Satellite TV From a Moving Car 285
An anonymous reader sent us an article about an in-car digital satellite television system. that can stay trained on the satellite even while moving. Of course, Most amusing is all the comments about how TV in cars is for passengers, because as we know, the drivers are too busy talking on their cell phones.
Now if I could figure out..... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Now if I could figure out..... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Now if I could figure out..... (Score:2)
Re:Now if I could figure out..... (Score:2)
heh dvd? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:heh dvd? (Score:3, Insightful)
There's no reason it can't be entertainment for the passengers. It just takes people being personally responsible for once in their lives.
Anyone with kids knows that travelling is much, much easier if you give them something to do on long trips. DVDs in the headrests so the kids can watch/play from the back seat are a GOOD THING.
Realistically, these shouldn't be much of a problem. The people who drive w
Re:heh dvd? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
Bad Driving, Bad Parenting (Score:2)
Statistically speaking, it's most likely to be a car -- with at least one person inside. In the mean time, that person who may have once been a responsible driver has to suffer injury and loss of property because of the lack of responsibility of the first driver. Considering m
Re:Bad Driving, Bad Parenting (Score:2)
You must not have a TV set or anything on that idea in your car or home then, because that would make you hypocritical (a person of your intelligence and stature would obviously not lower him/herself to "shut off" your mind).
Maybe if more parents were interested in raising their children in
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
Re:heh dvd? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:heh dvd? (Score:5, Insightful)
Man, I pity your kids (Score:2)
More serious, there is only a short period of time I can keep the attention of my 4yo boy. Especifically, my personal record is 1h20. After that, he (a) sleeps [best case], (b) vomits, or (c) jumps up and down and makes me generally crazy.
And I only have one kid.
If and when I get another, they will pick each other and fight. Unless Dragonball ZYXk is on to the older and Clifford the Giant Red Dog is on to the younger.
I am ordering one of these now, and another next yea
Hell, somebody can't take a joke. (Score:2)
And, FYI, I drive an economy car (20km/l) AND I pay attention to the road (most of the time
Besides, my kid is not spoiled, and I have a meaningful and stable relation with him.
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
We're talking about a 3-year old here, so discussing current events, etc isn't going to get you very far. We don't let him watch much TV anyway, so watching a little Winnie-the-Pooh on the way to gr
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
This is a great solution for people that already have a DirecTV account and want digital satellite radio for their car but don't want to pay for the new service (they tend to lose money on the equipment just to make it back in spades on your monthly payment). The digital music channels from DTV are decent, although you don't have the talk-radio stations that XM and Sirrius offer.
Speaking as a person that takes long road
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
I have one of these setups... (Score:2)
It's all about self control though. I'm sure some dumbass would try to blame the system for distracting him/her, when they shouldn't have been trying to watch the damn thing in the first place..
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
Let me guess....You don't have kids?
As someone who has kids and has to do lots of driving it is much easyier on him (and me) if he can zone out with some cartoons or the discovery channel. I will aggree that anyone who watches TV and drives should loose their license. But I would apply that to computing and driving as well.
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
Re:heh dvd? (Score:2)
Understatement . . . how about "criminal neglect"?
Oy. (Score:2)
This is nothing. I'm waiting for the garage-to-living-room solution, so I need never worry that my kids' eyes aren't safely glued to a screen.
Waitaminnut, I don't have kids.
Then again, if I did have kids, I could get this system and it'd be like I didn't even have them. Hmm.
Please excuse me--I
I wonder... (Score:3, Insightful)
Simple (Score:2)
My question is, now that we can have TV anywhere we want, will they actually put something on that's worth watching?
Re:Simple-Road Show. - PBS (Score:2, Interesting)
I guess the big problem is sports. People with RV's would go to sports games and have tailgate parties in the parking lot of the stadium during regional blackouts!
You have to sign a special waiver to get the local network feeds when mobile. DirecTV does directional broadcast of 'local channels' only to the regions they are required. Once yo
Re:I wonder...- Works OK in most areas (Score:3, Informative)
We installed a Tracstar SV360 [tracstar.net] 9 months ago, one of the low-profile ones. This is supposed to be one of the better units.
They work ok... yes, signal skips under bridges.
I5 in southern Oregon is pretty much useless with mountain and tall trees next to the highway.
DirecTV requires you to point "toward Texas" for the bird, so northern states are much worse. And these dishe
Re:I wonder... (Score:2, Informative)
XM-Radio is a Satellite Based Radio Broadcast System that operates around 2.3 GHz from two 15,000 watt satellites; one named "ROCK," at 115 Degrees West, the other named "ROLL" at 85.0 Degrees West. The significance of this service and that of Sirius Radio, a similar service, is that these services need to "fill in" the shadows caused by buildings and other structures that may block the satellite signal. To accomplish this,
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
And most everywhere isn't obscured... just those who live in cities. On the open road, you mostly have clear skies.
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
Or don't you see that.
