Actually, this is of practical use. CTS's are a good company car that can be used to pick people up at airports, ride them around town or suchlike. Let's say you are a realtor, for instance. You drive the clients around, give them a nice MacBook in the back seat, and load the MLS on the laptop as you cruise the neighborhoods. Or you are a manufacturer bringing a client from their international flight to the hotel for a conference, but they want to hit the gym. You call up the conference schedule online to check how much time you have, then find the closest gym to the hotel, and book a post-workout massage for them before the big presentation that night. All at a much cheaper rate than the phone companies charge for their wireless. The innerweb tubes can be used for actual work occasionally. Not that people should make that a habit or anything...
One plus of Wi-Fi access that I've seen in aftermarket cars is the ability to load the car's hard drive with music from your network without having to dock anything or use disks. This is a useful feature, but I wouldn't pay the premium, or accept the weight gains, to get it.
@SirNotAppearing: Nevermind paying $30/month for something that you're not going to use every day.
All told, it's just less hassle (and cheap!) to plug in your iPod when you get in the car.
Frankly, as internet-dependent as I have become over the years, I cannot possibly see needing it in a car, ever. It's a neat gadget, but come on, really?
My mom is currently leasing an Impala (I was raised by boring people, ok?), and it has OnStar, with a phone. Basically, the only use that the phone function has seen was right after she first got the car, and got to say to everyone, "isn't this cool?" It has never been used for an actual necessary phone call.
Awesome. Now I can surf the internet while putting on my tie and drinking my triple grande nonfat marble mocha machiatto from Starbucks while talking on the phone. Staying within the lane and using turn signals is beneath me. I'm important and can't be bothered with road safety. No, I need to be connected 100% to my clients and my boss, and the best way to do that is through the interwebz. This is definitely the car for me!
I think it should make the old dial-up handshake sound. It would be as meaningful as the GM business model.
So I'm failing to see how this is useful. We already have aircards from our wireless providers for internet on the go. Please, give me one good example of where this makes sense.
@aSoundofSleep hates working in cotomer sevis: We also have great, cheap, versatile nav systems, but it doesn't seem to stop people from paying 5 to 10 times as much for a fixed OEM version in the dash. I assume it's the same deal here.
I've argued for those expensive in-dash systems before. You have to admit it is nice to have everything integrated into the vehicle with steering wheel controls and voice command buttons on the wheel. That, and it's a lot less likely to get stolen if it's not mounted to your windshield/dashboard. Honda's nav system is just amazing and it usually runs you a $1,800 premium. Finance that over 5 years and you're looking at an extra $30 bucks a month, you'll never notice!
@Chris P. Bacon: Yeah, some of us like playing Project Gotham or Grand Prix Legends while were talking on our cell phones, eating fast food and commuting to work.
@aSoundofSleep hates working in cotomer sevis: I don't disagree, I'm sort of neutral on the issue. I was just drawing an analogy to demonstrate that there's a market for hardwired tech over handheld.
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OH CR|||\
///CONNECTION TERMINATED///
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All told, it's just less hassle (and cheap!) to plug in your iPod when you get in the car.
Frankly, as internet-dependent as I have become over the years, I cannot possibly see needing it in a car, ever. It's a neat gadget, but come on, really?
My mom is currently leasing an Impala (I was raised by boring people, ok?), and it has OnStar, with a phone. Basically, the only use that the phone function has seen was right after she first got the car, and got to say to everyone, "isn't this cool?" It has never been used for an actual necessary phone call.
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Agreed, I hate OnStar. It's more useless than tits on Wes. Oh, hmmm. I suppose that wouldn't be so bad, something to go with that fine ass of his.
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I think it should make the old dial-up handshake sound. It would be as meaningful as the GM business model.
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And how?
So I'm failing to see how this is useful. We already have aircards from our wireless providers for internet on the go. Please, give me one good example of where this makes sense.
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I've argued for those expensive in-dash systems before. You have to admit it is nice to have everything integrated into the vehicle with steering wheel controls and voice command buttons on the wheel. That, and it's a lot less likely to get stolen if it's not mounted to your windshield/dashboard.
Honda's nav system is just amazing and it usually runs you a $1,800 premium. Finance that over 5 years and you're looking at an extra $30 bucks a month, you'll never notice!
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/the ultimate wardriving machine