last "Smoking a camel" :: Current :: next "Jurassic Park 4: Another Lost World"
October 22, 2001 :: "Is that your dipstick, or are you just happy to see me?"
Toyota, in an effort to make a car that’s appealing to younger drivers, has teamed up wth Aibo creator Sony. The result is a “car” called the Pod.
Looking like a buggered Beetle, the Pod is the first car to display emotions. It has U-shaped grooves that light up to express emotion, the headlights look like eyes and the side-mirrors look like ears. Blecch. Could it get any more nauseating?
When its owner approaches, it lights up a happy orange-yellow. Puncture a tire or run out of fuel, it lights up blue, complete with a display of tear-drops. Swerve sharply or brake too hard and the color is an angry red. The back of the car, similar in design to the front, has a tail-like wagging antenna.Yes, apparently it can get more nauseating. Think that’s all? Oh no.
The pod can also tell when the driver is in a hurry, measuring the degree of acceleration, the distance from the car in front and the pulse and perspiration of the driver. Not only will it display a warning, but it will try to calm the driver down with relaxing music and by blowing cool air.Sorry guys. Play relaxing music and blow cool air in my face [especially during a Michigan winter] and I’m likely to drive your toy through your showroom window. It detects perspiration as well. Will it douse the driver with anti-perpsirant if it decides they smell too rank?
Oh man. I think I'm gonna heave. Preston Tucker and Carroll Shelby are spinning in their graves.
DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN MAKE IT STOP!!!
Are you sure coffee is a strong enough drink for you? I would think something much much harder would be required for something like this.
You may be right Lisa. Make than an Irish Coffee.
Now if the car could make Irish coffee for you, that might actually be a useful feature.
you know i'm a young person and i feel insulted that anyone would sell that to me. it's like a kid's toy! i would be too embarassed to drive in something that's telling my friends in the car my driving sucks by turning red and farting on me.
It's like a Speak & Spell for drivers. If I want to find out how badly I drive, I'll just have my mother sit in the passenger seat...
Does it make friends with other pod cars? Do they fall in Pod love? Dear god... please don't let this story go on any further...
My assumption is that POD is actually an acronym for Piece Of Dung.
Well, I like it, and I know some other people who do too. Although we all agree they should release a model covered in fur called the Furbymobile.
Todd. You’re scaring me.
A car that could sense rhythmic pressure on the back seat and then switch on the appropriate music would be pretty cool....
That sound like it will be banned by parents of teenagers.
Taking road rage to a whole new level - as if having to deal with all the idiots on the road wasn't bad enough, you'd have your own car pissing you off.
How young a driver do they want to attract? It sounds like they're shopping the under-10 market to me. Oooh, does this mean we can get the government to have hearings about the major car manufacturers marketing dangerous automobiles to children? We should ban Joe Isuzu and Volkswagen ads TODAY!! A jihad on your four-wheeled heathen-mobiles (wait, sorry, wrong post).
that's what i was thinking too! it's like they want toddlers to use the damn thing. it's barbie's malibu corvett!
He said. She said. There’s 16 Comments
D :: 22 October, 2001 08:43 AM
leslie :: 22 October, 2001 10:09 AM
Lisa :: 22 October, 2001 10:41 AM
Davezilla :: 22 October, 2001 11:10 AM
Nikki :: 22 October, 2001 12:33 PM
pike street :: 22 October, 2001 02:59 PM
Jon :: 22 October, 2001 04:19 PM
Lana :: 22 October, 2001 05:24 PM
Davezilla :: 22 October, 2001 05:46 PM
Todd :: 22 October, 2001 07:21 PM
Davezilla :: 22 October, 2001 07:43 PM
Mike :: 22 October, 2001 08:29 PM
Davezilla :: 22 October, 2001 08:49 PM
kd :: 22 October, 2001 10:10 PM
Kevin :: 22 October, 2001 10:46 PM
pike street :: 23 October, 2001 06:32 PM
All material is ©2001 Dave Linabury. All rights reserved.