having the technology to take your information everywhere is very convenient, especially for business people that are always on the run. Although I consider cloud computing a good idea, I agree with the interviewer that security is one of the biggest challenges. It also seems that Ford does not have a good handle on it yet, and that is concerning. I’m sure most of us do not have top-secret information in our possession, but we have to consider that with these technology innovations, also come the risks in which we can include identity thefts and hackers.
I also think that the hands free option is going to be an issue. It is true that it would avoid the driver using his/her hands to text, or input directions in the gps, but it’s the distraction part that makes people crash. Therefore, anything that interferes with the driving is a hazard, whether it is typing or talking and that is what I think people don’t understand. On the other hand, the more technology you put in a car, the more that can go wrong with it.
I would definitely wait to buy a car with all these functionalities, I am sure this technology will become more inexpensive with time and by then, they should have a better grasp of the security issue and have fixed bugs.
Jon
Ford attempts to be innovative and show the market that it is up-to-date with today’s technological advancements. Yet while I see this new technology as interesting and ambitious, it is largely pointless.
While the technology’s intention is to cut down on driver distraction, (the spokesperson pointing to those who read texts, make phone calls while driving, etc.), I do not believe that it accomplishes its purpose. It creates a whole slew of other distractions, examples include: checking blood pressure and conducting a blood sugar rating, cloud computing, knowing your calendar, etc. While a driver may look down to check a text message, a legitimate distraction, the whole list of other things a driver can do creates other distractions. It doesn’t matter if the blood sugar rating device and the cloud computing capabilities are voice activated, it can still take the attention off what is on the road, causing inattention and increasing the amount of careless driving incidents. Also, is all of this technology necessary? Do you really need cloud computing to tell you a meeting is cancelled? Wouldn’t a call from a secretary be sufficient? Many cars have the ability to receive a phone call hands-free. I am not anti-technology; the capabilities are amazing; but I still feel that the purpose of a car is to get a person from point A to point B. Let cell-phones and other gadgets do the rest.
Sarah Lawson
Cloud computing has made so many more things possible with the connection of gadgets everywhere we go. I think this “extra technology” is neat to have but I don’t believe it gives any more value to the car itself. Some of the things like, connecting to your calendar on your phone could be useful but other things like, checking your health seems pointless in the driving atmosphere. I feel like the “extra technology” companies are adding to cars and phones are only there to say they can do so. I don’t believe they are thinking about how useful they actually are. I also agree with the reporter having suspicions that this will only make drivers more distracted and no longer focus on driving, but for people who are so connected with their smartphones, having a handsfree technology available is probably very useful for them.
Security is another issue with these new technologies. Everything is changing so fast, it’s hard to keep everything secure. The competition to get new technologies out there is so intense that companies overlook the ease of hacking private information such as e-mail passwords and contact information. After the release of these new technologies, THEN the companies try and fix security issues. Maybe companies would be more successful in the first place if they took a closer look into potential “bugs” in the system.
Overall, I think the growth of technology is very cool, but not always useful.
Rose
So many things can group themselves together to form distractions. Even from the smallest things to un-think of messages that flashes into someone’s mind. The greater the technology that can reduce the distraction while driving, the better for the driver. Ford should let the technology in the car be minimal, if the technologies are too much in the car, they too can be accident enhancer. Driver loose concentration by focusing on the fix-on enjoyment button instead of focusing on the highway. I think ford should do a model of the car first to test the road and the user, to determine how well it goes.
Do a run on test on the personality type of the driver that fit the model of the car. For example,there is no point selling the type of car to a quick angry person, because if something or somebody offended the person, he/she is not at the right mind at that point, and anything could happen.
neltum
Most of the drivers are addicted to new technology, having a car that is connected to your life and to the technologies play a huge part for the drivers. This will help us to make our life easier and be connected while we are driving. With the new benefits and features, this will be a selling point for Ford Company since the competition in automobile industry is to stiff. In my opinion, having a new ford card in your family is become now a necessity. Drivers who have medical condition will benefits with this new technology for example checking blood pressure or blood sugar reading. Driver likes me who is not good in direction will enjoy this car because this car is design to provide your exact location, finding unknown destinations and a route to take you there. One of the major feature that will help the driver is cloud computing and sync processed through voice recognition. Cloud computing provides computation, software applications, data access, data management and storage resources without requiring cloud users to know the location and other details of the computing infrastructure. However, with this feature, the biggest drawback of all this new technology added to the vehicle is it invades your privacy because companies hosting the cloud services control, thus, can monitor at will, lawfully or unlawfully, the communication and data stored between the user and the host company.
