The MoPR Blog

I drive the 1974 MGB I drove in college (it was only 12 years old then). I restored it last year, and when I did I put in some improvements. I replaced the twin SU carbs with a single double-barreled Weber carburetor, put in an electric fuel pump and an electronic ignition system. More importantly, I put in a stereo that plays MP3 CDs and connects to my iPod. The Bluetooth hands-free earpiece, as dorky as it may look to some, allows me to talk and shift. As for mobile technology, that’s as far as my MG goes.

My friend Blair has a small British car too. Blair is a network architect and always has the cool toys before anyone else does. Blair is the first guy I know to connect two monitors to the same computer; different applications show on each one. Blair got a Mini, before everyone else did, and it has all kinds of fun stuff in it. I like the GPS system in his car. It’s not the first one I ever saw (the first one I ever saw was in 1998, in the Porsche of a different network architect who also got all the cool toys before everyone else did) but it’s placed on the dash in a way reminiscent of James Bond’s Aston Martin. He also has a Bluetooth handsfree system, but his is voice activated and connects to his sound system, giving every call a kind of “speaking with the Lord” quality.

Big deal, my sister’s minivan has all that stuff too (yes, but with far less cool factor), BUT she has a moving theater with DVD and 5.1 surround sound. Okay, a little bit more cool factor.

You know what I need in my next car? The Internet. I want my car to talk to the Internet. Use a Global Positioning System (GPS) or a Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) to tell a whole mess of computers where I am and come back to me with everything I need. For example, like where I am, what’s the traffic like ahead, what restaurants are up ahead, what do people who ate there say about them, how many of them can seat me and three colleagues at 7:00 pm, are there any hotels nearby that have last minute deals.

With the Internet, I could use my voice activated hands free with surround sound automobile Skype client, or voice chat with my buddies.

Put a printer where my glove box used to be (honestly, I don’t wear gloves) important documents can be sent via a network directly to my car. Last minute changes used to be made at the office, at a Kinko’s or some other location situated someplace other than the parking lot where your meeting is. Not anymore. The last minute will someday soon mean the minute right before.

Except for the printer in the glove box, I’ve used the Internet for all the examples above. Although I did print a document on a printer in Redwood Shores, California from a hotel in London, England.

A car connected to the Internet can get its own software updates (in case you didn’t know it, there is a ton of software managing your car right now, unless like me you drive something old).

When will we see these cars? If you’re reading this column, chances are you know or at least presume that car companies are already deeply involved in R&D of cars that feature Internet devices.

Daimler Chrysler worked with Sun Microsystems on a concept car – The Dodge Super8 Hemi – equipped with a Java and Linux-based Infotronic system, which they described as “a state-of-the-art embedded computer system, which was designed to satisfy the never-ending thirst of tomorrow’s automobile drivers and passengers for Internet-based data and information. The goal of the Infotronic system is to provide Infotainment, ‘edutainment,’ and entertainment services that meet the lifestyle of each individual driver or passenger.”

Dr. Wieland Holfelder from Daimler Chrysler explained: “We believe our vehicles provide more than just transportation: they provide personal mobility to reflect our customers’ lifestyles. Therefore, when a change in lifestyle occurs — such as the ubiquity of the Internet — we try to reflect that change in our products.”

This concept car came out in 2001 and Sun has been talking about Java and Internet in cars since the 1990s. So why has it taking longer than five years for someone to give me what I want in my car? Is it that far fetched to leverage “the ubiquity of the Internet?”

A company like iPass today can pretty much deliver you all the wireless broadband you need to make a car like this useful today. Between its 3G service and its aggregated Wi-Fi footprint, the company can deliver virtually ubiquitous coverage for where the vast majority of people with cars are driving in America.

Of course, unlike a laptop in Starbucks, cars tend to move fair distances in short spans of time. So what happens when a car moves from the hotspot of one network into the hotspot of another? Well, the session drops.

Not necessarily. With a mobile VPN from companies like NetMotion Wireless working together with connectivity over the iPass network, Internet sessions are maintained even as a device connects to networks of different providers or even different technologies.

The ingredients are there. I’m sure HP or Epson already has a glove box printer in the works too.

What do you think about the car as an Internet device? We’d like to hear your opinion. Please leave your comments.

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