Yesterday I received a phone call from a friend who happens to work for JetBlue. He said that JetBlue will be announcing new routes today. I hoped it was Chicago (well.. I got a hint that it was going to be ORD). So today he called me from O’Hare, where JetBlue flew in for a press conference to announce the new routes. So to the new airline in Chicago a BIG WELCOME. Now I will be able to see my friend (Tomek) more often. Another reason I’m happy is that I will have yet another choice to fly to warm places from Chicago (I’m an airline employee as well so the reciprocal deals we have with other carriers are a nice perk)
One day I was stuck on the Kennedy in a traffic when I had an enlightenment…. I was tired and laid both of my hands in the arm rests. Then it hit me. How come no car company has exercised playing around with the thing that’s being used most in all cars; steering wheel. Why not just get rid of it and put a joystick in the middle console where you have the transmission lever. This set up would work only in cars with automatic transmissions but imagine this…having a joystick in your car…push forward - you go faster, push backwards - you engage brakes, yank it to the left, you make left turn and right to turn right. Under the thumb you’d have a switch to control the turn signals and a button (the “Fire” style one) to control the horn. This all of course would have to be a “drive-by-wire” system and the joystick would have to have a force feedback to make it feel more realistic but it could be a nice “option” for any car. Would you like Steel or Alloy wheels…. Alloy…check. Would you like 1.8 or 2.0 engine…..2.0 …check.. Would you prefer Steering wheel or Joystick….. Joystick… Check. There would be one more perk to the whole thing… Gauge console would be placed in the middle…or better yet..one integrated on-board computer mounted in the center. So you get tired and then tell your passenger to grab the joystick and take over the driving. FUN FUN FUN. When are we going to see that???