Is your car virus free? Should be
Remember the days when cars ran smoothly without the help of a computer? Or when you took your car to a mechanic and there was no need to plug it in to diagnose the problem? In fact, it seems that these days the problem is often the computer. Well, maybe not, but it certainly looks like it. Computers have been a part of driving for some time now, from all-wheel drive systems to airbags to active-restraint seat belts that help save our lives. But it is only recently that these computers had some kind of vulnerability.
Today, automakers, in the skirts of Mercedes, use computers to do everything from navigating to stopping the car. Many new cars, such as the Lincoln MKZ and Buick LaCrosse, have hard drives that you can load MP3s that you legally downloaded from the Internet on. While these advancements and the connectivity they offer are brilliant in their own right, a concern looms in the auto industry. What if all these computers that we rely on to keep us safe and keep our cars running smoothly suddenly had colds?
As Examiner.com writer James Shock said in a February. 23 Article, “How Long Will It Take For Someone To Find A Way To Infect The Software Running Your Car Through Your Wireless Internet Access To Speed Up Your Car When You Are Trying To Apply The Brakes?” Scary isn’t it? But don’t worry, there is a solution.
Ready? Here it comes: don’t put computers in cars. How are you going to listen to your MP3s? Or connect your Bluetooth devices? Or watch a DVD? Or get directions on Google? Very simple, do it when you are not driving. We seem to drive so frequently that we forget the enormity of the consequences of the activity. But there is something equally fundamental that is vexing about the automotive computer crisis.
Driving is an experience. It was born as something visceral and mechanical. We created these vehicles to get us from here to there, but they brought us so much euphoria that the journey became secondary. The American road trip isn’t about where you’re going, it’s about the process of getting there. Until a few years ago, most German cars didn’t even have cup holders. Why? Because they believe that when you drive there is no reason to do anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for today’s car technology that has even saved me in the past, but the car should remain such. It is not a laptop on wheels, it is an icon of freedom, and the only computers inside should be limited to enhancing the feel and safety of driving.