Scotty
In my opinion fords sync system is the best thing that has ever happened to me, i have it in my truck and absolutely love it, it reads my texts to me, i never have to take my eyes of the road and always have my hands on the wheel, pointless? only if you don’t have it, don’t knock it till you try it. All this new technology is making our everyday lift easier and making cars blend with the rest of technology not only keeps us informed but on time. Yes cars are designed to transport us from point A to B but why not have everything possible in them. If the technology is available i believe it should be used, cloud computing will be huge in 10 years and having everything available at all times will be awesome, but the only thing that i don’t like is that we won’t know when to stop working, as work will be with us constantly where ever we are. Family time will now become work/ family time? not cool in my opinion
Morgan
My opinion is on this topic is definitely torn. On one hand, the technology is very interesting, exciting, and a giant leap forward. On the other hand, it’s super creepy! Security is the biggest issue for me because people would know where I was every second of the day. I just responded to the article about the government reading tweets – this is a far larger invasion of privacy! I don’t even post when I’m going out online; I can’t image my CAR knowing! What if someone wanted to break into my home? They might be able to hack into my car and find out exactly where I am and when I’d be home – which invites them in for a lengthy robbery without any worries. I would also be concerned about identity theft. Keeping all my information and habits on the Cloud, potentially seen for anyone, is not my idea of privacy. Having said that, the technology could be useful if the car is stolen because the police would have no trouble finding it again!
I think this technology is rather silly for the average user because normal people really don’t need all this extra stuff. Couples with demanding careers, multiple kids and little time would benefit most from this technology. I don’t even want to know about the price tag.
JX
It is a good thing! I think it is a kind of voice based service. It uses several voice portals like our textbook introduced. At the first glance, I think it is so cool, and easy to use! I do not know how the real effect is, but I think it will be used in most cars in the future. It is a trend like voice based e-commerce in area of e-commerce. If we drive to other cities, we have to have something to get help on directing the way, so we buy a GPS for a car. This technology is like an upgraded GPS, of course, it is more powerful than a GPS. It has many other functions. Furthermore, when a driver drives a car, if he or she touches screen or button without using hand, and without looking. That is safe and very convenience. More and more voice based services are using, today, such as Apple’s Siri, Nuance.com and tellme.com. Maybe 15 years later, this technology will be extensively applied to cars. The drawback thing is an issue of privacy. Our information may get invaded. Moreover, it will increase price of the car. some users do not need that, it may be a waste thing for them.
Awesomeness
I personally think that the idea itself is definitely cool. I mean, being able to do so many things hands-free – who wouldn’t want to? It would stop the need for people to be constantly holding onto their phones and texting while driving. For busy people always on the go, this is definitely a beneficial thing. However, I do think that they might have gone a little too far with certain technology being introduced. stuff like checking blood pressure and conducting a blood sugar rating is a little unnecessary in my opinion. Why on earth would anyone need that – in their car? But, I will admit, the other things it can do (such as calander and finding the shortest route)are definitely convenient and beneficial. I am definitely guilty of wanting to buy a vehicle like this, although there are certain security issues that come along with it. As already stated, with the whole “cloud computing” your information can be easily accessed by someone. And if your car were to get stolen – you’d be done. I think it would be cool if they installed a certain password that only the driver knew, because that would stop the chance of a thief having access to your information. However, that might also be a bad thing if you had a hard night partying, and a friend had to drive you home haha. Anyways, the technology is cool, and I will definitely be keen on buying a vehicle like this once they have the kinks worked out.
