Thread: Behold, the future...No thanks!!

You guys have to watch this, and then take my poll!
To me this is a tad scary! I dont like the possibilities. Where this sort of technology can go is just...shall we say that it has serious Orwellian overtones!

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i had my truck stolen one time and i wish i had some way to stop them in thier tracks.the truck was old but what was inside was worth more than the truck. i was lucky they got cought at the gas pumpthree miles away.lucky it was the cops and not me.

The technology is neat,I'll give you that, and the benefits could be great, assuming your dealing with a benign government! Not an assumption I am willing to make!

I thought we covered this one once before.. but i did not see it in the search. the onstar system keeps me from buying another GM product and the technology has been available ever since onstar first came out. By the way any one notice that the government is about to buy the auto makers? just think have great this will be when they have it set so that your car is designed to only go up to the speed limit... and the police will be able to stop you from their car, maybe to "check your travel papers" at will. Oh happy day!

nope I'm not a conspiracy theorist just analyzing the trends

To me, it's like most of the gun control legislation.

The people that really need to be controlled by this kind of thing are most likely to be the ones that will find ways to get around it, leaving the rest of us with unnecessary control devices invading our privacy.

Though, I could see it being very useful in the event of a random idiot running from the cops, which may or may not justify the overall implementation.

Well, I have some interesting news for you guys. This system is not new and not "revolutionary". We have it on our car here in Modena. It didn't come from the manufacturer but from the insurance company. They offered us a discount on our insurance if we would have it installed and we opted to save the money. If the car is stolen, we send an SMS to the company that makes the device and the car is turned off where ever it is. Until I read this thread, I never even thought twice about it since it was installed. Yeah, I suppose when the dictatorship arrives I won't be able to flee in my car but the fact is, with the traffic here, I wouldn't be able to flee very far or fast anyway.

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

To me, it's like most of the gun control legislation.

The people that really need to be controlled by this kind of thing are most likely to be the ones that will find ways to get around it, leaving the rest of us with unnecessary control devices invading our privacy.

I see it a bit differently.

Criminals will have guns, whether there is legislation or not.
Responsible gun owners will be responsible gun owners, whether there is legislation or not.
But the middle group of yoohoos who want to just have guns for whatever reason, but are not capable (in whatever way) of being responsible gun owners... these are the ones that will be denied guns under legislation.

Gun ownership (over here at least) requires
1) background check
2) theoretical exam
3) practical exam
4) membership of a shooting range or hunting license
5) having and using a gun safe to store guns and ammo

So the legislation is basically meant to weed out the idiots and people who cannot be trusted with guns. This is fair enough imo.

This car technology otoh has nothing to do with the car owner. Instead it is about the police being able to do whatever they want without your consent. This is yet another way in which the government controls what you can do, regardless of whether you are a responsible, law abiding citizen or not.

Originally Posted by syslight

I thought we covered this one once before.. but i did not see it in the search. the onstar system keeps me from buying another GM product and the technology has been available ever since onstar first came out. By the way any one notice that the government is about to buy the auto makers? just think have great this will be when they have it set so that your car is designed to only go up to the speed limit... and the police will be able to stop you from their car, maybe to "check your travel papers" at will. Oh happy day!

nope I'm not a conspiracy theorist just analyzing the trends

I could see it happening.

Originally Posted by JMS

The technology is neat,I'll give you that, and the benefits could be great, assuming your dealing with a benign government! Not an assumption I am willing to make!

Exactly.

The government only has the right to regulate your use on the roads. when you are on private property the government has no right whatsoever to control your vehicles use, without the express consent of the property owner.

This gives remote control to whomever manages to hack the system, it could be the government controlling your car, or possibly not. Think about that for a bit, electronic linked ability to shut down any car through a computer network, and you all though e-mail worms were bad.

Originally Posted by syslight

I thought we covered this one once before.. but i did not see it in the search. the onstar system keeps me from buying another GM product and the technology has been available ever since onstar first came out. By the way any one notice that the government is about to buy the auto makers? just think have great this will be when they have it set so that your car is designed to only go up to the speed limit... and the police will be able to stop you from their car, maybe to "check your travel papers" at will. Oh happy day!

nope I'm not a conspiracy theorist just analyzing the trends

I thought we did too

I'm against it. Yeah, it's a neat thing and I'm sure it would come in handy if the case arose, but I don't trust a company like GM to have that kind of power, nor do I trust any part of our government with it either. Yet another reason I bought a Dodge...

The only new car from GM I think I'd like to get my mitts on is a Camaro, and I would actively find ways to rid it of the OnStar components, whether it means shielding the satellite sending unit or removing it altogether. Besides the Camaro, I think I can stick with the oldies.

@Quick: OBD I actually came out far earlier than 94. Its first mandated use was in 87 by California, but the framework behind it actually came out in 75. You're right on OBD II though- mandated use was for model year 96 onward. The main difference between the two (if anyone is interested) is that ODB II has a standard system and a standard plug for diagnostics. Most OBD I systems work on a series of flashing light codes.