I thought this when I heard the Mac Mini being announced this week. It seems a company is taking pre orders to place the new mac in your car taking advantage of the Voice recognition features and other items that the Mac excells at. The price for the mac starts at $499. Seems like a sweet thing to hook up to your TVs people.
They even mention KITT in the release:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prwebxml197110.php
Would any of you think about putting one of these in your car? They are 6x6x2, and beautiful.Auto Enthusiasts Reved-up for New Mac Mini - Classic Restorations First to Offer Custom Mac Mini Auto Installations
The new Mac Mini can bring "brain power" to any car, from the carefully restored classics and performance vehicles to the daily driver. Classic Restorations in Sloatsburg NY is first to offer customized design and installation of the Mac Mini in the car stereo or other single-DIN slot.
New York, NY (PRWEB) January 13, 2005 -- Melvin Benzaquen, president of Classic Restorations in Sloatsburg, NY (http://www.classicresto.com) realized that at 2 X 6.5 inches, the newly introduced Mac Mini could easily fit into a car stereo compartment, creating a powerful “brain” for any car. He’s convinced the new Mac Mini could be one of the hottest innovations the car enthusiast market has seen in years.
“We had been completing the design and prototypes of our modified iBook and PowerBook car installs when rumors of the Mac Mini began to circulate earlier this month,” said Benzaquen. “We immediately began working on a new design and plan for car conversions on the new Mac Mini platform. We are pleased to be the first to offer the exciting Mac Mini conversion at a price far more accessible than any mobile PC alternative.”
Classic Restorations’ exclusive Mac Mini Auto designs provide for touch screen or conventional LCD display options. Although the the Mac Mini mounts in a single-DIN slot in dash, Classic Restorations can customize installation to fit under the seat, in the glove box or any other location in the car.
For car enthusiasts, the Mac Mini conjures the potential of having a car like KITT from “Knight Rider,” the popular t.v. program featuring a talking and thinking sleek black TransAm. The Mac Mini supports voice recognition and voice response, allowing for handsfree operation while driving. It also supports Bluetooth, allowing for the use of a wide array of wireless peripherals such as keyboards and cell phones.
Drivers can use the customized Mac Mini Auto to log into home networks to transfer flies, such as your favorite music, video and photos, wirelessly from computers and home media devices directly to the car. The Mac Mini platform supports virtually all home media formats (MP3, DVD, CD, WMA, etc.) and the 40 GB storage allows for onboard selection of thousands of songs. Of course, Mac games can be played on the Mac Mini to provide hours of entertainment for passengers.
Road trips will never be the same for Mac Mini-equipped cars. Users can drive up and log into to any hotspot, as offered at many Starbucks, McDonald’s, hotels and other public locations to surf the Web, view e-mail, view webcams, and other useful options.
Mr. Benzaquen explains, “For around the price of mounting an iPod in your car, you get a whole Macintosh computer.”
Classic Restorations is now taking reservations for installations starting on Jan. 22, the day Apple announced as the release date for the hardware. Customers can provide their own Mac Mini or Classic Restorations will arrange to purchase the computer (based on hardware availability). Classic Restoration is offering a special introductory offer.
To learn more about Classic Restorations exclusive Mac Mini Auto Installation or to schedule an appointment at our shop conveniently located 45 minutes from New York City, call 845-753-5091 or visit http://www.classicresto.com.
apple.com/macmini
