Ron Schenone

Ford Will Make It Easier For You To Text While You Drive

Posted by on Jan 10, 2010 | 8 Comments

If you can’t sell cars because of their quality, or for their fuel economy, sell them for their gimmicks. Ford is now in the lunacy business of adding speech to text so you can text message while you drive. Ford has indicated that its $395 option will include speech to text messaging, plus:

The automaker also is incorporating the Twitter social network’s Open Beak application into Sync and is adding Pandora and Stitcher Internet radio and MapQuest.com’s online mapping information. Ford developed its own Web browser, which can be operated only while the car is parked, Kuzak said.

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting tired of the craziness with which we allow idiots to drive with a cell phone in their ear, or sending text messages with both hands while their eyes look at their groin area?

Ford, which has endorsed legislation to outlaw texting while driving, said its research indicates that hands-free communication doesn’t distract drivers.

I love you, Ford. If a driver in one of your speech mobiles rear ends me while using your hands free communication system, I’ll be seeing you in court. I could use some extra cash. I hope you have this built into your profit margins. LOL

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testified Oct. 29 that he found Ford’s Sync system distracting when he tested it on a Taurus sedan during a visit to Dearborn.

“As much as I liked driving the Taurus and as much as I liked the Sync system where you put your BlackBerry in and it syncs all your numbers, it’s a distraction,” LaHood told a House highways subcommittee at a hearing on distracted driving.

I love you even more, Ford. Even the Transportation Secretary finds your system distracting. He will make a valuable witness in court when you get sued.

What do you people think? Are you as annoyed as I am that our vehicles are becoming rolling technology labs so the greedy corporate types can make more money?

Let me know.

Comments welcome.

Source

  • Ryan

    I’d make sure to buy a model without Sync just because I don’t want Microsoft stuff in control of my car. I’ll clip the TomTom to the dashboard and install my own XM receiver.

  • leftystrat

    Now you’ll have to reboot your CAR too.

    Hey, the new Camaro has a 427 engine. The best thing about freedom is that the market can have hybrids that don’t get the mileage that imports got in the 80′s, AND a Camaro with a big block eight in it.

    Funny though… the 427 gets the same mileage as my measly little 305.

    Proud to be an American!

  • Jeff

    I like fords, but the last thing I want to do is get in an accident over some fancy tech. I want a car to drive from point A to B. If anything else then a radio is needed for the driver, then you are lowering the time you spend with eyes on the road. That’s dangerous, and you shouldn’t be playing with gadgets while doing 60 in a 1+ ton vehicle.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hi leftystrat,
    Reboot your car, now that is funny.

    It does make one suspect on how a big block can get the same mileage as a small block. My first thoughts is trans gearing or rear end gearing.

    Jeff,
    I agree.

    Thanks to you both for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us.

  • Buffet

    Ford = Fix Or Repair Daily? Speech to text??? What’s wrong with speech to speech? Ron, in a rare moment of seriousness, might I implore you to, one day, attempt something NO ONE has ever done to my satisfaction? Explain the REASON for the EXISTENCE of text messaging. Several have tried. All have failed. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why anyone would want to switch from a more, to a less efficient means of communication? My sincerest apologies for getting off track. I just figure if anyone can provide my tiny mind with an acceptable answer, it’s you. As for Ford, perhaps they should be content to rest on their laurels, rather than grasping at straws? I’m off to reboot my toaster.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Heh Buffet,
    Do you know what Ford is backwards?

    Driver Returns On Foot !

    I mentor a youth group at our local church on Sunday nights. I’m going to ask your question of why texting is so important to them. I believe it is a generational thing, just to be different than the past generation.

    I recall being told the reason why I liked Rock n Roll as a teen, was because it had a beat. OK, I thought. If that makes you happy.

    There is also something secretive about the ritual as well. Others can not over hear your conversation.

    I would also suspect it is a passing fad. Once the next technology comes along, like a REAL Dick Tracy two-way radio/HDTV, this may pass. LOL

  • Buffet

    Thank you sir. That’s, far and away, the best answer so far. i wonder, since when did social conversation become such a covert operation? The whole process just looks WAY too tedious for me. Additionally, it ALWAYS appears undignified, for some reason? I weary of normal calls throughout the day. Could this phenomenon possibly stem from insecurity? I’m currently waiting for a phone similar to the combadges in Star Trek: Next Generation. It shouldn’t be long. Thanks again.

  • Daniel

    I don’t see the problem here. It only becomes a distraction if you don’t know how to use it. What’s there to distract you? Umm…push one button on the steering wheel, and start talking just like you do to the guy sitting next to you. While it may not be perfect, it’s definitely better than driving with your knee with your nose stuck in a screen.

    Anything can be a distraction, just like those french fries you dumped on the floor while driving home last night.