Re: If cars were computers [was RFD: Reviving Constitutional amendment: Smith/Condorcet vote
Does this sound really cool to anyone else, or am I just a sick
individual!
On Thu, 2002-10-17 at 07:38, Shawn McMahon wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 16, 2002 at 07:32:27PM -0400, Anthony DeRobertis said:
> >
> > There would be one brand of car control system that would have
> > approximately 90% of the market share. It would often simply stop
> > working --- or start working very erratically --- until one turned off
> > the car and turned it on again. Cars using this control system would
>
> [gargargar snipped]
>
> Whereas if cars were like Linux, there would be no car dealers; you
> would be required to either buy all the parts via mail order and
> assemble the car yourself, or obtain a completed car directly from the
> manufacturer in North Carolina or from a friend who could produce a copy
> of his car with the push of a button.
>
> It would have no steering wheel; instead, there would be fifteen pedals
> which, when worked in the proper combination, would control
> accelleration, decelleration, and steering. However, you could obtain
> any of several different third-party steering wheels, each of which
> worked completely differently and did not come with a full set of
> instructions. If you asked another car owner how to work your steering
> wheel, he'd make fun of you and tell you to RTFOM.
>
> The car would work very reliably, but it would have no back seat and no
> trunk. If you complained about this, you'd be told to build your own
> back seat and/or trunk or stop complaining. It would have a very
> powerful radio that could pick up AM, satellite, TV, and most ham bands,
> but could not pick up FM. There would be no FM radio available for it;
> you'd have to purchase the Microsoft car and tow it on a trailer, using
> it's FM radio and piping the sound through yours.
>
> The length of time your engine had been left running would, for some
> reason, be considered a sign of manliness.
>
>
> --
> Shawn McMahon | Now is the time we should be celebrating
> AIM work: spmcmahonfedex | the Constitution and the rule of law,
> AIM home: smcmahoneiv | not abandoning it. - Neal Boortz
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