BK
The addition of this extra technology is dependent on the user. I think it could potentially be a great addition to the vehicles, but at the same time it could be detrimental to the users. The advent of new technology is feeding off the laziness of our society and is just making us become more lazy and dependent on the technology. Not to mention the safety hazard that could be associated with all the extra technology. On the other hand, the use of this technology could make our lives more efficient and in turn make our society more producible. It really all depends on who is using the technology and for what. Since using cell phones in Alberta has become illegal while driving, one could argue that drivers are less distracted because they obey the law. I would like to argue that a driver is now more distracted because not only are they still using their phones, but they are trying hard to hide the use, taking their eyes even further from the road. I think with all this new technology, we are become more distracted. That is the biggest downfall to new technology in the car. Although it is nice to argue that it makes us less distracted, anything that is not related to your hands at 10 and 2 and your eyes dead ahead of you while driving should be considered dangerous driving.
aaron
I know technology has lots of benefits, but where do you draw the line of filling a need and creating a want. I am an old school guy I think, if you cant steer the wheel with your knee and have a coffee or send a text you should not be driving. I believe that the mind can only process so many things at a time, regardless to the degree of a distraction, people are still distracted by this new technology, and there will always be distractions. I have tried some of these voice devices and find them useful, but a chore on its own. Not to mention the idea of having no privacy in your own vehicle, which is a scary thought to me due to the fact I am an automotive enthusiast. But I guess its only a matter of time before we are all part of a larger database. On the other hand I am pretty unorganized and if this system could get me my coffee when I missed it in the morning, I could learn to like that car. The biggest turn off is the lack of privacy, because in this day and age its boundaries seem to be pushed.
Garang
I believe that the addition of high tech hands-free technology to automobile will not only lower the mounting statistical records of automobile accidents, but also suits our ever changing lifestyle.In few years ago, most people, particularly youths, shifted from dialing numbers to texting as a convenience silence mode of communication. The shift from talking on the phone while driving to texting further puts the drivers at a higher risk of engaging in accidents. I personally believe that the upcoming extra technology proposed by Ford will have a positive effect on driver distraction on roads. Hands-free technology will aid drivers from the risk of shifting eyes and attention away from the roads while behind the wheels.In addition, the extra high tech will foster multitasking as it is more easier to talk while driving than writing.The voice aid services is a great idea! thanks to the high tech innovation.This will definitely make live even more easier and less stressful. The possible draw back of this technology is the over reliance effect.The innovation is possibly going to make people more lazier and dependent on the devices. In addition, security risk is also another biggest effect.
Rasika
The world’s technology is very fast paced and it is amazing what Ford has invented. I think adding an extra technology is somewhat good. But too much features can also result in distraction of driver. For example giving your blood sugar reading is a bit unnecessary for a car. I do not think anyone would expect that much of details from a car. In terms of safe driving, it is cool that the driver can do multiple things hands free while fully concentrating on driving. However, a machine getting far too closer to you, in my opinion, is not so great. Your car knowing where you are is good, but it leaves no privacy for the driver. One good example for the worst case is if you a car gets stolen, that would mean much more than the monitory terms. The stolen car can be the more disastrous for the driver, as the thieves can take advantage of the fact that the car knows where you are. All in all new technologies are good, but I strongly believe that the technology should be kept at a level that in would not get in to a situation that the machines will one day control the humans.
Michael
I believe that ford going high tech is awesome. It is great to see car companies moving forward with technology and their ideas. As cars get more sophisticated I believe we will continue to see more and more interesting concepts move into cars. One that I would like to see in the cars is cars that are driver less. I understand the concern of some people that cars are becoming to advance and this leads to distractions on the road. I enjoy seeing the advances that they make and many of these improve the safety of the car while also improving our convince. The concern about privacy is a real issue that we face as peoples information must be proctected and secured. If this is not done these companies could be exposing peoples personal information to those who may use it for bad things. With the recent law that was passed in alberta to not allow the distracted driving I believe this is a key issue that we must be aware of when the industry is innovating. I see that tech companies and automotive companies are continuing to work together in a competitive industry to get an edge. This a great example of the innovation that a capitalist economy receives by inventiveness those who innovate.
