What then caught my eye was an ad for an in-car navigational system. Seems to me if a phone chat provides enough cognitive distraction to kill hundreds of people every year, then at least an on-dash unit that gives you maps, directions, weather, news, internet search capability, restaurant reviews, and movies on demand ought to be safe. We humans can handle it -- we're natural born multitaskers, right? Right!?
It also caught my eye because I worked on that particular product a year ago or so, being one of the main component suppliers, and handled lots of questions and solved problems and so on, but that part of the story isn't nearly as interesting now that I've got to it as I thought it would be. What's more interesting is that, per the article last linked,
In a recent study, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding to incoming e-mail or instant messages. They strayed off to reply to other messages or browse news, sports or entertainment Web sites.No fucking duh. So seatbelt habits aside I really am just like other people. Seriously, I think in my father's day, office workers were far more productive. Hell, before getting a desktop internet, I was far more productive. I mean, look what I'm doing now, all because in a distracted moment I clicked the link to Google News. Now I have emails stacked up in my box and must go. Thank Gawd!
5 comments:
ah yes, the whole work productivity thing. it messes with my mind some.
Not only should we ban cell phone use, but eating in cars, drinking in cars, radio/media players in cars (playing with the buttons is distracting), lighting up cigarettes in cars, anything, in fact, that takes our hands off the wheel and our eyes away from the task of driving. So no more driving kids around, either. Oh, and we'll have to stop letting our minds wander, too. And no one who takes medicines should be behind the wheel, nor should you drive if you've had less than six hours of sleep or you've just come off a double shift. It's proven that driving tired is just as bad as driving drunk.
I know! The government can build us some proper public transportation that we can depend on. Problem solved. Bike roads would be nice, too.
AGREED. I occasionally drive a CityCarShare Prius, with it's shiny, multi-colored MONITOR on the dash - showing me WHILE I DRIVE just how little gas I'm using. Uh...?
I do have a luddite bone in my body, so I just turn that monster OFF. But I'm sure soooo many people do not. The same folks who tailgate other drivers so they can watch the DVD playing on the drop-down screen of the minivan in front of them. (I have witnessed this.)
A global lack of electricity/cellular service full 3-day weekend would be a blessed thing upon this hyped-up, digitized world we live in (which I do, yes, endorse 125% of the time - but NOT when I'm driving!)
yep, says me. and glad to read some says you.
They can have my GPS when they pry my cold, dead fingers from the "Select Voice: Jane (Female British)" button.
Magellan how would I ever manage 10 deliveries a day in the 300 or so miles around a city I just moved to? much safer than that big map manipulation act of days gone by. My latest new job that pays well would be ever so tedious and time consuming without dear DEAR Magellan. And what better time could there be to phone old friends and catch up on all the dirt. and the conference calls a necessity of my other well paying job.
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