After seeing the movie “Horrible Bosses” a few weeks ago in addition to the brief clip on outsourcing in class, where various receptionists for various companies answer questions from India, a certain part of the movie popped back into my head. The three main characters rely on their car’s built-in voice-assisted navigation system on more than one occasion, with Jason Sudekis’ character consistently asking the live representative why he refers to himself as a token American name, though he flubs pronouncing the man’s actual name more often than not. Sound familiar?
In the film, the car is manually shut down by their live representative due to the characters’ insistence that they are being pursued by police. Eventually, the characters are saved from probable jail time for a crime they did not commit when the car’s system records their conversation and plays it back for law enforcement. At the time, I simply thought “how convenient, the car saves the day.” But since MGMT 581 has begun, the idea that a car and its’ features could potentially save the day, or your life, is pretty realistic.
With driver-assist technologies making an impact more and more, it seems like going green and running you car on French fry grease isn’t the only way to enhance the way you drive. Mercedes Benz’ new ideas behind “smart stop technology”, a wireless safety system that communicates with “smart intersections” to ensure that drivers stop at red lights, is yet another step towards automatically taking away bad driving habits that may still exist.
The Jetsons would be proud. Them and their robot servant.
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