Subject: cars/computers
FYI from frank bovee - may not be new to you but worth repeating
At a computer expo, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry
with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology
like the computer industry
has,we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the
gallon. In response to Bill’s comments,
General Motors issued a press
release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would
all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
- For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
- Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to
buy a new car. - Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You
would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the
windows, shut off the car, restart it,
and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you
would simply accept this. - Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause
your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would
have to reinstall the engine. - Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable,
five times as fast and twice as easy to drive but would run on only five
percent of the roads. - The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all
be replaced by a single “General Protection Fault” warning light. - The airbag system would ask, “Are you sure?” before deploying.
- Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out
and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door
handle, turned the key and grabbed hold
of the radio antenna. - Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to
drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the
same manner as the old car. - You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.
