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"If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has,
we would all be driving $25 cars that get 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:
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. 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.
4. Occasionally, executing a manoeuvre 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.
5. 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.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.
8. 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.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
"If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has,
we would all be driving $25 cars that get 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:
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. 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.
4. Occasionally, executing a manoeuvre 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.
5. 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.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.
8. 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.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
> At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
> computer industry with the Auto Industry and stated:
> "If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry
> has,
> we would all be driving $25 cars that get 1,000 miles to the
> gallon".
Apparantly, if car technology had kept up, we could drive to the moon and back on a thimble full off petrol.
That would be cool - 2p a year on petrol.
I saw this doing the rounds over a year ago on e-mail. Weak.
> Of course, conspiracy theorists would say that the technology exists,
> but introducing it would destroy the oil industry...
The technology almost exists. There is an annual event where teams from around the world design cars to go as far as they can on one pint of fuel, and i cant remember how well they do but it's an eye opener.
Also, current engines are designed with far greater efficiency than the ones that actually get to the roads, because of the loss in quality over manufacture. Go to a reputable car tuners and ask for Blueprint Pistons. They measure your cylinders, and then go to 100 or so pistons and choose out the ones that match each individual cylinder. I've done this on my escort and my motorbile, and in the car I get another 30 odd miles out of a tank, and the bike puts out another 4bhp.
> Insane Bartender wrote:
> Of course, conspiracy theorists would say that the technology
> exists,
> but introducing it would destroy the oil industry...
>
> The technology almost exists. There is an annual event where teams
> from around the world design cars to go as far as they can on one pint
> of fuel, and i cant remember how well they do but it's an eye
> opener.
>
> Also, current engines are designed with far greater efficiency than
> the ones that actually get to the roads, because of the loss in
> quality over manufacture. Go to a reputable car tuners and ask for
> Blueprint Pistons. They measure your cylinders, and then go to 100 or
> so pistons and choose out the ones that match each individual
> cylinder. I've done this on my escort and my motorbile, and in the car
> I get another 30 odd miles out of a tank, and the bike puts out
> another 4bhp.
Surprised that "in this day and age" you can do better than the ones designed for the car. Due to the high tolerances now, the difference between the various cylinders can only be a matter of microns.