Holy Stupid Idea Batman: Wireless Internet ---> In Your Car

Yet another brilliant idea from Detroit automakers; how about designing cars people want to buy - you know, cool designs - good mileage? I know... it's a radical solution. For god sakes, I have a hard enough time avoiding all you blog readers who are talking on your cell phone - now I have to deal with you checking out Britney Spears latest exploits, or that Beatles clip on YouTube? Cripes! I know, I know - it's just for your passengers or your kids - YOU'd never stoop so low to check email while driving 75 mph on the interstate. Nah. Never.

• Have you ever thought rush hour on the 405 Freeway might be more bearable if you could check your e-mail, shop for a book on Amazon, place some bids on EBay and maybe even, if nobody is looking, download a little porn? Then perhaps you should be driving a Chrysler.
• The nation's third-largest automaker is set to announce Thursday that it's making wireless Internet an option on all its 2009 models. The mobile hotspot, called UConnect Web, would be the first such technology from any automaker.
• Struggling Chrysler is hoping that providing motorists access to the information superhighway will set it apart from competitors and help reverse a dismal year; through May, sales are down 19.3% compared with 2007, the worst drop-off in the industry.
• Perhaps not surprisingly, safety advocates were less than overwhelmed by Chrysler's innovation. "Surfing the Web is something people really don't have any business doing while they drive," said Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Assn. "It's definitely a distraction."
• Chrysler says that when the car is in motion, the service is intended to be used only by passengers. The privately held company acknowledges, however, that there is no way to prevent a driver from steering with one hand and Web surfing with the other.
• "We're relying on the responsibility of the consumer to follow appropriate legislation," said Keefe Leung, Chrysler's engineer for the product. (for gosh sakes - guys shaving at 70 mph? women putting on mascara? personal responsibility?)

Short the "always on" society