A Microsoft Car
At a computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated: "If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."
In
response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release (by Mr. Welch
himself) stating:
If
GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with
the following characteristics:
1.
For no reason at all, your car would crash twice a day.
2.
Every time they repainted the lines on the road, you would have to buy a new
car.
3.
Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left-turn would cause your car to
shut down and refuse to restart, and you would have to reinstall the engine.
4.
When your car died on the freeway for no reason, you would just accept this,
restart and drive on.
5.
Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought 'Car95' or 'CarNT',
and then added more seats.
6.
Apple would make a car powered by the sun, reliable, five times as fast, and
twice as easy to drive, but would run on only five per cent of the roads.
7.
Oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a
single 'general car default' warning light.
8.
New seats would force every-one to have the same size butt.
9.
The airbag would say 'Are you sure?' before going off.
10.
Occasionally, for no reason, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you
in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key, and grabbed
the radio antenna.
11.
GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of road maps from
Rand-McNally (a subsidiary of GM), even though they neither need them nor want
them. Trying to delete this option would immediately cause the car's performance
to diminish by 50 per cent or more. Moreover, GM would become a target for
investigation by the Justice Department.
12.
Every time GM introduced a new model, car buyers would have to learn how to
drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same
manner as the old car.