...but where the heck are they going? According to the AP, via the Mercury News:
But not really, says a spokesman for one of the companies working on the idea - it's a digital vanity plate...
Leave aside the issue of being distracting. Hey, if this works - look for Government Motors to shift to lease-only options, and flash ads on your windshield via a HUD - cued to where you're driving - or "good citizenship" PSAs when you're not near someplace that wants to harass you inside your car with entreaties to "BUY OUR STUFF!"
Well, points for being creative. This stick in the mud would find it an even more compelling reason to be a hermit.
Anyone want to step up in defense?
No, really. At first blush, it looks like the state is hijacking your car to generate ad revenue for the state. Certainly that's what the bill's sponsor, Senator Curren Price (D-LA), seems to imply -The California Legislature is considering a bill that would allow the state to begin researching the use of electronic license plates for vehicles. The move is intended as a moneymaker for a state facing a $19 billion deficit.
The device would mimic a standard license plate when the vehicle is in motion but would switch to digital ads or other messages when it is stopped for more than four seconds, whether in traffic or at a red light. The license plate number would remain visible at all times in some section of the screen.
We're just trying to find creative ways of generating additional revenues," he said. "It's an exciting marriage of technology with need, and an opportunity to keep California in the forefront."
Price said the devices also would cut costs by streamlining the distribution, activation and registration of license plates.
But not really, says a spokesman for one of the companies working on the idea - it's a digital vanity plate...
Yeah. Uh-huh. So, I'm wondering, can I run... political ads against incumbents? Pro-choice ads? Pro-second amendment ads? Or will they have to be selected from a slate of bureaucrat approved options? Or worse - will they just force feed 'em to me, and if I don't like it, I don't have to drive, I can use public transportation, right? Unless I run a hauling business, of course. Or my lumber business, which will undoubtedly end up flashing PETA ads on my truck's license plates.Jordan said he envisioned the license plates as not just another advertising venue, but as a way to display personalized messages—broadcasting the driver's allegiance to a sports team or an alma mater, for example.
"The idea is not to turn a motorist's vehicle into a mobile billboard, but rather to create a platform for motorists to show their support for existing good working organizations," he said.
Leave aside the issue of being distracting. Hey, if this works - look for Government Motors to shift to lease-only options, and flash ads on your windshield via a HUD - cued to where you're driving - or "good citizenship" PSAs when you're not near someplace that wants to harass you inside your car with entreaties to "BUY OUR STUFF!"
Well, points for being creative. This stick in the mud would find it an even more compelling reason to be a hermit.
Anyone want to step up in defense?
Can I run "Obama is a putz!" or "Pelosi sucks!" on it?
If I can, then I'd consider it.
So, will they still make you BUY your plates? Who pays for the energy to run the damned thing?
Seems to me that what the state wats is for you peasants to pay for the priviledge of advertising the states message du jour. I don't think that even Orwell could have envisaged this one.
This also answers why students were in school the Tuesday prior to Labor Day last year, because doing so meant that teachers were therefore paid for the entire month of August -- even though they were only in class for the last six days of the month. All of this means that the only month of the year for which California teachers will not be paid is July.
And better yet, for those of a more "cough" rural nature, what happens when it gets submerged in mud, muck or water?