Office on wheels
I found an article on MSNBC.com that talks about yet another technology advance for automobiles. The new technology is called the Ford Work Solutions, which is a built-in, theft-proof computer. No more stolen or broken laptops. This system is currently available for the Ford F-150 light-duty pickups, the Super Duty pickups, and the Transit Connect commercial minivans that will be available soon. Some of the components will be available to consumers that already own these trucks.
The Work Solutions system allows you to have hands-free for your cell phone and uses a Garmin navigation system. The Work Solutions system has a 6.5 inch touch-screen, 4 gigabytes of RAM, a memory-card sot, a USB port, and a wireless keyboard. The in-dash computer costs $1195 and the internet access costs between $25 and $50 a month.
There is also a tool tracking system. This lets the user compare the tools on the truck to a tool list for the scheduled job to make sure that you have all the tools needed for the job, and then you do it again at the end of the day to make sure that you don’t leave any tools at the job site. That’s pretty helpful, right? It will definitely save companies a great deal of money in misplaced tools, I would assume.
I think that this new technology, the Work Solutions, seems like a great new advancement that will be very helpful. I see how it is cost efficient, because it saves companies from stolen and broken laptops. My only hesitation (and it’s alittle one) is that no one knows the costs of repairs for this in-dash computer system. That can’t be cheap to fix. I guess we’ll have to wait and see when as the technology is used more often.