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
Dual Stream... (Score:2)
Works about as well as... (Score:2)
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
In cities
MNF Show Prep for Madden (Score:2)
I can just see John driving to the next Monday Night Football (Somebody's gotta feel this!) spot in his Madden Cruiser, loading up Madden 2004 on his PS2 and the three plasma's he's got in there. He loads up the two teams, has his lackey's play a simulation game, while he works on reme
If you can do it in airplanes... (Score:2, Interesting)
Finally!, No more moments away ... (Score:2)
big deal? (Score:2)
Re:big deal? (Score:2)
limos? (Score:2)
Re:limos? (Score:2)
Can I get one for my bike ? (Score:2)
Simon
How about some conversation (Score:5, Insightful)
"It's like you don't even have them. You can baby-sit and drive at the same time"
Isn't it great that we don't have to pay attention to our children anymore in the car just like we don't pay attention to them at home. Why would we need to when the TV/computer/video game is there to "baby-sit" them? We can plug them in at any time...they don't talk to us about any of their inane, childish ideas. We can blissfully act like we are still freewheeling non-parents going off on some big adventure than like the haggard parents we really are who have been forced to "care" for these inferior beings.
I have three of those annoying little brats, ages 3,5, and 7. I know how blissful a moment to yourself is, and how seductive it is to plug them in and tune them out.
But you really need to remember that they will be getting their values/ambitions from whatever is raising them. I think most people would not want to think that they are basically raising their children to be ignorant, negative consumers, but they need to watch the shows their children watch, and pay close attention to the advertising that comes along with those "children's" shows.
As fast as the world goes today, being in the car for a while might be one of the few times that a family can actually talk to each other for an extended period of time. Listen to those children, don't tune them out.
</rant>
Re:How about some conversation (Score:2)
That wasnt even implying that the TV is a babysitter, it flat out said it.
No wonder kids today are going to be more fucked up then we are! Well maybe not THAT bad...
Re:How about some conversation (Score:2)
I suppose the better alternative is to avoid long trips where possib
Re:How about some conversation (Score:2)
How about some imagination... (Score:2)
The modern family (Score:3, Insightful)
Everyone else either worked as many offspring as they could sire in the fields, sold them off as indentured servants, or, if they didn't need or want more, comitted post-natal abortion.
The idea that one actually had some involvement with their kids is historically kind of new. The idea of "childhood" itsel
Re:The modern family (Score:2)
Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't until the last century or two that humankind finally figured out that children who spend time with their mothers actually take longer to starve.
Incidentally, you forgot to argue that your "historical" approach to parenting was somehow better than loving and teaching them on an ongoing basis. Simply saying it's "unhealthy" don't make it so.
Re:The modern family (Score:2, Insightful)
Revisionist at best. And all of the things you mention as having existing before the 18th century still e
Re:The modern family (Score:2)
That's just pedantic. I don't doubt that parents felt some kind of emotional tie to their children; it's biologically driven, up to a point. After that it's a culturally driven emotional facade.
Up until fairly recently in western cultures, more kids meant more mouths to feed, and the pressu
Re:How about some conversation (Score:2)
When I was kid I spent hours in the car, on a plane, or just waiting for something to happen.
Don't like 6 rappers already have that? (Score:2)
Bad idea because I was (Score:5, Funny)
Can't these people pay attention and not do anything else while driving. I now have to get a new laptop for the car. Jeeeezzz.
Old news (Score:3, Funny)
Gives you something to watch while sitting in the routine 10 kilometer jam.
Re:Old news (Score:2)
Well, thanks for the information. The next time this American wants to watch South Korean programming in his car, he'll know just where to import the tech and be the "first on the block".
Re:Old news (Score:2)
BBC, TF1, CNN, HBO, ESPN, Star. Languages from French to Farsee....English to Japanese....Chinese to Croate. Signed and subtitled, the effort is made for a larger community.
Re:Old news (Score:2)
I hate subtitles. They get in the way. I even delete Spanish-language programming from my TV remote when I find it.
Re:Old news (Score:2)
cha-nai-oh (Score:2)
they forgot to mention "Phased Array" (Score:2, Funny)
Spoiler warning? (Score:3, Funny)
Seriously, what's the deal with giving away the best part of the article without a spoiler warning?
Couldn't have been too far behind... (Score:2)
prior art... (Score:2)
Mega Happy Ending!
TV in a car? (Score:5, Insightful)
Am I the only America left that thinks this is gross? I pulled up next to a Lincoln Navigator, the other day, that had TWO flat panel screens in it and they were both on watching TV. Now, this seems like a great idea to keep the kids nice and quite, but how does a kid see the world while on a road trip? If I am going to haul the kids and wife off to a National or State Park, they are to be looking out the windows and not watching DVD movie or some Cartoon. I can't imagine how this is good for America's kids. Should we just surrender to the terrorists now since the future generations will have a attention span to short to track Al-Qaeda down?
Re:TV in a car? (Score:2)
Since today's family vehicles are so grossly oversized, most kids aren't tall enough to see anything but sky, anyways.
Thus, you need at least one TV and a closed-circuit camera if you want them to see anything. Why not add a satellite dish to the mix?
My childhood road trips (Score:2)
Oh, wait-- I'm a HUGE FREAKING DORK.