Claudia
The introduction of this technology could prove to be a positive addition to the automotive industry. It will eliminate a lot of the distracted driving from cells phone and GPS devices, and give our cars more tools and technology to assist in everyday living. This will only continue to innovate our lives and make certain tasks more efficient. However, I do also feel that there will be a lot of accidents and frustration during a trial period where drivers will learn to cope with having tools available at the sound of their voice. Others may feel its just too much to think about. Furthermore, with having this technology in cars there will be a need for people to be responsible with the information that may be in that vehicle in regards to the owner, their home or any other access to personal information the cars may have. Ford needs to be very careful that this information cannot be gathered or abused. That being said, it could be great for the automotive industry.
smartcar
Incorporating new technologies into vehicles is definitely a good thing in my opinion. Soon enough, cars will be able to link up to cell towers, and once this happens, real time information will be pushed to the driver as it happens. The benefits far outweighs the consequences. Think about it! Weather updates, road conditions, traffic reports, and even information on other drivers who are driving erratically. Knowledge is power. This information will help us make smarter decisions on the road and this will save lives. More than fines and tickets ever could. Let’s say you are driving down the highway and you hit a patch of black ice. You regain control, but thank goodness there wasn’t another vehicle coming from the other direction. If it was possible to warn others about this slippery part of the road, would you? Yes, you would and in the future you can without even lifting a finger. Your car will automatically detect the black ice, send this information, along with the exact gps location and time, to all of the other drivers on that road. Of course your car would have already warned you about the possibility of black ice by analyzing the weather for the past 24 hours so you were already prepared for that possibility… The benefits of high-tech vehicles are endless. The biggest drawback to adding this new technology is how to implement it at a low cost and it’s simplicity of use. Vehicles today have too many buttons, control knobs, and switches. Of course this distracts the driver. It feels like you are sitting in the cock-pit of a 747. Make these systems easy to use and standardized across all makes and models. Soon, cars will drive themselves but we need to push this technology today in order to make it happen.
John McAllister
Adding extra technology in any situation has its pros and cons. During the past 50 years the world as seen an explosion in technology that continues to grow exponentially. These gadgets that seem to get more complex and more sophisticated seem to be coming out faster and faster and as a result companies are looking for new ways to exploit the market. In This specific case, Ford has seen the growing concern for distracted driving and recognized an opportunity to make a difference. While some may argue that today’s cars are filled with unnecessary technology that is a distraction as in, I believe that the addition of the “SYNC” system will have the positive impact on distracted driving. From my own personal experiences I realise that it is very unsafe to be looking at your cell phone while driving a car but am willing to take the risk anyway. While the “SYNC” technology would greatly reduce the potential hazards I face and become, it wouldn’t necessarily convince me to buy a ford.
The Biggest draw back I see to adding “SYNC” to a vehicle is the fear of technology from the demographic they might be targeting. Ford has done a good job of reaching out to a younger more hip audience but this is at the risk of losing an older and potentially more economically stable crowed.
Josh
Personally I feel that adding this new technology is a great thing. With the increased reliance on cell phones, tablets and other forms of technology it is was only a matter of time until these tools were adding into vehicles. It also make so much sense, it takes all of these different products a person has such as GPS, satellite radio, their phone, and their mp3 players and essentially eliminates the fuss and inconvenience of fumbling them all in the car and makes it simple and safe. The introduction of cloud technology will only revolutionize these features further.
Those who are concerned with the increased reliance on technology and always having someone being able to track you are missing the big picture i feel. The truth is, that right now with a cell a phone or loging on to your email or anything that us unique to you can essentially track you, your car is going to become no different and realistically the benefits of this far out weigh the negatives I feel. I know personally I would like this feature to be in my vehicle and my loved one’s vehicles in the event of any accident, theft or any other unfortunate circumstance.
