[mdlug] [Microsoft Bashing]Stop the car I need to fix my radio

[David Relson]

On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:34:38 -0500
Garry Stahl wrote:

> Michael Rudas wrote:
> > You would think that car makers would learn more from each other—or
> > themselves.  BMW's WinCE-based "iDrive" system has been BIG trouble,
> > especially at the beginning—in a now-gone video on YouTube, for
> > example, it was shown spitting out the key card and flashing all the
> > dash lights instead of starting up.
> >
> > I just can't see ANY MS OS controlling basic automotive
> > functionality. When do BMW or Ford owners sign a EULA?  Let alone
> > one that DOESN'T indemnify MS against "crashing" the car?
> >   
> 
> 
> Never mind ANY OS controlling basic automotive functionality.  All
> computers crash, some do it less than others.  The analog system that
> control cars work and work well.  I think the very idea of a car OS
> is a solution in search of a problem.

Last I heard, electronics in cars had progressed _way_ beyond the
radios.  Automakers have been putting ECU's (Electronic Control Units)
into cars for some time now.  Whether they have OS's, or merely a
multi-tasking executive, they _are_ present.  Our kids will probably
learn to hack into the dashboard to play tetris, or access facebook, or
some such fun thing.