Technology and cars has come so far. When I think about when I first got into the car business almost 19 years ago, the options were much simpler. The major "cool" options were only for the people willing to pay the big bucks. Although there is still some truth to this, technology has allowed cool options to be available on all levels of vehicles. When Luke Frazier from Neotropolis Western Reserve PBS spoke with me about doing a piece on technology in cars and how it affects us, I jumped at it. Luke has been doing this show for a little while now and really gets to see a different side to technology. I think some of us have a love/hate relationship with technology. From Kia to BMW to Chevy, they all offer great features! The nice connection is that you can get Bluetooth, backup camera, USB connections, heated steering wheel, hot and cold seats and navigation on all of them. I just leased a Kia soul recently and was able to get the UVO (Microsoft) upgraded audio system the streaming audio and all the goodies.It even can read my text messages! Ford has a similar option called SYNC . I stayed under budget and Love the cool technology. On the other side of that, I felt frustrated with the voice commands and the delay that comes from a computer reading my I pod. But the biggest frustration is the voice commands. The lady just does not understand what I need sometimes!!!! One of the other frustrations is generation gaps and understanding how the technology works. This can be very frustrating for the older generation that cannot understand how to make a phone call through Bluetooth and gets overwhelmed.
That all being said, one of the things that Luke brought up when we were driving around in the 2012 Kia Optima SX with the camera man, is safety. This is huge! Technology in cars is allowing us to be safer while answering the phone if we need to. I do believe that every car should come off the assembly line with Bluetooth. That is just my opinion.I think it is important as making sure that the car has turn signals. Most of the word talks on cell phones, even when we drive. It takes us away from paying attention to what is going on in front of us.Haven't we all received the email that showed a picture of a crash where someone was texting?
Hyundai has the coolest new thing called Bluelink. It is like Onstar and is available on almost all Hyundai models. You do not need Navigation with that. It downloads route to your car! Safety is important to all of us. Whether we are putting our teenager, parent or spouse in a car we want them to be safe.
At the end of the day, we love to have the cool new technology. Whether it is in you car or your business or your home. Luke Frazier talks about that all the time on Neotropolis Western Reserve PBS. Check out the website and check out Katie the Carlady with Luke on May 22, 2012 on PBS Western Reserve.
www.neotropolis.org
If you want more info about Katie the Carlady and Diamond Auto Lease & Sales:
www.diamondautolease.com