My one question I have is, will this service run off of a data network such as 3G or the new 4G LTE? And if so will this be something that the consumer will have be billed monthly for??
dns
Although there are benefits to introducing this cloud computing and technology into vehicles such as making tasks such as texting and answering your phone less distracting, I do not think it is a good thing personally. I feel that younger generations and society in general is relying on technology way too much as it continuously advances day after day. It is a nice luxury to have a a car have a built in gps system because that is something of use that is better than a map made out of paper, but for it too turn off your lights and answer your phone is laziness to me personally. We are too dependent on technology that it is making our society lazier. Technology is beneficial in a number of ways to help us access information in a more efficient way but for it to do simple tasks is not necessarily needed. The biggest drawback to this technology I would think would be if the system fails inside the vehicle and privacy. If something goes wrong inside the syncing system it may affect other components of the vehicle as well. Maintenance and repairing costs would be tremendous. Privacy would be another issue since your vehicle will have information of where you work, your day to day schedules and just knowing where you are constantly. It may be convenient at times but having privacy to my personal schedule and places I frequently drive to is not something I would want to share.
Tyler
I think that there are some real advantages to adding extra technology can be a good thing. With the examples in the video of the hands free technology with voice activation it can be a great benefit since it’s highly probable that someone making use of those features would have been using their smart phone in the car before and being forced to take one of their hands off of the wheel which makes it harder to pay attention to the road. By taking the phones out of people’s hands it allows them to keep both hands on the wheel and focused more on the road.
To me the biggest drawback of added technology in cars is the privacy concern as mentioned in the video of them knowing where you are at all times. It reminds me of an OnStar ad that I saw on tv a while back when a car got stolen and they were able to pull the car over on the side of the road and lock the thief inside. That’s great if your car gets stolen but what about the fact that they can also do it to you? That to me is a real concern with the increase of technology in cars.
knwe
In light of recent legislation regarding distracted driving laws in various provinces across Canada, I think this adding this technology is great for today’s driving consumer. Driving is a privilege, and it is our responsibility to be cautious while on the road because we are not only responsible for our own lives, but also the lives of other drivers and pedestrians around us. This technology will allow drivers to concentrate on driving while performing tasks that they would be tempted to do while they are driving, like texting or calling, only hands-free. This technology in my opinion is nothing new however, and is just a derivative of services like Onstar, who have been in the hands free game for quite some time. The only new incorporation is a more integrated service with consumer’s mobile devices.
I think the costs of production and costs to the end user are the biggest drawback of adding this technology to the vehicle. It’s a useful technology, but I think it will take a while for today’s driver market to outweigh the benefits of this specific vehicle with the available technology to a vehicle they may prefer without the vehicle integrated phone technology.
Keeping the responsibility of others’ lives in mind, another interesting technology available in the U.S. (legal in Nevada, and in the process of being legalized in California) is the “autonomous car”. This would be the ultimate move towards driver safety, and would save drivers time during their daily commute, as the car does the driving for you. This would allow users to relax during their commute, and would eliminate human error from driving, and increase efficiency on the road. People with impairments or disabilities would be able to travel safely to their destinations, and other consumers could talk on their phone at their leisure, watch movies, or browse the internet with their handheld in the palm of their hand instead of talking to their vehicle to perform commands.
Paige Magnussen
Now a days distracted driving is a huge issue. And it make sense that car companies want to try to do something about it. They also want to the be the most cutting edge and keep up with societies needs for technology. The video did a very good job of capturing this and it did make sense. However i think that the only car companies who are doing a good job of this is luxury vehicles. I have a ford escape (2009) and i love the car. It does have alot of technology in it. And i do enjoy that but the one thing i don’t like is the sync technology they are talking about. You sync your car to the phone and it is voice activates, you can tell your phone to “text steph” and then you say the message and it sends to steph. However from using this first hard ive been so frustrated, people not having a good connection, they cant hear what im saying, those texts never making it steph. I hate when then the car technology says is this what you are looking for you and you scream no and it still proceeds. Needless to say i have disabled my car from my phone. Something that i thought was a huge advantages when buying a car, actually drove my up the wall.
