Either this is Groundhog Day, or we are having some kind of digital dj vu here. Yes, the specter of in-vehicle computing has raised its ugly head again, crawling through the boneyard of failed-and expensive-12-volt computers like the AutoPC and Q-PC.
In-car computing bears a striking resemblance to what happened with cell phones in vehicles. The dream of making a phone call from a car jived with the automobile's promise of mobility. But, manufacturer-installed "car phones" were a technological dead-end.
In exactly the same way, the brave new world of in-vehicle computers was supposed to usher in an era of e-mail on the road, but guess what? People who need e-mail on the road now have a BlackBerry (the sore-thumbed yuppie's "CrackBerry") or a Treo phone clipped to their belt. (Not only is it "like" a cell phone-it is a cell phone, too.) And if you want to surf the web on the road, you can use a handheld Sidekick, just like Paris Hilton does! No one I know has a fullsize computer keyboard in their ride. That's the school that burned down before they built the old school.
So what is in-vehicle computing all about these days? It boils down to video, MP3s, navigation, touch-screen capabilities, and control. BlackBerries and Treos are primarily corporate productivity tools, paid for by companies. No one is having much fun playing with them either-they're high-tech leashes for well-paid corporate wage slaves. That's obviously not what Truckin' is all about.
"The whole idea with in-vehicle computing is that you can do all of these things with one system," says Jason Huang of Xenarc Technologies. "For example, if you want to watch movies, you need to either purchase an in-dash DVD player or a separate component for it. If you want digital music, you either have to dock your iPod or purchase a hard drive (like the Kenwood Music Keg). If you want navigation, that's another component you have to purchase, and most likely you will need to purchase the one that is compatible with your head unit. Plus, no one else offers installed wireless internet at the moment. With a PC-based system, you can have all of the above running from one machine with access with a touch-screen LCD."
Jack Cali of Drivesoft adds: "It's important to select a PC made expressly for the automotive environment. For instance, the Drivesoft system boots up and launches in 6 seconds, while other PCs can take a whole minute. And it features 12-volt ignition-controlled power operation like a standard car radio, with battery monitoring to shut down the system properly if the voltage drops too low."
Xenarc offers in-vehicle PCs and touchscreens, as do Icon and Drivesoft, which is regularly featured on MTV's Pimp My Ride. Prices range from around $2,000 to as much as $5,000 for a complete system that includes hardware, software, and an LCD monitor. Apple offers the new Mac Mini, but is not yet tailoring it to the automotive environment (although it is small enough to fit in many single-DIN slots).
This latest incarnation of in-vehicle computing appears to be about music, video, and fun; but companies like V-Link are working on WiFi-based solutions for the long-haul trucking industry that may someday change the paradigm again. Imagine rolling up to a hotspot at your local service station and wirelessly downloading songs or videos while you pump gas. Sounds like a lot of bandwidth, but Moore's Law says anything is possible given enough time. Stay tuned for further developments.