Re:My childhood road trips (Score:2)
Re:TV in a car? (Score:2)
Re:TV in a car? (Score:2)
As for the last comm
Re:TV in a car? (Score:2)
I fail to see what the huge difference is that makes it OK to watch TV at home but not in a car.
Really, this is a knee-jerk reaction.
on cell phones in cars (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, cell phones can be a distraction, but are they any more of a distraction than the many, many things people do in their cars? I wa
Re:on cell phones in cars (Score:2)
The main difference is that talking to passengers, or twiddling the radio doesn't tie up one of your free hands for many minutes at a time. You are *technically* s'posed tohave both hands on the wheel. Talking on a hand-held phone will ensure this doesn't happen. Also, the radio is placed such that you don't have to move your eyes too far to see it, and intereact with it, it also has large buttons that are easy to see/find/push.
Re:on cell phones in cars (Score:2)
- take your hands off the wheel to use the phone
- take your eyes off the road to answer the phone
- take your eyes off the road to dial an outgoing call
- use BOTH your eyes and hands to write down a phone number someone is telling you
And not only that, but the people in the car have the ability to know when to shut up and just let you drive, since they're seeing exactly what you are. People on the phone have no idea and th
Re:on cell phones in cars (Score:2)
Shifts mental focus away from current reality (Score:2)
For brief conversations which don't demand a lot of mental acuity, it's not that much more distraction than music or passengers or whatever. For complex conversations, it's deeply distracting -- you drive on autopilot.
And the same can happen in reverse. I refuse to engage most people calling from cell phones because you can end up with "autopilot" conversations, where they don
How fast can you go and have it still work (Score:2, Insightful)
laws and such (Score:2, Insightful)
Ah well, this is kinda a neat idea regardless. I mean, satellite TV for vechiles is not exactly a new idea, though before now they've been traditionally reserved for RV's and such, but this may be the first practical application
Ah, the new generation of parenting (Score:5, Insightful)
I have my own kids -- four of them now. I grew up in a family of five kids, two parents. So I know full well what it's like to have them arguing, complaining, fighting, and griping all through a long car trip.
But I still maintain that drugging them into submission with non-stop video signals is not the best solution. It's easy enough to get into that habit at home -- sit the kids in front of the TV after school until dinner, then after dinner until bedtime. They're entertained, you have peace and quiet. Then when they get older, you wonder why they're thirty pounds overweight before they've hit puberty and never do their homework at night.
TV, either in the car or at home, should be a privilege. Give it to them when they've earned it, and turn it off when it's done. I prefer a DVD player to satellite TV, because (1) there's no commercials, (2) I can control what they do and don't watch, and (3) when the show's over, it's over--there's nothing "coming up next" unless I say there is.
Our kids would be overjoyed to have satellite TV in the car for our periodic 3-hour drives to my in-laws. Instead we give them toys, books, children's music, and Magna-Doodle drawing boards. Works just as well, the noise is minimal, and their brains actually continue to develop instead of just rotting away inside their skulls.
Re:Ah, the new generation of parenting (Score:2)
Re:Ah, the new generation of parenting (Score:2)
I have sufficient anecdotal evidence that kids who watch television continue on to buy crappy music, get addicted to mindless sitcoms and are motivated by advertisers to crave worthless crap in order to look more like their favorite celebrities. If that's not brain damage, I don't know what is.
Fly lately? (Score:2)
Naturally the car-based service won't work in the lincoln tunnel, or probably even anywhere with a lot of buildings, but it would probably work fine for w
2 questions (Score:2)
2. Dos it work with Starband?
Re:2 questions (Score:2)
2. Does it work with Starband?
1. Yes. Assuming you are legal qualified, and are driving within your local spot beam, assuming that your particular locals are from a spot beam.
2. No. Starband is a bidirectional feed. However, it may be able to get DirectPC, which uses a phone line for the upbound side. You'd have to use a cell phone for upbound.
JetBlue uses this in their aircraft (Score:2)
DUPE (Score:2)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/09/00462
Re:Cell phones (Score:4, Funny)
Personally, I think having kids in the car is far more distracting than cell phones. And from experience, I've been hit by a woman driving on the shoulder fighting with her kids, but I've never been hit by someone talking on their cell phone.
Plus, think of the benefits of banning children from cars. Its healthier for them (It will cut way back on the number of children killed in car accidents), Parents will have a hard time getting kids to movies and nice restaurants where they can annoy me, and it will improve the resale value of the cars since there will be far fewer juice stains on the back seats.
Everybody wins.
Re:Cell phones (Score:2)
Re:ROAD TRIP! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Maybe pointless (Score:2)
Re:Maybe pointless (Score:2)
Re:If you think that's bad. (Score:2)
I think there's a point where we need to stop making rules and just let natural selection take over.
Re:If you think that's bad. (Score:2)
Re:Behind the times... (Score:2)
Re:HEY! (Score:2)
--LordKaT
Re:Beamed information wants to be free. (Score:2)
Who would you suggest pay for this. I hardly doubt DirecTV is willing to foot the bill without a return on an investment. I'd laugh if you suggested a completely government run broadcast industry.
Let's test this theory of yours: Wh