Ashley O'Donnell
While I believe that getting rid of any distraction in the vehicle is the most vital it is almost impossible with today’s society. Everyone is addicted to their phones or computers and have the urge to be connected to them every minute of everyday. Therefore, Ford’s innovation of incorporating the mobile technology into a hand free device may be the safest alternative. Even laws aren’t stopping people from texting or calling people with their phone so by having a hands free device like Ford’s sync, people may be safer by having it than not having it.
The largest disadvantage to this device is the security and privacy issues. With Ford’s connectivity to mobile technology, the car will be able to indicate where you are at all times. In today’s society, privacy and security are huge and people want to feel safe wherever they are. I think one solution to this may be the ability to turn the ‘car tracker’ on and off at will. Therefore, if you do not want the ‘car tracker’ on when you are driving around your neighborhood for fear of being ‘followed’ or whatever you have the ability to turn it off. If you are traveling to an unknown destination and would like to know where you are at all times to avoid getting off, you should be able to turn the ‘car tracker’ back on again. If the car is stolen, the owner should be able to contact an operator like OnStar to turn it back on to track and car and catch the thief.
Lesley
This is great! No more phone/driving distractions means less accidental deaths. This new technology can connect people without the hazard associated with phones and reading maps or getting directions. Cloud computing will control everything, even health concerns. Crazy. Being able to have you car tell you your daily scheduled plans is pretty neat too. I think that most people get into their cars and are constantly thinking about the plans for their day which distracts their attention from the road. I would be very interesting in getting a car with this technology, but i would be very concerned about the security issues and having all of my personal data at risk. Plus if there was any kind of system failure, what would happen to all of your info and the vehicle?
Nichelle
Don’t get me wrong, the idea of Cloud Computing is neat (considering it is my final project topic), but I wouldn’t go as far as incorporating it within your automobile. First of all, this whole “distracted driving” law, which has come into effect is complete nonsense. Yes, texting and not watching the road are all detrimental, but “hands-free” ANYTHING is still a distraction. Conversing on the phone, or even with another passenger has been proven to require half of your attention – so whether you are holding a phone to your ear, or speaking through a blue tooth device, you are still distracted. Adding cloud computing within an automobile is just another “distraction.” 🙂 Ford’s new added technology is only an advantage because it hasn’t become illegal to converse while driving period. (although technically that will probably never happen). The disadvantages related to Ford’s new concept is as stated the cloud computing security issues. Many people have problems with their information floating freely in a “cloud” but I would have to say these people are naive to think that their information isn’t already floating out there somewhere! Are you a user of facebook? Have you purchased items online? Don’t kid yourself.
Tim Anderson
Car developers have always pushed the boundaries when it comes to improving upon the previous model. We have seen this ever since the first cars rolled off the line in the early part of the last century. This is not a new thing. However, because car manufacturers have almost run out of ways to improve their cars they are turning to technology. The developments in technology have dwarfed any other area of study and development in our world. It is only natural that the car industry would want in on the action.
I think that it is a good think in general. Our lives are becoming more and more and more and more dominated by technology and to the point that our cars are one of the only places where we are not connected with our facebook friends or twitter followers or youtube or any of the other social media we use on a daily basis. The challenge will be to develop technology suited for the vehicle so that it does not interfere with the driving. We can not simply put an iphone in a car and expect that people will relate to it in a way that is safe. The kids in the hall ways at the university are a testiment to this. They rarely look up from their phones to see where they are going. As a driver on the roads I wouldn’t want a bunch of kids driving while texting, even if it wasn’t on a screen but through voice. As cars become smart it doesn’t mean that we can become dumb. Once analogy is when people put winter tires on their car. They immediately thing that they can drive as fast and as careless as they want because the tires will keep them on the road. This is ridiculous. Car manufactures must be careful of what technology they put in cars.
PJ
The movement toward more technologically advanced cars is inevitable, and Ford is is just staying ahead of the competition by implementing these changes to there vehicle. The new generation of of young people love technology and this is just the next logical step. Regardless of how dangerous distracted driving is people will continue to be on there phones while in the car. If the car manufacturer’s can make it safer and easier to do by supporting it and innovating new technologies I say they should do it. Of course the problem with this, like any new technology is the security risks that go along with. Some people will have a big problem with people being able to know where they are at all times and also having more of there personal information stored in “the cloud”. However it seems like Ford is addressing some of these concerns by allowing customers to pick how much technology they want in there cars.
