Chrysler may be struggling with vehicle styling and interior quality, but the gang in Auburn Hills sure does love the gadgetry. Sirius satellite TV, heated and cooled cupholders, and Swivel-N-Go seating will soon be joined by in-car Internet access. The Washington Post reports Chrysler will utilize cell tower signals and a mobile phone account to make the radio a WiFi port, giving passengers access to the web. The technology will be offered as a dealer add-on for existing models later this year, and it will be available as a factory option at some point after that. With Chrysler bringing web connectivity to cars and trucks this year and Ford following suit in mid-2009, it looks like access to Autoblog will soon be available everywhere.[Source: The Washington Post]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
info @ Mar 23rd 2008 10:50AM
Wouldn't it make more sense to build cars that people actually want to buy instead of adding doo dads to slow selling cars in the hope to make them more saleable?
Luis @ Mar 24th 2008 12:25PM
I agree. The internet isn't going to give me an incentive to buy a car that's going to fall apart around it. And do we really need MORE distractions?!
Andrew @ Mar 23rd 2008 10:51AM
Good move, now start making a car I'd actually buy.
Michael @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:08AM
Great, this is just what we need. :|
tigerpb @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:17AM
Great! Now we can surf the net while answering the phone, texting and putting on make up! Leave the multi-tasking at the office, please. Get your mind on the road.
bepsf @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:32AM
And folks wonder why American's are lousy drivers?
Azrael4h @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:47AM
Lovely. Yet another useless thing to cause wrecks.
Oh well. My commute hours are offset from the majority of traffic, and on a less traveled route. I have an alternate which would cut out nearly all traffic. Maybe after a few (hundred) thousand deaths then I wouldn't have to worry about it.
Judy Zik @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:52AM
I hope it doesn't have pictures. That would just be too cruel. New Sebring owners sitting in parking lots with their heads in their hands as they surf through the pictures of the nice plush interiors on everyone else's new cars. DOH!
MajorGeek @ Mar 23rd 2008 12:05PM
Porn while driving, multitasking at its best. LOL.
Blake @ Mar 23rd 2008 12:58PM
HA! No no no! Please, be my guest. Here are the keys, you can drive honey...
Jared @ Mar 23rd 2008 12:40PM
Chrysler still has the craptastic interiors and instead of fixing those is spending time putting web access in its cars. Minimum Bob is living down to his reputation.
Chrysler is done for.
iOrange @ Mar 23rd 2008 1:27PM
Chrysler has announced multiple times that they working to improve their interiors. It's takes some time to fix the bullsh*t Daimler did.. Something like this is easy to implement, whereas retooling interior panels takes some time and considerable funds.. The turn around of this company will take some time, and we have to expect that.
SherbornSean @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:45PM
This is a real perversion of technology. To think that Al Gore spent hours inventing the internet just so it could be used like this!
AlexP @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:08PM
I bet they could retool Onstar for Internet access.
tekdemon @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:43PM
Now I'll know to get the hell out of the way when I see 2008 or 2009 Chryslers in my rear view mirror, because the driver will probably be surfing the internet.
Considering that idiots already drive into lakes because their GPS tells them to...
PJ @ Mar 23rd 2008 5:01PM
Horrible idea. But inevitable.
As a "surprise and delight" feature, I hope this is at least integrated better than Chrysler's Swivel-N-Go seats (which leave *zero* room for the legs of passengers facing each other when swiveled), or their poor-fitting iPod caddies, or their "tough" plastic load floors with vulnerable fabric rear-seatback trim.
Chrysler seems to forget that features like these don't just make good ad copy; they actually have to function well to be a selling point...
RamSport47 @ Mar 23rd 2008 6:50PM
hate, hate, hate...blah, blah blah...another day in Autoblog world...ain't it grand. I suppose when Toyota or Honda does this (and they will), it'll be a new and exciting technology...just like Honda Ridgeline's dual function rear gate....American wagons did that back in the early 1970s, in fact...my 1973 Plymouth wagon did it.
Richard @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:40PM
AlexP wrote "I bet they could retool Onstar for Internet access."
Can and will. It will be either Onstar or XM.
Sometimes it seems that most readers of contributers to this site are 75 rather than 15. Next they will be complaining about the lack of crank starters and being forced to buy factory-installed fenders and bumpers.
Time marches on. It is easy to conceive of a time when our automobiles have completely integrated communications systems. Internet access, telephone, radio, TV, GPS, and telemetry will all work together.
You have a choice. Embrace the future. Or stick aluminum foil on your head and drive a 1920 Oakland.
PJ @ Mar 24th 2008 12:14AM
"It is easy to conceive of a time when our automobiles have completely integrated communications systems. Internet access, telephone, radio, TV, GPS, and telemetry will all work together."
And in that time, you will no longer be the driver. All control will be handed off to the mainframe so you can concentrate on consumptive distractions while being shuttled to your destination.
I think it's fairly natural for enthusiasts to grieve.
Richard @ Mar 24th 2008 1:34AM
PJ wrote: "And in that time, you will no longer be the driver. ..."
Not at all. Integrated communications and autodriving are two different concepts. Neither is dependent on the other.