BMW Will Make You Pay
It used to be that you paid for your car keys. If BMW gets its w ay, you will pay with your car keys. Automobilwoche [sub] reports that BMW ist developing the “car key of the future.” Oddly enough, it won’t unlock revolutionary new features of the car. It will replace the credit card, a train ticket and a room key at the hotel. Say what?
Employed with Near Field Communication technology (you know, the stuff that lets you drive through toll gates without stopping), the new BMW key will be readable. Connected to your credit card account, someone can get money from your account as long as they key is on you. That alone should make it fun.
When the BMW driver of the future is sick of driving, he will book a train ticket or a hotel room from his car computer. On the train, a reader carried by the conductor will recognize the virtual ticket. The lock of the hotel room will open with the right access code. The most obvious applications, such as buying gas, or automatically paying for a speeding ticket, remained unmentioned. Probably too trivial for a BMW engineer.
But don’t worry, it will be a few years until the loaded key will be a standard feature.
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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and then what happens when it gets haxored and people are directly linked into your credit information?
The cell phone is also doing this. Makes a lot more sense for a phone than a car key. There is also a smart tag system where you just pick up the items you want and a scanner records the items in your bag as you leave the store and automatically charges your credit card. No need for check out registers. Next will be the eye scan like in the movie Minority Report.
Any key accoutrement bulkier than a flat cut metal key starts losing my interest. Since I don't carry a purse, something will have to be jammed in a pocket every day. Apparently my idea of convenience is more minimalist. Also, the best defense defense against car theft continues to be a clutch pedal.
After having to shell out nearly $300 to replace a faulty key on my Benz... and after being locked out of said Benz, despite having a physical key which was unable to defeat the car's bizarre security system, which almost-but-not-quite lets you open the door, then sets off the alarm until the battery dies... BMW can keep this ridiculous thing. Remote unlock is great, but I still want a piece of metal that I can stick into a hole and turn.