[Air-l] mobile taxi tv

[Barry Wellman]

Re the AoIR discussion on mobile tv:

I experienced an app of mobile tv that scared the heck out of me.
In Kyoto, Japan, the taxi driver's GPS system became a TV for him, and he
watched soap operas during the entire trip.

When I asked a friend, she said, "I do that every day on the drive to
work, because I know all the streets." Dunno what the accident rate is.

This strikes me as an outgrowth of the now-traditional custom (in Toronto
at least) of taxi drivers being on their mobile phones while driving.
Which is more immersive: 2-way audio phone chat or 1-way tv? Both scare me
when I am passengering.

Incidentally, modern Japanese car GPS systems rock. Using large screen
divided into multiple information sources, and great, video game
perspectives. But why do they have to show every Mcdonalds and 7-11
convenience store along the way? The integrated CD automatically converted
my Oscar Peterson disc (patriotic Canadian present) to MP3 as it played.

I'm here keynoting the Japanese Social Informatics conference, which has
600 attendees, from a wide spectrum of disciplines -- social sciences,
math, physics, engineering. It seems the accessibility of web data has
mobilized a number of new entrants to the field. Many have strong data
handling skills.
 Barry
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  Barry Wellman         Professor of Sociology        NetLab Director
  wellman at chass.utoronto.ca  http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman

  Centre for Urban & Community Studies          University of Toronto
  455 Spadina Avenue    Toronto Canada M5S 2G8    fax:+1-416-978-7162
	     To network is to live; to live is to network
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