Word yesterday has it that Facebook is launching their service in a new place: inside your car. That’s right. Facebook in your car. Starting with Mercedes.
A few quotes from Facebook on this new development:
Now that cars have screens that are intelligent, you would expect that more and more car manufacturers will want to make those screens capable of allowing people to connect with their friends and take advantage of the social context that comes along with that.
One wonders how much the accident rate will go up after this. You thought texting caused accidents; well wait until social networking in cars rolls out. But truly, when screens and GPS were brought into cars, I thought it was a great idea. GPS and navigation services are relevant extensions to drivers while in the car, and actually help to increase safety. But social networking and Facebook in your car? That’s too much.
I guess the question is: if there is any type of screen available no matter where it is, does that always create a “social context”? Will airlines have Facebook installed in cockpits so that pilots “can take advantage of whatever social context is present”? Book me on the next flight.
About the GPS comparison, here is another quote:
One of the core things that people do on their screens in the car is GPS navigation and the ability to see which of your friends are nearby is something we think will be really interesting for people.
Actually, I don’t think this is interesting at all. But that’s just me, apparently. In fact, I wonder if there is a saturation point we’re reaching here. Is enough, enough? Or is it not enough? Again, I might be in the minority by thinking that if I’m driving somewhere to begin with, it means I want to get somewhere – not take random excursions because I just found out a friend is close by. You mean, my 4th cousin removed who I haven’t seen in 28 years is 7 miles away?!?
Well, screw my sales meeting, I’m turning around.
Now, the one real downside for people really excited about this development is:
One popular Facebook feature that Mercedes drivers will not get, however, is the ability to play social games such as Zynga Inc’s Farmville. Mercedes’ version of Facebook does not support third-party apps.
Well, that’s too bad! You mean you can’t play games while going 70 mph on the freeway? That would have been such a rush.
