Let's get one thing clear right off the bat; we here at AtAT aren't really "car people." We don't gush over the latest models, we don't change our own oil, and we consider the AtATmobile little more than a utilitarian device for transporting bodies and belongings from point A to point B-- a particularly lovable utilitarian device, but a utilitarian device nonetheless. (Okay, we're done saying "utilitarian device" now.) So in general we don't put a whole lot of thought into what future innovations might make automobiles better, other than impatiently awaiting the day foretold in nearly every '50s sci-fi flick when we'll all have flying cars and can drive to work like George Jetson.

That said, we are somewhat excited about this latest push to stick FireWire in cars of the future. Faithful viewer Mangoman tipped us off to a MacCentral article about a "draft specification" cobbled together by the 1394 Trade Association and the IDB Forum, which proposes that FireWire be included in future vehicles for "delivering built-in audio and video content." (Hopefully that video content is for the passengers in the car, and not the driver-- TV junkies we may be, but even we are a tad squeamish about sharing the road with motorists trying to negotiate the highway at eighty miles per hour while watching "Springer.")

What's more, apparently there's a distinct possibility that you'll be able to plug your PowerBook or iBook right into your car to... uh... well, to do something. MacCentral suggests that you might want to do this for "myriad purposes ranging from entertainment to navigation." They're probably thinking of relatively practical (yet mundane) applications, such as uploading MP3 files from your iBook to your car's audio system, or uploading MapQuest directions to the heads-up display before a long trip. We, on the other hand, immediately wondered whether we could control the vehicle via InputSprocket while playing Carmageddon. Now that's driving!

The real benefit of all this to Apple, though, may be purely financial. Remember, Apple invented FireWire, and collects royalties every time it's used-- after wrassling with the rest of the industry over the original dollar-per-port licensing fee, eventually the cost dropped to twenty-five cents per device. We haven't the foggiest idea how many cars are sold each year, but if this FireWire plan goes through, Apple would make a buck for ever four cars that roll off the assembly lines. It may not be a lot of cash, but it would probably be enough to keep the board of directors in gas money.