Integrate iPod with Car or Risk Death

An anonymous reader writes "CNET has talked to Apple about its big plans for the car. Apple say they're keen to save the lives of anyone who risks death by "reaching into the footwell of his car to retrieve an iPod nano at around 90mph" and anyone who "considered skipping tracks on his iPod more important than the lives of multiple humans". Apple are also said to be "delighted by the efforts of Mac users who retrofit the Mac Mini into cars" and are "keeping an eye on what these hackers are up to with their Macs." The writer also pitched his own design ideas to Apple's director of global product marketing, Bob Borchers: "We suggested to Borchers that Apple should allow drivers to use their car steering wheel as a giant Clickwheel interface, so that you can change tracks by changing lanes. Borchers foresaw certain safety problems with such a device and rejected the concept.""

Re:Never underestimate the quantity of stupid peop

[andrewman327]

If an iPod is on the counsol next to you, you can change tracks very quickly with one hand and keeping your eyes on the road. As evidenced by the horrible traffic fatality rates in the developed world, there are many things that contribute to drivers distraction and impairment. If someone is dumb enough to keep his iPod out of sight and try to change tracks, he would probably do something just as dumb without an iPod.

Hey, at least he wasn't placing a needle on a 45 while driving!

Re:Dash mounted like an 8-Track?

[eighty4]

From a security standpoint, I'd prefer to have my ipod stashed away in the dash.

The benefit of the "established" car audio manufacturers making ipod interfaces for their products is that when I jump out of the car to buy petrol/food/whatever, the local thugs walking past the car don't see the ipod and decide to "liberate" it.

Woe betide anyone who buys the inevitable "iCar" player (yes, you know it's coming one day). It'll be shiny white plastic, it'll stand out like a sore thumb, and you might as well get a "STEAL ME" windscreen strip made up.

Re:Never underestimate the quantity of stupid peop

[truthsearch]

It's beyond darwinian. He's prepared to take out smart people in other cars.

Tomorrow my iPod will work in my car...

[Shivetya]

Nissan has a unit which connects through my satellite wiring, my car was prewired, that will allow me to control my iPod from the built-in stereo. This will also allow me to control the iPod via the steering wheel controls.

I honestly am not sure whats worse, being able to use it this way with all the distractions it may cause, or not having the option available. I will figure that out for myself.

Still it makes one wonder, should functions which inherently distract you from driving be prevented by the hardware? I know some navigation functions are disabled if the vehicle is moving, why not other functions?

I can change radio stations without visual queues but selecting playlists isn't going to be as easy. Sometimes I think answering your cellphone should shut your car off.

rubber-padded for the lowest common denominator

[TubeSteak]

Unfortunately, I don't think even a Heads Up Display (HUD) + controls integrated into the steering wheel would really solve the fundamental problem that people can't focus their eyes on two things at once.

Most people can't even be expected to react quickly to outside events if they're talking on the phone while driving. Why would we expect anything more if they're not even focusing their eyes on the road, much less their brains.

Tactile buttons

[Anonymous Coward]

If device manufacturers (APPLE, cell phone companies, and even car stereo makers) would bother to design buttons that are TACTILE (recognizable by touch) we wouldn't have this problem (well, not as big). There's nothing worse than reaching for that device, only to find that every button feels the same under your thumb... Is it so hard to add a triangle shape to the Play button? Square to the stop?

I used to have a cell phone where the middle (5) key had a raised "nub" on it. I could, without looking at the phone, center my thumb on it and dial out without once looking. Now I have this new phone where I can't even tell where the damn buttons are, because they are all flush with the rest of the phone face! Oh but it has a color screen. That's progress!

idiots

[MrSquirrel]

I've been driving with a Creative Nomad (well, now it's a Zen Sleek) since I started driving over 5 years ago... it's never caused me to be in an accident. It's called common sense -- use it! "Oh, I want to find that one album by so-and-so and play it right now teheheheh" Well, have your passenger do it / pull over into a parking spot or onto the shoulder / hit the "next track" button until you hear it (Creative has a menu action when a song is playing called "play album"... I'm guessing there's an iPod equivalent) / decide that not getting in an accident is a little more important than listening to some certain song. Personally, I use my sense of touch instead of sight when I'm using my Creative while driving -- I think it's a very simple thing to do, iPods don't need to scan your retinas in order to change the song or up the volume... so in theory, iPod users should be able to do the same (in fact, I know they can because I've seen friends do it).

First rule of driving -- don't be an idiot!

Re:Never underestimate the quantity of stupid peop

[plover]

The placement of the controls isn't the problem. The visibility of the controls isn't the problem. The driver who thinks he can drive the radio and the car at the same time is the problem.

Driver distractions in general are the problem. "Eyeballs off the road" or "fishing around in the footwell for my stray iPod" are extreme (and extremely stupid) cases. But just the thought process of "hmm...which CD has my Led Zeppelin and which CD has my Devo?" is enough distraction to take my focus off the road.

Another example is thinking I'm "safer" with my handsfree car phone than I am fumbling about with a handheld. Sure, that's a bit safer than not fumbling with it, but I guarantee that if you're on a hands-free phone call and get into a heated argument with your spouse (or any other emotionally upsetting phone call) that your concentration isn't going to remain fully on the road.

If car stereos were locked down while the cars are in motion, the temptation to change tracks would be gone, and so would the distraction.

Re:Never underestimate the quantity of stupid peop

[beadfulthings]

This is a great argument for traveling with a spouse/significant other/friend. All you need to do is ask them to fix the iPod. This works well for all sorts of other mundane chores one shouldn't perform while driving.

Re:Never underestimate the quantity of stupid peop

[EmperorKagato]

"If car stereos were locked down while the cars are in motion, the temptation to change tracks would be gone, and so would the distraction."

The temptation remains, the ability to change tracks does not. If there was a track playing that you were tired of listening to, you would be tempted to either change track or shut the player off.

If I am able to turn the player off, I will become frustrated and unfit to drive.

Most Factory Stereos Easily Integrate With iPod

[ranson]

Any recent (e.g., last 4 years) factory stereo has a special port on the back for connecting a CD Changer to the unit. Some ingenious companies have figured out ways to use this port to bridge any music player into the stereo system -- essentially fooling the head unit by emulating a cd changer with an iPod or whathaveyou. These bridges generally include a true iPod cable connector which allows the iPod to be controlled directly at the head unit, so using your ipod is about as safe as changing CD tracks.

Most also include a less-safe option of an RCA bypass jack that you can use with other players. Online car stereo places sell good quality ones for between $100 and $200 depending upon your model of car. Not bad for CD-quality sound out of your ipod, through your car, when the Griffin iTrip FM adapter costs about $95 these days.

Read more info here:
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/ProdGroup.asp?g =227450&avf=Y&skipvs=T&secure=off&s=0&cc=01 [crutchfield.com]

i have one for my new corolla... took about 10 minutes to install and works flawlessly.

I made a pretty slick iPod interface...

[7Prime]

I have a '99 Camry, which is, of course, before they started making iPod retrofits, steeringwheel controls, and all that jazz. I got a nice leather case by Vaja, with a rivet in the back, that hooks into a little belt clip. What I did is bought a second beltclip device, and mounted it on my dashboard in the center console, above the stereo. I ran a Blitzsafe connector (which delivers line level audio, as well as power) to the CD changer port on my stereo. So I basically have a quick little clip to hold my ipod (I went in and bent down the clip so I don't have to press the button to remove the iPod) on top of my dashboard, and I can bring it right up in front of me when operating it, so I can keep my eyes on the road. When I get out of the car, I can pull it clean off, in one swoop, and clip it back on my belt. So when I leave the car, it goes with me, and it's become second nature to do so.

For safety reasons, I wait until I'm at a red light, or when there's no traffic around me to switch tracks (and no, I don't use playlists, I hate playlists). If you change albums, I usually wait until an oportune time (like a red light), and navigate to the track I want before the previous track finishes, so all I have to do is hit "menu" "center button" to play the next track I want to hear, I don't even have to look to do that! Also, I listen to a lot of prog, which has 10-20 minute tracks, so I don't switch tracks very much, if at all...

The real killer is people who do custom mods that require that your iPod be docked into a stationary location, so you have to actually bend over and squint to operate it. I was blown away when I noticed how many people are doing this, it seems like the worst thing in the world to do. Go onto iLounge and they have a forum for car modding, and so many people have done this thing of putting a universal dock into their ash tray. I think the solution is to be able to move the iPod around at will, so you don't feel the need to bend down to operate it, or a passanger can operate it. In this way, it's probably even safer than a car stereo... and less prone to theft, as well.