> Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto
> industry.He stated: "If GM had kept up with technology like the
> computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar
> cars that got 1000 miles to the gallon."
>
> In response, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM
> had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars
> with the following characteristics:
>
> 1. For no reason whatsoever 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 your car would die on the freeway for no reason,
> and you would just accept this, restart and drive on.
>
> 4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn, would
> cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case
> you would have to reinstall the engine.
>
> 5. Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought
> "Car95"or "CarNT." But then you would have to buy more seats.
>
> 6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, reliable,
> five times as fast, and twice as easy to drive, but would only run
> on five percent of the roads.
>
> 7. The oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would be
> replaced by a single "general car fault" warning light.
>
> 8. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.
>
> 9. The airbag system would say "Are you sure?" before going off.
>
> 10. Occasionally for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you
> out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the
> door handle, turned the key, and grab hold of the radio antenna.
>
> 11. GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of
> Rand McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even though they
> neither need them nor want them. Attempting to delete this option
> would immediately cause the car's performance to diminish by 50% or
> more.
> Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by the Justice
> Department.
>
> 12. Everytime 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.
>
> 13. You'd press the "start" button to shut off the engine.
>
>
Jim Devine jdevine at popmail.lmu.edu &
http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html