New Trends In Driver Distraction, Mercedes Benz Edition

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

The stuff those crafty engineers in Stuttgart come up with to keep our eyes off the road.

And just in case you are stuck in traffic in [geolocate your position] …

Why don’ t you tell the world on Facebook and Twitter that you are stuck in traffic in [geolocate your position]?

(It is not true that mbrace 5.0 will automatically Twitter back: “Me too! Stuck in [geolocate your position]!!!” This one will require no driver interaction, absolutely hands-free.)


Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • David Dennis David Dennis on Jan 28, 2012

    I love iPhone and I love apps and gadgets, so you would think this would be right up my alley. But the gaudy color scheme! The blackberry-like interface! Ouch! My eyes bled after watching that first video. I also don't like my car having a monthly fee associated with it. I'd love to be able to remotely find and control my car, but $250-400 a year (if my memory serves) is an expense I can rather easily live without. Why not make it communicate via WiFi with the car instead of cellular phone? That would give enough range for me to find the car in my parking lot, but wouldn't require a monthly fee I'd hate to pay. In this day and age, I suspect even Mercedes owners are going to try and avoid tiresome monthly fees as much as possible :(. D

  • Syke Syke on Jan 28, 2012

    OK, I'm a curmudgeonly old fart - but - whatever happened to the concept of 'driving a car'? As in, feel the road, listen to the engine, play with the back end of the car by varying the throttle, etc.? I have a Facebook account, actually check it once a week. I have a Twitter account, have never sent a tweet, find it invaluable for notifying me of the day's bicycle race and where the live feed can be picked up. Having read this, I'm going to spend the morning driving my 924S. No: social media, computer hookup, Bluetooth, traction control, abs, airbags. Just a sweet four cylinder engine (in front), smooth five speed transmission (in back), and some of the smoothest handling on a winding back road I've ever experienced. Oh yeah, and an AM/FM cassette stereo. The cassette player doesn't work. A car. Not a modern multi-social-media workstation on four wheels.

  • Japanese Buick Japanese Buick on Jan 28, 2012

    Do they have one for "I'm currently stuck at the dealer for an expensive repair of [OBDII diag output]?

  • Donatolla Donatolla on Jan 28, 2012

    So...does Mercedes help customers when their house gets broken into while their car tweets about being stuck in traffic?

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