4 ms·

Something worries me about commodifying driving distractions. Every day I see several people fiddling on their phones in the front seat, and I know I'm no less

Something worries me about commodifying driving distractions. Every day I see several people fiddling on their phones in the front seat, and I know I'm no less guilty. How much thought have you put in about safety criteria for these car apps?

romonopoly 14y ago
Haven't thought about safety to be honest. Reason being cars already come with proprietary operating systems in the center console, so this wouldn't be any different safety-wise.
- sprobertson 14y ago
  Sure, but most proprietary systems have only basic interactivity, which you might consider to be a feature rather than a flaw. Some even disable interaction while driving. An average driver already can't control much more than the steering wheel and pedals at once. That said, I'd be totally down with some passive applications for a console. Maybe a navigation plugin that helps find the cheapest gas without wasting extra miles to get there, or a roadtrip meal planner that helps direct you to restaurants you like at proper eating hours. Hopefully no Facebook though, and definitely no GTA.
  - romonopoly 14y ago
    Right, so maybe a moderated app market would be a good solution, with apps being placed in two categories, one category that works whether driving or parked, and the other would only work when the car is parked.
    - avar 14y ago
      How about not trying to solve this problem by artificially crippling the software up-front and instead just leave it up to national governments to regulate this sort of thing? We don't have special software in mobile phones to make them turn off when they're in a car, we've just made it illegal to fiddle with them while driving. The same should work just fine for certain dashboard interaction.
freehunter 14y ago
I have Android installed on my HP Touchpad, and it has a driving mode where it restricts you to limited features. I believe it is maps, music, phone, and maybe something else. Not sure if this is a standard Android feature or something put in by Cyanogenmod.
rbrcurtis 14y ago
Won't be much of an issue when we have self-driving cars.

romonopoly 14y ago

Haven't thought about safety to be honest. Reason being cars already come with proprietary operating systems in the center console, so this wouldn't be any different safety-wise.

sprobertson 14y ago
Sure, but most proprietary systems have only basic interactivity, which you might consider to be a feature rather than a flaw. Some even disable interaction while driving. An average driver already can't control much more than the steering wheel and pedals at once. That said, I'd be totally down with some passive applications for a console. Maybe a navigation plugin that helps find the cheapest gas without wasting extra miles to get there, or a roadtrip meal planner that helps direct you to restaurants you like at proper eating hours. Hopefully no Facebook though, and definitely no GTA.
- romonopoly 14y ago
  Right, so maybe a moderated app market would be a good solution, with apps being placed in two categories, one category that works whether driving or parked, and the other would only work when the car is parked.
  - avar 14y ago
    How about not trying to solve this problem by artificially crippling the software up-front and instead just leave it up to national governments to regulate this sort of thing? We don't have special software in mobile phones to make them turn off when they're in a car, we've just made it illegal to fiddle with them while driving. The same should work just fine for certain dashboard interaction.

freehunter 14y ago

I have Android installed on my HP Touchpad, and it has a driving mode where it restricts you to limited features. I believe it is maps, music, phone, and maybe something else. Not sure if this is a standard Android feature or something put in by Cyanogenmod.

rbrcurtis 14y ago

Won't be much of an issue when we have self-driving cars.