UConnect: Chrysler takes Wi-Fi and Internet Connectivity on the Road

First, Man invented telephones.

Then, Man developed cell phones.

First, Man invented computers.

Then, Man developed laptops.

Both cellular phones and laptops allow people to make their media mobile by taking it with them wherever they go.

Now, Chrysler is considering offering Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity in its 2009 models to serve as a new entertainment option for children in the back seat. While parents may appreciate this technology to busy the rowdy kids in the back seat, Internet signals will not be confined to the back seat, ultimately adding yet another temptation for front-seat occupants and another distraction for drivers. What will keep drivers from checking for that last e-mail before a presentation at work? What will prevent teens from taking a peak at the YouTube video playing on the laptop screen in their passenger's lap?

While Chrysler's Wi-Fi service, called UConnect, will enable passengers to stay further connected in the one place where they spend a lot of time and are not currently connected, it does pose many concerns for the safety of everyone in the car by public health groups and insurance industry representatives. Studies have found that drivers talking on their cell phones were four times more likely to get into serious crashes. In most cases, a person can talk on a cell phone with one hand. How many people do you know that can work on a laptop with only one hand?

Although Chrysler is looking to advance technology to the next step, is this advancement safe for the rest of the world? Does it allow us as a society to become too dependent on having media access with us at all times? And will it change its users to where they are too busy to speak and spend time with one another in the car?

I do not think the world is ready to have Chrysler's wireless internet service in the hands of drivers. I do not think that we are ready for this technological advancement.

For more information on this new media topic, please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/technology/24digi.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin.

NMIX 4220 Class Assignment

Hello All,

This blog is the beginning of an ongoing assignment for one of my New Media courses this fall. What's new media? Why am I taking this course? Well, let's see...

I am a junior public relations major at the University of Georgia. This past spring, I took a PR Research course where I worked with a group of fabulous girls on a semester-long project about nonprofit organizations' use of social media. This is something that really interests me, so I am trying to get my hands on as much of the up-to-date technology as possible.

Furthermore, the University of Georgia offers the New Media Interdisciplinary Certificate Program. I am beginning the course work to complete this program and earn the New Media Certificate. Completing this program serves as a credential certifying the students' understanding of and proficiency in new media. This certificate is earned while students are completing a degree in his or her chosen field of study, in my case public relations. The certificate further guarantees that a graduate is an expert in the application of technology within a given profession. So why not complete the certificate program?

Now, as someone who in the past has generally not been very good with technology, I expect
the courses in the New Media Program to be both challenging and educational and totally worth it!

Along with taking the introductory course, I am also taking a graphic communication course (that fulfills both a major requirement and a New Media elective requirement), a course on Writing for the World Wide Web (that fulfills an upper division requirement and a New Media elective requirement), and I am taking a New Media seminar. The Director of the New Media Institute, Dr. Scott A. Shamp, is my instructor for both the intro course and my seminar.

As part of this seminar we are required to post at least a paragraph on something new media related each week. Every day we see how technology is changing the world, with new inventions that make life easier, faster modes of communication, improved ideas about making our environment a better place, and so on. My blog will attempt to explore how technology is changing us, both as a society and as individuals, and how we are changing the world.

It is my hope that you will enjoy following my blog and learn something new when you read, so that together we can both become more technowledgeable!

Lindley