Ford
I think adding this new technology to cars could be a good thing and a bad thing depending on what kind of person you are. If you are the type of person that needs to be constantly connected with what is going on in your tech world then this might be good. For example for someone in business that does a lot of their work from their car this would be a good thing or as simple as the gossip who can’t wait to park before they have to read and answer there text messages. With the new distracted driving laws this could be a good thing. On the other hand though like in the video someone knows where you are at all times. A little weird. And also this could be simply adding more distractions for the driver. With now everything coming into your car from the cloud there is more than just text messages and emails and phone calls but there are maps, and blood pressure readings. Your car is going to know if you had a chocolate bar for lunch instead of an apple. It’s getting to be too much in some points but at the same time it is kind of sweet.
Rachael Brown
I think that technology in general is a positive for human advancement. However, in the past, the purpose a vehicle had was to get an individual from one place to another. With the new technology available for vehicles, the purpose will go beyond transportation and could provide many distractions on the road. Regardless, I do believe that many drivers access their smartphones while they are supposed to be focused on the road, so maybe these advancements will increase vehicle safety for everyone. That said, the only function that is a necessity in my opinion is the option to complete a call “hands-free”. If people plan things in advance there should be little need to consult a hand-held device during a drive (no matter how long the drive). I truly believe that e-mails, and business related things can wait until you have reached your destination. Then, once you’ve reached your destination, you can use you smartphone to check your e-mail if you want anyway.
I’m very interested to see if adding technology will increase driving safety, or create more distractions. The implementation of this technology in a vehicle could make or break the way the technology is used. However, I will always feel concerned about the privacy issues associated with sharing data in the cloud. In fact, I may delete Facebook in the future when major privacy issues are publicized.
Brittney Rainforth
From Ford’s perspective, adding technology to their vehicles is a very good idea. Our society is changing to become obsessed with technology. We are always plugged in. Therefore, Ford is only adapting to the changing demands in the marketplace. From the consumer’s perspective, Ford is also doing the right thing. Adding these technologies to their vehicles may not be the safest thing. However, we know that people are not going to stop using their technology. Therefore, Ford is being smart to help the consumer use their technology in a smart way. The biggest draw back by adding all this technology into our vehicles is that it is distracting, but also that you can never unplug from the technological world. You will always be “plugged in”. This can be distracting, especially while driving. However, Ford is providing people with the means to stay plugged in without being super distracted. Voice recognition is a perfect example of this. Using our voices instead of our hands is much safer because we have the ability to keep our hands on the wheel. Safety is a very important thing when driving a heavy moving monster that has the potential to kill if one is not paying attention. This new technology is a good idea.
Sagrika
Adding this technology could be a good thing and that is because it is linking all our gadgets to one single device and that is the car itself. This could be beneficial for the people who are constantly texting while driving and this way they could be safer on the road with a lesser chance of accidents. Another fact that the car itself is informed about our daily meetings and all our schedules could be a good thing. A vehicle is something that we end up using pretty much everyday. We rely on this technology and having that technology know our schedules will leave us little to no chance of forgetting an important meeting. Also our new generation depends on technology, this extra bit can go a long way as most of the people seem to be very excited about the new technological advancements. The only downfall with this technology I think is the security issue. Your vehicle would know where you are at all times but if someone was using your vehicle they would know too. This is going too far personally. But overall I like the concept.
Lacey Dodds
I do not think this technology is a good thing. To me it seems completely unnecessary. I thought your blackberry or iPhone was for storing your calendar, and I understand that using those devices while driving is illegal, but who needs to be analyzing their calendar while they are driving anyway? With all the new Voice to text and hands free technology available on your phone, it seems unnecessary to pack it all into your dashboard. I think it would just be another distraction, which seems contradictory of what is going on right now seeing all the distractive driver laws being implemented.
