And they say mobile 'phones are dangerous ...
Discussion
This from a Risks Digest:
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Subject: Remember those jokes about "if AT&T built cars?"
... those humorous pieces that point out the ludicrous unusability of computer user interfaces by speculating on what a car with a similar user interface might be like? Well, don't laugh too hard... *The Boston Globe* auto writer Royal Ford just published an article headed: "For drivers, electronic overload."
*The Boston Globe*, 1 Nov 2003
"To start the heater or air conditioning in the [a 2-year old Acura] MDX, you start with the dashboard navigation screen, then make your way through a series of baffling electronic menus, through climate control and beyond.... 'It's a distraction while you're driving,' [owner Stuart Schneiderman] said. ... The system in the [BMW] 7 [& new 5] Series ... remains a landmark in complexity, using a dial between the front seats to reach eight "points" of control. Each point then controls a multilayered system of options that many drivers have found to be like peeling an electronic onion. ... the system proved so complicated that Web sites have offered "cheats," hidden shortcuts like those used by video gamers. ... the Lexus LS430 [has] one of the most manageable electronic ... but the manual for the system runs to 178 pages."
To anyone who's ever had the window of a rental car frost up in traffic, while leaving an airport, with no place to pull over and no companion handy to dig out the owner's manual and locate the right button ... the RISKS should be obvious.
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Subject: Remember those jokes about "if AT&T built cars?"
... those humorous pieces that point out the ludicrous unusability of computer user interfaces by speculating on what a car with a similar user interface might be like? Well, don't laugh too hard... *The Boston Globe* auto writer Royal Ford just published an article headed: "For drivers, electronic overload."
*The Boston Globe*, 1 Nov 2003
"To start the heater or air conditioning in the [a 2-year old Acura] MDX, you start with the dashboard navigation screen, then make your way through a series of baffling electronic menus, through climate control and beyond.... 'It's a distraction while you're driving,' [owner Stuart Schneiderman] said. ... The system in the [BMW] 7 [& new 5] Series ... remains a landmark in complexity, using a dial between the front seats to reach eight "points" of control. Each point then controls a multilayered system of options that many drivers have found to be like peeling an electronic onion. ... the system proved so complicated that Web sites have offered "cheats," hidden shortcuts like those used by video gamers. ... the Lexus LS430 [has] one of the most manageable electronic ... but the manual for the system runs to 178 pages."
To anyone who's ever had the window of a rental car frost up in traffic, while leaving an airport, with no place to pull over and no companion handy to dig out the owner's manual and locate the right button ... the RISKS should be obvious.
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Something of equal note seen the other day - a Transit van driver negotiating a right turn across traffic one handed. He didn't have a phone in the other hand, but a nice hot mug* of tea / coffee! 
* that's a proper mug with a handle like you'd have at home. Not a paper cup or anything.
* that's a proper mug with a handle like you'd have at home. Not a paper cup or anything.
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