Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Social Media...on the road?

The fast-growing world of social media is accessible on pretty much any device that we could want, but are cars equipped with social media capabilities too much?

We've all seen the commercials that advertise certain cars adjusting the temperature, or playing your favorite songs just with a simple voice command, but is that where car companies need to draw the line? Just last month, Toyota created a "Toyota Friend" network to connect with other Toyota drivers. They have also been working with Microsoft on a system called Entune, that allows drivers to access Bing and Pandora. General Motors has also added a feature where drivers can view real-time Facebook status updates.

In a recent article from the Wall Street Journal, they interviewed U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, on the matter of these changes. "There's absolutely no reason for any person to download their Facebook into the car, it's not necessary". Along with lobbying against automakers and these new social media features, LaHood is pushing for them to create public service campaigns against texting and driving. So far, BMW and Subaru are the only companies that have done so.

Do you think LaHood is stunting the growth of technology, or is he right in saying these new features would just further distract drivers?

No comments: