The evolution of the wireless handset has gone from the mobile in the car, to the transportable in the
car, to the portable in the purse or suit jacket and now is going back to the car-with a new twist.
Does this mean we
all spend too much time in our cars? Are we going to need one device to keep in the vehicle and another when we are
walking around convention halls? If so, we’ll need all the enhanced services, like one-number service.
Oh, and we’ll
need a change of heart about driving and dialing.
At least eight states are considering legislation this session
concerning wireless phone use in automobiles.
While I am sure those of us working in the wireless industry and
those of us who cover the wireless industry pull over to a safe spot each time we make a phone call from our vehicles,
some people don’t-and those careless drivers are giving driving and dialing a bad name.
Before you pick up the
phone to say how callous I am being … yes, I know people have died because another driver was using his cell phone
and not watching the road. I suspect people also have died because another driver was tuning in the radio, arguing with
a passenger, or dropped a cup of coffee-yet no one is proposing laws that would ban drinking coffee in the car. In fact,
car manufacturers make handy dandy cup holders, which may help lessen these incidents.
Now, alongside those
handy dandy cup holders, auto manufacturers are keying in on people’s need to be connected outside the office,
increasingly including telematics as either a standard feature or an add-on accessory in some
vehicles.
WirelessKnowledge reports that some 2001 model-year vehicles are expected to have wireless data access
so you can have your e-mail read to you while driving (or stuck in traffic) or find a good pizza joint nearby.
Hey, I
can see those benefits. Of course, one of the benefits of being able to be accessible anytime, anywhere, is being able to
not be accessible, so we as a society will have to deal with those issues.
Does this mean the transportable could
make a comeback, too?
