Here in my car, I am safest of all

I don't really like being in cars. Having the freedom to drive virtually anywhere is always nice, as is the convenience of having a full HVAC system and an array of entertainment options at arm's reach. The problem is all the liability: one misplaced curb and/or young child is all it takes for the mobile pleasure palace to become a bringer o' death and chaos. Aside from a few fender-benders, I haven't really had to worry about much of that. It's also not a new subject for any driver. We know these machines are dangerous.

What's been more bothersome lately is how the steady march of feature creep impacts driving. GM and AT&T recently announced a small partnership. Chevrolets will get wireless data connectivity, while AT&T gets sweet, delicious money. It's a natural step as most new cars now have some kind of connection to a data source, whether it's to a phone or a satellite. The difference here would be the lack of carrier choice (because everyone loves those folks, right?) and, er, the fact that streaming content is a great way to eat up even the most generous data plan in very little time. The issue here isn't what should or shouldn't be a feature in cars, but rather why wireless providers are still such a tight bottleneck for delivering wireless data. Is this another problem with a Google-based solution, or is that a more dangerous path to wander down?