Ford Trucks To Offer In-Dash Web Browsing

cbsnews ^ | April 7, 2009 | Larry Magid

[grellis]

If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.

Before jumping to conclusions (as others on the thread have done), the feature is only enabled if the vehicle is in park.

This is a good feature. I can think of a ton of self-employed friends and relatives who would use the heck out of this.

[SunkenCiv]

Also need to include auto-dialing of 911. ;’)

Yeah, I read the proviso, but c’mon, perfect straight line.

[JRios1968]

There's porn on the internet?

Proof is here...(SFW)

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

All valid points and certainly do'able for fairly short money.

But those are not the things you put on you wish list. At least, as I understood it. Maybe I have expensive tastes.
A HUD built into the windshield is a big deal and would cost beaucoup dollars for the computing power to do that PLUS one that puts "target" boxes around the cars in the view and tags them with their relative speed, etc. Plus the software to compute a 4-sec projection of direction, etc. That's quite the computer system plus all the peripheral hardware to go with it like radar, sensors, cameras, special windshield for the HUD and so on.

If you consider that it is the US Gov't who is footing the bill when they put this stuff in an F-16...and that costs say 38 million....what would be the cost for a car company to put it in a car? 1/10th of 1% of that? That's still $38,000 for just the system. Not including anything to do with the rest of the car.

I mean, if you're going to retro-fit it using aftermarket kits, that's one thing. You'll have to make do and settle for 'almost-as-good'. But if it were going to be put in to a new car by a Ford or Honda carmaker....mucho dinero.

[Political Junkie Too]

All true points. I was dreaming...

-PJ