iPad Car Mounts?

[redman042]

It occurs to me that the iPad would make an excellent multi-purpose device for an automobile. I could even imagine one being installed as a permanent in-dash computer by some enthusiasts with the cash to make it happen.

Think about it: navigation, music, video, web, traffic, weather, and more, all wrapped up in a lightning-fast device with a full-time internet connection and a large screen, for far less money than most aftermarket equipment or car manufacturer optional equipment, and with far better quality across the board.

This would even blow Ford's Sync system out of the water.

Obviously there are some challenges to getting this form factor mounted conveniently (either permanently or removable), without getting in the way of other stuff. The big bezel in this case is a drawback - it's just wasted space.

But damn, I'd love to rip out the in-dash nav on my Acura TL and drop this baby in it's place. How cool would that be?

Has anyone heard of car mount accessories being developed for this thing?

 

[Chris Rogers]

I'm not sure if this is such a great idea. An iPhone is borderline already (along with anything else that has a screen). I think drivers are distracted enough as it is.

 

[Julien]

...Obviously there are some challenges to getting this form factor mounted conveniently (either permanently or removable), without getting in the way of other stuff....

Has anyone heard of car mount accessories being developed for this thing?

For the former: Understatement. For the latter reference this part of the former "...getting in the way of other stuff....".

Now in a few years it's possible that a manufacture could offer a dash design with an iPad holder. However this would leave a LARGE void when the iPad was removed.

 

[old-wiz]

I'm not sure if this is such a great idea. An iPhone is borderline already (along with anything else that has a screen). I think drivers are distracted enough as it is.

And if people mounted iPads by their dashboard we'd have stupid drivers trying to watch videos while zooming down the interstate at 80.

 

[stridemat]

This idea has health & safety issues all over it, not only will they take up too much room!

 

[v3rn]

I might use mine for a GPS from time to time, so some kind of mount would be good. But obviously it's far too large for a windshield mount, so they'll have to come up with something else.

 

[eawmp1]

Install one in a Toyota and you've got a bona fide Deathmobile:

 

[bossxii]

The company that makes a car mount, had better have some good lawyers as soon as the first person is killed by some idiot watching a movie on his dash mounted iPad.

Having personal experience with a delivery van having a laptop mounted on their dash for directions...the driver with her head up her ass, trying to type in an address at 60mph+ ran a red light. Clipping the front fender of my work truck (F150) spinning me into another vehicle as she then hit a van killing two kids and putting the dad in the hospital.... I hope to never see this become available.

Video screens of any kind should land a driver in jail with a large fine. The on board GPS systems and cell phones already render people complete idiots, having any sort of mount for additional gear is criminal.

Yes I'm biased against them, but go look into a van with a dead 5 and 8 yr old then come tell me how great an this would be.

 

[v3rn]

The company that makes a car mount, had better have some good lawyers as soon as the first person is killed by some idiot watching a movie on his dash mounted iPad.

Having personal experience with a delivery van having a laptop mounted on their dash for directions...the driver with her head up her ass, trying to type in an address at 60mph+ ran a red light. Clipping the front fender of my work truck (F150) spinning me into another vehicle as she then hit a van killing two kids and putting the dad in the hospital.... I hope to never see this become available.

Video screens of any kind should land a driver in jail with a large fine. The on board GPS systems and cell phones already render people complete idiots, having any sort of mount for additional gear is criminal.

Yes I'm biased against them, but go look into a van with a dead 5 and 8 yr old then come tell me how great an this would be.

Yeah and every company that makes an iPhone or iPod touch mount better have good lawyers too right? You can watch a movie on an iPhone too. Just because you can doesn't mean everyone is going to.

 

[RobBookPro]

I also believe the ipad would be amazing built into a dash.

 

[mostly harmless]

but an Ipad would be a great headrest mounted video player/games machine to keep the kids in the back happy (not all uk cars have dvd machines) - I use my itouch to placate and diffuse baby anger at restaurants with episodes of postman pat, fireman sam etc we adults can then sip champagne cocktails by the pool, rather than deal with their unruly behavioural issues...

 

[miles01110]

I'd never trust an Apple product controlling any aspect of my vehicle.

 

[RobBookPro]

I'd never trust an Apple product controlling any aspect of my vehicle.

no one mentioned the ipad controlling the vehicle.

 

[miles01110]

no one mentioned the ipad controlling the vehicle.

I know, but it was only a matter of time before someone did. Plenty of fanboys seem willing to die for their company, and that's a pretty good way to do it.

 

[bossxii]

Yeah and every company that makes an iPhone or iPod touch mount better have good lawyers too right? You can watch a movie on an iPhone too. Just because you can doesn't mean everyone is going to.

