When was the last time you rode in a truck or SUV and were not surrounded by some sort of video screen inside the vehicle? Whether it was a factory rooftop-mounted flip-down or a truck featuring a video navigation screen, it seems we are inundated with video monitors within our vehicles. Whether it was the aftermarket industry that has promoted such heavy use of the devices or the automobile manufacturers all jumping on the bandwagon, offering them as family creature comforts for long road trips, video monitors are as common as cell phones now.
Credit SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association), the video monitor companies, trade magazines, and publications such as Truckin', the "World's Leading Truck Publication," for making the monitors almost commonplace. All of these organizations took the same approach the cellular phone industry took when they populated the world with cell phones by playing on the fears of your psyche that you had to have a cell phone for protection, emergencies, or for staying in closer contact with friends and relatives. Video monitors are basically the cellular phones of today. Whether it is a navigational monitor or video, we are now almost programmed to believe we must have these items to properly coexist in today's society.
I can still remember the very first time I actually saw a video monitor hard-mounted in a vehicle? It really wasn't all that long ago (less than 12 years to be exact). But I remember at the time, the person who owned this vehicle was undoubtly very wealthy, because, after all, who else could have afforded to have a video monitor mounted in their vehicle? Of course, back then these video monitors were called televisions and the screens were huge by today's standards, because in reality the monitors really were televisions fit with some sort of power inverter to convert the DC current into 12-volt.
Well, I guess today's monitors have also reached epic proportions in terms of size. We have seen 35-42-inch video monitors mounted in all sorts of weird locations as of late. No doubt you can thank West Coast Customs, the high-end vehicle builder who used to provide their building expertise to such shows as MTV's Pimp My Ride and TLC's Overhaulin' and Rides. Think "spare tire location under the bumper." Say no more.
Today, the most common form of video monitor is the flip-down rooftop version that is fairly standard on most SUVs and minivans and were placed there primarily for the sole purpose of not having to listen to the kids ask, "Are we there yet?" on long road trips. With the advent of direct-replacement padded headrests that come equipped with video monitors and side-mounted DVD players, the industry as a whole has grown from an extremely narrow niche to a much-expanded medium that literally everyone can partake in. No longer just for the idle rich, the video monitor is commonplace. So do you have yours?