Highways Meet

Are you a Net addict, even in your car? If you're a portable professional, you'll soon have voice access to e-mail and be able to get information from the mighty Web while whizzing along the freeway. Dashboard PCs are the newest addition to cars, allowing you to connect to servers wirelessly and check stock prices, get the news and download information so you'll have the latest data at your fingertips on your way to appointments.

Product choices are limited at the moment. If you need your motherboard for Internet access, you'll either have to buy and install a separate dashboard unit, such as Clarion's AutoPC, or buy a 2001 Cadillac. The AutoPC is a $1,300 dashboard PC complete with a radio and a CD-ROM that replace the factory-installed audio system. Because the little PC is voice-activiated, you don't have to fool with a mouse, diskettes or a keyboard to get information from the Web. Or, if you really want to splurge, you can opt for the Cadillac Seville or Deville, whose optional Infotainment system integrates a PC, a navigation system, a CD-ROM and radio functions. Data is read to you as you drive. Once parked, you can store e-messages on your hand-held device or PDA for later transfer to a desktop PC.

Jill Amadio has reported on the automotive industry for 23 years as an editor and a consultant.

This article was originally published in the October 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Highways Meet.