Driving digital content: How hard drive storage is changing the automotive experience

摘要

As your GPS morphs into a 3D 'navitainment system' and the kids in the back seat insist on bringing along their movie collection, you're going to need a lot of storage. For most of modern automotive history, drivers and passengers alike have treated the car' like an extension of their homes, with eating and listening to music considered common in-vehicle activities. Automotive users today expect cars to not only have cup holders, radios, comfortable seating, and climate controls; they also want information, entertainment, and communications devices to rival those found in their homes. Their demand for access to digital content is no exception. In the early days of the digital transformation, most users have had to rely on analog automotive systems - including auxiliary-in jacks, USB ports, and iPod connectors - to enjoy in-car access to digital devices such as global positioning systems (GPS), DVD players, gaming consoles, and portable music players. Increasingly, though, automotive users are demanding direct, in-car access to their digital content. Automotive manufacturers, OEMs, and aftermarket manufacturers are responding to users' voracious appetite for digital content with in-dash and portable in-car devices including receivers that enable the driver and passengers to access AM, FM, satellite, and, increasingly, digital terrestrial radio and their MP3 files. Others are incorporating in-vehicle computers, video systems, DVD players, navigation tools, voice-recordable communications systems, and more.