I don’t know about you, but when I drive, I have to listen to music. For me, it’s just a really great way to decompress after work, or a great way to get pumped up on the way to a game. The bottom line is that without tunes in the car, most of us might find traveling a bit on the boring side.
I don’t think we have anything to fear about losing our in-car entertainment, but I did recently hear that Sheryl Connelly with Ford Motor Co., told Digital Music News, βThe in-car CD player β much like pay telephones β is destined to fade away in the face of exciting new technology.β According to Ford, downloadable formats such as MP3 now account for 98% of the music market, having grown more than seven-fold while CD sales have dropped 35%. The automaker says the Ford Focus is its first model that will have a CD-less in-dash radio.
Of course, Ford isn’t the only auto manufacturer who is moving towards integrating a smartphone connection as well as USB and MP3 Bluetooth connectivity for an external device in their vehicles as well.
Our cars have become such an ingrained part of our culture, they have quite literally become extension of ourselves and our homes. There is no doubt that over time customer preferences will lead us quickly into an all-digital approach to in-car audio entertainment. That means no more floorboards covered in scratched CDs. No more pulling the wrong CD from the right case. It will quite literally streamline our dashboards as well as how we listen to music in our cars.
The big question is, “When will all of this take place?” I don’t have an answer for that, but my guess is certainly much sooner than later.
What’s next? This? WARNING: DON’T ATTEMPT THIS
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx3ZJ9HXIbo
Of course that was just for entertainment, so don’t go and turn your car into a giant keyboard…unless your name is Liberace.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask. If you are interested in the next generation on in-car entertainment, swing by and take a look at what Buick and GMC have to offer.