As long as they don't fail I have no problem with gadgets.
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...Yes, I definitely need a better way of managing my swelling MP3 library on the move...
As someone who is about to dip a toe in this particular pool, I guessed track/album selection might be a problem.
An MP3 player on the front seat still represents a giant leap forward over a pile of CDs.
I saw an iPod car charger with the basic arrow controls on the back of the plug that goes into the cigarette lighter.
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Not a lover of gadgets, but the dual screen satnav and HUD sound genuinely worthwhile; HUDs should make driving significantly safer I'd have thought. Also Ford's Killjoy key should be A Good Thing. The last two sound like the product of underemployed minds, though...
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...The last two sound like the product of underemployed minds, though...
That's probably what someone once said about electric windows, air conditioning, car radios, intertia reel seat belts, power steering, electric starters, reclining seats, two speed wipers, electric washers, dipping headlights, etc etc.
Today's gadget is tomorrow's must have and the next day's standard fitting.
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That's probably what someone once said about electric windows air conditioning car radios intertia reel seat belts power steering electric starters reclining seats two speed >> wipers electric washers dipping headlights etc etc.
No doubt true to some degree, but you can't compare genuinely useful systems like aircon and seatbelts with something to represent a music collection by coloured blobs, or a VR video game.
Some items serve a realworld purpose while others are of no consequence beyond novelty and light entertainment. I don't doubt that they will find their way into cars, unfortunately... FWIW, I don't think people should be fiddling around with ipods etc on the move anyway. Bah humbug, etc.
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... FWIW, I don't think people should be fiddling around with ipods etc on the move anyway. Bah humbug, etc...
I agree, fiddling with an iPod could be as distracting as fiddling with, but perhaps not talking on, a mobile.
Speaking on a mobile while driving is definitely an offence, as is texting.
Dunno about, say, looking up a phone number in the memory, which could be compared with tinkering with an iPod.
Driving without due care would cover most of these sins.
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As the BR's paleolithic
"what-do-we-need-the-wheel-for-anyway- feet-are-a-perfectly-good-way-of-getting-around"
luddite, I think that my view of these silly gimmicks will be fairly obvious.
The fewer bells and whistles in a car, the better, IMHO.
(But I will admit that I quite like having a radio. Sometimes.)
Edited by tyro on 27/01/2010 at 11:52
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The fewer bells and whistles in a car the better IMHO.
It depends, doesn't it? I don't want gadgets that are cheaply made or badly designed.
But if they work and last the lifetime of the car, then what's the problem?
I hate the auto wipers on my Citroën, but the version fitted to my old Volvo was superb, especially in mixed light rain/misty conditions where lowest speed normal wiper setting would be too much and manual intermittent would mean constant adjustment by hand...
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I'm afraid I'm with Tyro on this. With all the CDs, MP3s, blue teeth, satnavs, mobiles etc, I'm surprised that anyone is able to concentrate on their driving any more ....... oh, I see, you're not expected to.
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An MP3 player on the front seat still represents a giant leap forward over a pile of CDs.
I have mine integrated with the cars built-in stereo system, so I can view the normal iPod menus on the cars display screen and select using the steering wheel controls, with the added bonus of charging the unit and keeping it hidden from view.
It's still tricky to use though! Even stopped at lights, there's rarely a red light sequence long enough to find and select a different album, especially if it comes quite far down the alphabet...
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What you need is the selection on the head-up display. ;-)
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LOL! With voice command control, of course... :)
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...and Killjoy control of that to stop the kids changing the tracks...
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Grand idea. Fix some 70s prog rock on the stereo and they'll never ask to borrow the car again!
The power of technology...
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A balance is needed, a PSA or FIAT with all the gadgets would really scare me, but a GM or Ford wouldn't so much.
That said a friend has a Clio with all the gadgets like digital climate control its getting on a bit now (6 years old, 67k) and everything still works.
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I hardly ever turn on the stereo, me. What with chatting with SWMBO, listening to the engine (Vtec or V12) and defending myself from other motorists the time just flies by.
If I'm alone I do press the on button occasionally. That 'Greatest Hits of Matt Monro' must have been in the Honda stereo for years...
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>That 'Greatest Hits of Matt Monro' must have been in the Honda stereo for years...
You found out the hard way that you shouldn't put an eight-track cartridge in the CD slot, Mike?
};---)
The iPod control issue probably deserves a thread of its own. There's probably no going back to a stack of CDs on the passenger seat, so we need some improvement on button-based systems designed for navigating a 15-track CD, not a 4,000-track music library. Voice selection might be the way to go - although perhaps not for fans of Schutz or Schnittke (played by Schnabel, of course), unless they can also wipe the inside of the windscreen on the move.
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The iPod control issue probably deserves a thread of its own.
And the fact that iPod integration is still badly done in most marques, with little more than an aux plug on offer.
Or if they do offer a built in hard drive it has some paltry capacity of 10GB or something silly...
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>> The iPod control issue probably deserves a thread of its own.
MINI music map sounds easy to do yourself, with your own selections, not what the software thinks you want to hear.
I have about 10 playlists for different genres, decades etc., set up via iTunes, and listen to these 90% of the time. Alternatively I just play all 2200 tracks at random and when something comes on that Im not in the mood for, skip it.
Its amazing I never had a problem listening to CDs in the car until the advent of iPod. Now changing CDs seems a massive fiddly chore; I end up listening to things 3-4 times over and getting bored of my favourite albums.
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