I think the biggest drawback in regards to this new technology is the privacy issue. I do not see any purpose or any use out of the fact that your car knows where you are and can track you at all times; to me that just seems creepy. I also worry about the data and information that would be transferred to this car being secure. What if someone had highly private information in his or her car and a hacker was able to obtain that information? While I respect Ford’s idea to try and innovate the driving experience, I think this would just give drivers more things to worry about.
Trevor
Adding new technology, and thus a gaining a potential competitive advantage over rivals, is something all companies strive towards. In regards to the video, Ford adding this new technology, in an era where distracted driving laws are plentiful, can create a great competitive advantage for this company.
Personally, I have never felt the need to be ‘connected’ while driving. I might be in the minority, but I don’t answer my phone or text while driving. So while this technology is very cool and has been awhile in the planning (other vehicles already have voice activated GPS systems, for example), I don’t personally view it as something that is required. Hopefully, as other car manufacturers start to adopt this technology, we don’t find that this actually creates more distracted drivers than we currently have…
Dennis Zhong
1.DO you think that adding this extra technology is a good thing? Why or Why Not?
The extra technology is the trend of everything. It can make people’s life easier, but i dun thing it is a good thing. if people are too relie on technology, in some way human’s ability is decreasing. (brain and physical activity)
2. What is the biggest drawback of all this new technology added to the vehicle
as the video mention, the security issues
Laura
Yes, adding this new technology is a good idea. Even though legislation has been introduced to discourage texting and phone calls while driving, people still do it. Everyone wants to be connected all the time these days, and by introducing safer features for using computing while driving is likely the best solution that engineers could come up with. Additionally, any new technology that is introduced with vehicles brings us that must closer to cars that can safely drive themselves, or even fly! Onward technology. The biggest drawback from this technology in cars is probably the costs associated with it. The world today is sort of ridiculous because you have 4, 5, 6 or more different machines that all provide the same functions in different ways. You can have a computer, an iPod, an iPod, a phone, a radio, all that can play music; it would be so much simpler if you had one machine that just did everything that could adjust to what you were doing at the time, instead of having consumers pay 5 times over for convenience. It seems to me that introducing a more drive friendly smart phone dock in a car would be a better solution overall or at least a least expensive one.
Tuan Tran
Do you think that adding this extra technology is a good thing? Yes, I think that adding this extra technology is a great idea. The car that I might be driving in the future is more entertaining and enjoyable to drive compare to a simple, boring and not attractive old rusted for wheel piece of crap. It is that luxury and the ability to show off to other is rewarding. However, more gadgets equal to more driving distraction and higher repair bill when the time comes to servicing the sophisticated machinery plain and simple. On the other hand, these new technologies are supposed to enhance the driving experience and provide the extra layer of safety. Or do they? I think it all up to who is behind the wheel and how the technology is used. What is the biggest drawback of all this new technology added to the vehicle? The first thing that I could think of is the price tag that will be added to the vehicle. Differencing yourself could be pretty expensive. Furthermore, new technology will most likely have some bug that will need to be worked out and this goes for anything that is new.
M
Some of these new technologies can be a good thing, like having a wireless calendar in case you need to know what is next on your days to do list, or having that option to speak wirelessly in order to get directions or find the nearest restaurant, movie theatre, or other locations. Also having the ability to say turn off your lights if you forgot to one day would again be a nice luxury extra addition but is it really necessary? As of late laws around what you can do while you are driving are becoming more and more strict and as of just recently you now cannot even text, talk on the phone, or be “distracted” while driving and I see this wireless phase to be the exact same. You are going to be distracted in some small way regardless because you have taken away even the slightest bit of attention and put it towards talking to this system to get information. It may not be soon but in future I see the trend continuing and the police starting to ticket this behaviour too. The security issues with this vehicle are also a huge concern that I can see because people being able to hack in to things wirelessly this seems like a possibility of happening with this Ford car. I do not want someone to be able to get any information about my personal life from my car wirelessly because most of the time vehicles are out in public and would be easily susceptible to this sort of crime. Especially when your car can know where you are at all times, I know I do not want that to be the case, in no situation do I want someone or something in this case the ford car to know where I am at all times.
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