No Dough, No Go! Technology Disables Car if You Miss a Payment!

Concerned about defaults on car loans to sub-prime borrowers (people with bad credit histories), lenders now can insist that a clever computerized box be installed in your car to alert you when your payment is due. When the lights start flashing, you know your payment is coming due. On the day the payment is due, the box also beeps incessantly.

When you make your payment you receive a six digit code to punch into the box. Without the code, your car is disabled and with new options such as tying the devices into GPS systems, it is easy for the repo man to locate the vehicle and repossess it!



Companies such as Sekurus (who makes a device called On Time) sell the devices to financing companies at up to $250 per box. Why would the finance companies invest so heavily in the devices? Because defaults on high-risk loans are cut from 30% to 5% when devices such as On Time are installed in the vehicle and the devices can drastically cut the time and expense of repossession.

Discussion Questions for Students:
1) How would you feel about having a device such as On Time installed in your car? What if it was the only way you could obtain a car loan for a vehicle you needed to commute to work?
2) Do you think it is ethical for a company to disable a car when a customer misses a payment? Should there be extenuating circumstances that would prevent the car from being disabled or repossessed?
3) If a GPS tracking device was installed in your vehicle, what potential ethical issues could arise from people (your parents, the police, your employer, the loan company) examining the data gathered by the GPS? Does this change how you feel about having a GPS device installed in your car?

Green Maven - Find Green Websites Quickly

Although specialized search engines abound on the Web, Green Maven is the first engine specifically tailored to generate search results only from "green" Web sites. Aside from searches of green sites, Green Maven also offers a Green News Reader which pulls postings from green blogs and other green news sources. Finally, if you don't want to use the search engine, the Green Maven Directory is set up in categories so you can easily browse (by topic) the sites indexed in their search engine.

So next time you are looking for that perfect computer recycling site or a source for compost supplies, head over to Green Maven.

Shop Amazon with Text Messages

Gee, what took them so long? A new service called TextBuyIt provides Amazon customers with the ability to purchase items through text messaging on their cell phones. By sending the product name, UPC code, or ISBN number to 262966 (which is Amazon on your keypad) Amazon will send back a message allowing you to purchase the product if they stock it. You need an existing Amazon account (which is free) to take advantage of this service. Check out the details on Amazon's TextBuyIT page.

This could easily stimulate sales for Amazon. If you are shopping at an electronics store and see a camera that you like you could easily check to see if Amazon carries it at a lower price.

Discussion Questions for Students:
1) Would you use the Amazon TextBuyIt service? Do you think this is an easier way to shop than going to Amazon's web site?
2) Have you ever bought anything using your cell phone? Was it a good or bad experience? Would you buy this way again?
3) What other companies should consider offering items or services for sale by text messaging? Explain how you think this would stimulate sales.

New Optical Data Transfer Record

IBM has achieved 300 Gbps throughput using a new fiber optic chip called the "Optichip". The new chips also operate at 1/10 the power requirement of existing chips. They achieved the transfer speed by using a shorter wavelength of laser generated light. IBM is touting the chips as the answer to developing peta-flop and exa-flop supercomputers. See the full article here.