And this is a good idea *why*?

[cindy]

My brother explained the rational, but I still think it is a terrrible policy. But then again, I hate seeing tax dollars funding NPR and the like, so I'm not exactly objective about such things.

By the way, my brother is in NI; County Antrim to be specific.

I don't know why they would spend so much money on this system, when this functionality will be built right into the new gen of cars I.E. istar

[Deviant Ollam]

I hate seeing tax dollars funding NPR and the like, so I'm not exactly objective about such things.

heh, are you sure that when selecting where to live you didn't miss the mark and wind up about fifty miles too far west?

(for the non-americans who don't know US political geography, New Hampshire -- the state just to the east of Vermont -- is one of the country's Libertarian strongholds.)

[Thorn]

heh, are you sure that when selecting where to live you didn't miss the mark and wind up about fifty miles too far west?

(for the non-americans who don't know US political geography, New Hampshire -- the state just to the east of Vermont -- is one of the country's Libertarian strongholds.)

-sigh- Yeah, I know, I know! Unfortunately for me, Vermont is arguably the most liberal. We have more crunchy-granola-tie-dyed-the aging hippies than you can shake a stick at. Some days I think they'll change the state motto to "The government should pay for that!"

Please believe me when I tell you, I am often a lone voice in the wilderness. On the other hand, life wouldn't be interesting if we all agreed on everything.

(And that's the closest I'll step up to the P&R line. )

[skroo]

I don't know why they would spend so much money on this system, when this functionality will be built right into the new gen of cars I.E. istar

My guess is that it'd be due to the legalities of remotely-operating a system built into a private vehicle that would be capable of tracking it vs. building the capability into the existing government-owned camera system.

Put it this way: if LEOs turned on OnStar in my vehicle (a feature it doesn't have, will NEVER be specified on any vehicle I own, and will be disabled by me on any future vehicle I may purchase with it installed) without my consent or knowledge to see where I was going, there'd be a legal shitstorm. But if they put cameras up for exactly that purpose and let everyone know they're potentially being tracked, they're on a stronger legal footing.

To hell with OnStar. Nice idea, but it doesn't do anything your cellphone doesn't and has way more potential for silent abuse by authority.

[bascule]

I don't know why they would spend so much money on this system, when this functionality will be built right into the new gen of cars I.E. istar

Well, if you're depending on the system to track the movements of criminals, you don't want to have to depend on hardware installed in the car that the criminals can remove and render the system useless...

[Voltage Spike]

To hell with OnStar. Nice idea, but it doesn't do anything your cellphone doesn't and has way more potential for silent abuse by authority.

I don't have OnStar (and probably never will), but it does have two nice features: automatically alerting authorities in the case of an accident and remotely unlocking doors.

Of course, I tend to use credit cards...

Well, if you're depending on the system to track the movements of criminals, you don't want to have to depend on hardware installed in the car that the criminals can remove and render the system useless...

Such as a license plate?

[bascule]

Such as a license plate?

One would hope that the system is programmed to identify cars without license plates as well...

[allentrace]

One would hope that the system is programmed to identify cars without license plates as well...

That would have to mean that your VIN number would somehow be transmitting your information at all times which is kind of scary.

[bascule]

I would just hope the system would alert a controller whenever a car without a license plate is detected and they can pass that information onto police...

[Deviant Ollam]

To hell with OnStar. Nice idea, but it doesn't do anything your cellphone doesn't and has way more potential for silent abuse by authority.

while i agree with you on the "to hell with OnStar" comment, i think your summary of the service isn't 100% spot-on.

i don't even extend it the basic, vague "nice idea" type of compliment that many people do. i have a really large problem with technologies that are created to perform basic functions that any half-sensible individual can do for themself. i don't want to sound like an old fart talking about "character building" or anything like that... i just genuinely believe that societies are at their healithiest when the average citizen encounters a healthy dose of situations in their daily routine that require them to make thoughtful judgements and solve simple problems on their own.

if you raise kids in such a way that someone else is making all their choices for them and doing all their work for them (whether that "someone else" is overbearing parents, over-invasive government, or over-applied technology) you will have a generation of apathetic, innefectual losers who go to pieces the moment something is wrong and run away crying with their hands flung into the air, hoping for someone to come along and help them.

put another way, you can have machines in your house to do every conceivable chore, duty, and important function. but if you're away and the power goes out, how well will your children fare in this house that has coddled them and never demanded they lift a finger? my bet is you'll come home to find them crying, scared, and starving.

government that is powerful enough to provide everything you need can take away everything you value. technology that is ubiquitous enough to do everything for people can leave them blind, deaf, and dumb.

[skroo]

while i agree with you on the "to hell with OnStar" comment, i think your summary of the service isn't 100% spot-on.

You're dead right on that. To be honest, I was deliberately not going into detail on it because quite frankly I just didn't feel this was the right thread to raise the issue in.

i don't even extend it the basic, vague "nice idea" type of compliment that many people do. i have a really large problem with technologies that are created to perform basic functions that any half-sensible individual can do for themself. i don't want to sound like an old fart talking about "character building" or anything like that... i just genuinely believe that societies are at their healithiest when the average citizen encounters a healthy dose of situations in their daily routine that require them to make thoughtful judgements and solve simple problems on their own.

That's probably the best single-paragraph summary of how I view OnStar and similar technologies :)

if you raise kids in such a way that someone else is making all their choices for them and doing all their work for them (whether that "someone else" is overbearing parents, over-invasive government, or over-applied technology) you will have a generation of apathetic, innefectual losers who go to pieces the moment something is wrong and run away crying with their hands flung into the air, hoping for someone to come along and help them.

Yep. Which is exactly why we're now raising our fourth generation of welfare recipients.