The Business Blog at Intuitive.com

Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980 and is widely recognized as an expert on both technical and business issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related startup companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed. Dave maintains four weblogs: The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, Ask Dave Taylor, Dave On Film, and Attachment Parenting Blog. Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and frequent guest on radio and podcast programs.

Car navigation system with TV tuner, from Mio. WTH??

I read the following press release this morning with increasing disbelief:

(FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -06/03/2009) - When your passengers sleep as you drive, do you feel lonely? Mio, one of the leading makers of PNDs (Portable Navigation Devices), has insightfully launched its first comprehensive range of PNDs with built-in TV tuners - Mio Moov V500 and V700 range at Computex Taipei 2009 today. Featuring 4.7" and 7" widescreens respectively, the two devices are expected to bring a new vision to the world of navigation.

I can only assume that the Mio design team doesn't ever actually drive at night because I can't imagine anything more dangerous than a dashboard-mounted GPS system that is serving as a TV screen while you're barreling along at 80mph.

You can see what they're thinking by this product shot:

Um, please, Federal Trade Commission, do not let this product be sold in the United States any time soon. It's bad enough when people are screwing around on their cellphones while driving at night, do we really want to encourage them to watch TV while driving so that they're not "lonely because their passengers are asleep?"

The mind boggles.

Jeez.

Posted by Dave Taylor at June 4, 2009 8:31 AM

Comments

Insane! One glance at any screen while driving at night would blind you for several seconds. And from one who HAS hit a cow (he was black...almost invisible...I swear), I can tell you we do not need any help hitting them. That advert is easily misunderstood as negative advertising, i.e. "watch this and hit cows".

I see these in China all the time. Not a good idea anywhere, but China simply does not have the traffic the US does. These things are "death on the dash".

Posted by: Cooper Strange on June 8, 2009 7:37 AM

Dave, I am just wondering how long the fine-print for this product will be :)

Really stupid..

Best,
Raj

Posted by: Rajesh Setty on June 12, 2009 10:16 PM

HI ,

We are a taxi company Hummingbird Cars in London. We provide Airport Transfer service from all london airports.
We have recently started our new business and we require to buy Car navigation system or Tom Toms for our taxis . Can anyone suggest which type of navigation system and company is the best and where we can get the best deals.

http://www.hummingbirdcars.com

Thank you

Posted by: Alex penn on November 18, 2009 2:06 AM

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