Today Chrysler announced that next year their vehicles will come with the option of becoming a mini wireless Internet hotspot.
So now you can get Internet in your car, Virgin has Ethernet ports on their planes, and I still can't pick up a cell signal in my basement.....but I digress.
The Internet will be a dealer installed option that will work over cellular telephone links. Chrylser's uconnect system can link telephones and personal music players to the car's onboard electronics, so imagine controlling your Apple iPod with radio and steering wheel controls. It will also includes the company's in-car 30-gigabyte hard drive, with options for three-channel satellite television service and satellite radio. The system will work while the car is in motion and can be utilized by passengers.
Cost is expected to be about $449 for the wireless router, $35-$50 for dealer installation, with service fees at about $29/month with a onetime activation fee of $35.
My mind is spinning with the implications this can have on real estate as this type of technology becomes more commonplace, as I am sure it will- and fast.
Can you imagine the turning the computer screen in your car to "real estate" mode. As you drive around a neighborhood, listings are being feed to your car. Maybe you told your car your search criteria and it is mashing listing data with maps to spit out GPS directions to see your home matches in the most efficient route.
When you drive by a home that is actually for sale, the home and car could basically "talk" feeding multiple photos, podcasts, video, descriptions, and vital data about the home to your dashboard. Because the information is coming through the phone lines, there could be a push to talk to the Realtor on the same device. And all this could then be downlaoded to your iPod for future review with the push of a button.
I think the value of the website in a marketing strategy is already diminishing with the advent of Web 2.0 media. People can get tons of information from so many sources today, however, they need help deciphering it. This is why sites that allow dialogue in the form of question and answers and blogging are so valuable.
I believe this type of mobile technology is going to make the website even less important, and the need for a mobile marketing strategy CRITICAL. People aren't going to be sitting in their cars surfing websites. They are going to want customized information feed directly to them.
It won't happen today or tomorrow, but it is coming. Each purchase of another iPhone and now cars with mobile technology, puts us that much closer to what I imagine Web 3.0 to be- when computers become antiquated technology replaced by personal, handheld technology that is always accessible and customized to feed directly to the end user, verses the end user going out and searching for it.
And we thought talking on the phone while driving was dangerous... I can only imagine my husband driving down the road talking on his phone, listening to his mp3 player while trying to pull up the latest Cubs score and having a conversation on IM. The next step is going to have to be cars that will drive for us, to free us up for other activities that are now becoming more important than steering while driving!
Now, if we don't all burn out! There has to be a way for some time out! I simply refuse to take my cell phone into the bathroom !