Could on the iPhone/iPT but the screen is small enough not likely as appealing to someone with it mounted on their dash. iPad makes it not only easier to see, but the larger device will block their view even more. Clearly people text/talk etc... already, adding the ability to mount the iPad on someone's dash will bring up entirely new issues from visibility to simply being a distraction.

 

[WhySoSerious]

It occurs to me that the iPad would make an excellent multi-purpose device for an automobile. I could even imagine one being installed as a permanent in-dash computer by some enthusiasts with the cash to make it happen.

Think about it: navigation, music, video, web, traffic, weather, and more, all wrapped up in a lightning-fast device with a full-time internet connection and a large screen, for far less money than most aftermarket equipment or car manufacturer optional equipment, and with far better quality across the board.

This would even blow Ford's Sync system out of the water.

Obviously there are some challenges to getting this form factor mounted conveniently (either permanently or removable), without getting in the way of other stuff. The big bezel in this case is a drawback - it's just wasted space.

But damn, I'd love to rip out the in-dash nav on my Acura TL and drop this baby in it's place. How cool would that be?

Has anyone heard of car mount accessories being developed for this thing?

This is illegal.

Just like you can't have those seat mounted DVD players in your dash. People would then play movies and watch them.

It's illegal, will never happen.

 

[sassenach74]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

But you can buy in dash DVD players with a big screen can't you?

 

[avaloncourt]

This is illegal.

Just like you can't have those seat mounted DVD players in your dash. People would then play movies and watch them.

It's illegal, will never happen.

It's not illegal. If you choose to view videos or send text messages you can be charged with distracted driving or phone-related laws but the mounting of such devices, even forward mounted DVD is not illegal. Manufacturers choose not to allow text entry on some GPS units while the vehicle is in motion and Pioneer, et. al. choose not to allow video to play on a dash system but that is their choice for liability reasons. They don't want to get yanked into a lawsuit over dear old dad watching movies while driving and killing himself.

If it were illegal there would be tens of thousands of RV drivers written up for having huge LCD TVs right in front of and above them. There's not a thing that prevents them from turning on those TVs while driving. It's the ACT of watching TV that is illegal, not the display itself.

 

[racer1441]

I'm not sure if this is such a great idea. An iPhone is borderline already (along with anything else that has a screen). I think drivers are distracted enough as it is.

Don't confuse distracted with stupid.

 

[avaloncourt]

Don't confuse distracted with stupid.

I once heard someone say, "You can't legislate stupidity." That's very true.

 

[leomac08]

Install one in a Toyota and you've got a bona fide Deathmobile:

That looks like the cockpit of an Audi s4

not a toyota.

 

[AJsAWiz]

It occurs to me that the iPad would make an excellent multi-purpose device for an automobile. I could even imagine one being installed as a permanent in-dash computer by some enthusiasts with the cash to make it happen.

Think about it: navigation, music, video, web, traffic, weather, and more, all wrapped up in a lightning-fast device with a full-time internet connection and a large screen, for far less money than most aftermarket equipment or car manufacturer optional equipment, and with far better quality across the board.

This would even blow Ford's Sync system out of the water.

Obviously there are some challenges to getting this form factor mounted conveniently (either permanently or removable), without getting in the way of other stuff. The big bezel in this case is a drawback - it's just wasted space.

But damn, I'd love to rip out the in-dash nav on my Acura TL and drop this baby in it's place. How cool would that be?

Has anyone heard of car mount accessories being developed for this thing?

No problem . . . . . just let us all know when you'll be out on the road with this thing

 

[pirateRACE]

but an Ipad would be a great headrest mounted video player/games machine to keep the kids in the back happy (not all uk cars have dvd machines) - I use my itouch to placate and diffuse baby anger at restaurants with episodes of postman pat, fireman sam etc we adults can then sip champagne cocktails by the pool, rather than deal with their unruly behavioural issues...

I've been looking for one for weeks. We have a family roadtrip planned this summer and this could be a life saver. We have a crappy DVD player thingy but it skips like crazy and always needs plugged in. Hell if it keeps them at peace for an hour and a half it's worth $500.

I found this, which seemed to have some potential.. http://modulrcase.com/accessories.php

 

[YayMayorBee]

With the accelerometer you could easily have video turned off at speeds of more than 10 miles an hour.

My problem is how would you sync it?

I actually think this is a very cool idea

 

[gotzero]

I do not think this a bad idea at all, if done within reason.

My headunit is a touchscreen with navigation, phone access, and ipod access. Between my iPhone and the headunit it is connected to, I pretty much have a similar but inferior system.

By adding Internet, I could one day have true real time traffic and weather, etc, and much better than the current MSN stuff. The boot time would also be better than the Windows CE that sits under my headunit's interface.

It cannot be worse than this, from BMW.