IBM Seeks Patent On Retailer-Rigged Driving Routes 150
theodp writes "On IBM's Smarter Planet, you may drive further than need be to get to your destination. Big Blue's pending patent for Determining Travel Routes by Using Fee-Based Location Preferences calls for the likes of Walmart, Starbucks, and Best Buy pay a fee in return for having your route calculation service de-optimize driving instructions to make you do a drive-by of their stores, and an additional fee if GPS tracking of your car indicates you actually took the suboptimal route. The same IBM inventors also have a patent pending for Environmental Stewardship Based on Driving Behavior, which calls for yet another fee to be assessed when a retailer-friendly-but-suboptimal route causes your vehicle to enter a congested area and produce more pollution."
best buy GPS "ask geek suard for map updates" (Score:4, Funny)
How long before it the gps says
"Go in to best buy and ask for geek suard for map update service Only $49.99"
Re:GPS craze (Score:4, Funny)
But then again, I don't blindly drive off the road into a river/ravine/building just because my gps told me to.
Wish I'd read your post five minutes earlier...
- Sent from under water
Re:Random thoughts (Score:4, Funny)
This might explain ... (Score:4, Funny)
Prior art (Score:4, Funny)
Bangkok Tuk-Tuk drivers.
New Delhi motorcycle taxis.