????時(shí)下導(dǎo)致車禍的最大原因并非是酒后駕駛,，而是駕駛員注意力分散，也就是說(shuō)駕駛員的腦子或眼睛并沒(méi)有緊盯著路況,，或者手離開了方向盤,。隨著汽車的操控變得越來(lái)越復(fù)雜，加上駕駛員們總愛(ài)在駕駛時(shí)擺弄手機(jī)等設(shè)備,，這個(gè)問(wèn)題也變得越來(lái)越嚴(yán)峻,。據(jù)美國(guó)國(guó)家公路交通安全管理局（National Highway Traffic Safety Administration）和弗吉尼亞科技運(yùn)輸學(xué)院 （Virginia Tech Transportation Institute ）2008年聯(lián)合公布的一項(xiàng)研究顯示，80%的車禍都與駕駛員某種形式的分心難逃干系；而那些險(xiǎn)些發(fā)生車禍的“驚魂一刻”,，也有65%都與駕駛員某種形式的分心有關(guān),。
????福特（Ford）今年推出了全新的MyFord Touch觸屏系統(tǒng)，朝著減少駕駛員分心的方向上邁出了一大步,。MyFord系統(tǒng)可以將移動(dòng)電話,、電子記事簿（PDA）和數(shù)字媒體播放器等功能整合到汽車中，駕駛員可通過(guò)語(yǔ)音指令,、觸屏輸入或傳統(tǒng)的按鍵開關(guān)三者中的任一方式來(lái)進(jìn)行操作,。
????幾個(gè)月前我親自測(cè)試了MyFord Touch系統(tǒng)，結(jié)果總體上還不錯(cuò),。盡管我是個(gè)對(duì)科技接受的比較慢的人,，但我發(fā)現(xiàn)，在接受了半個(gè)小時(shí)的講解后,，我已經(jīng)可以順暢操作了,。方向盤上的多媒體控制鍵要比一般德國(guó)車上的多功能方向盤更加直觀。聲控系統(tǒng)經(jīng)過(guò)了升級(jí),，可對(duì)10,000個(gè)單詞做出反應(yīng),，效果好得驚人。我本人對(duì)觸屏并沒(méi)有太大好感,，因?yàn)槲矣X(jué)得觸屏普遍反應(yīng)遲鈍,，在駕駛過(guò)程中很難激活。不過(guò)福特的觸屏系統(tǒng)比起我測(cè)試過(guò)的克萊斯勒（Chrysler）的幾款新車要快一些,，應(yīng)答性也略勝一籌,。
????不過(guò)我的體驗(yàn)并不具有代表性。福特現(xiàn)在正在遭受汽車買主,、經(jīng)銷商,、第三方評(píng)估者和媒體的口誅筆伐。福特發(fā)現(xiàn),，當(dāng)領(lǐng)頭羊的代價(jià),，就是人人都可以踢你的屁股。
????對(duì)MyFord Touch的報(bào)怨早在今年一月就出現(xiàn)了,。一位車主向他的三位朋友評(píng)價(jià)他的福特?？怂梗‵ocus）轎車時(shí)說(shuō)道：“這款觸屏系統(tǒng)太差勁了，偶爾才能連接到我的藍(lán)牙手機(jī)上,，在駕駛時(shí)偶爾還會(huì)重新啟動(dòng)，而且有時(shí)甚至不肯提供電臺(tái)預(yù)設(shè),。有時(shí)開機(jī)幾分鐘后系統(tǒng)會(huì)突然白屏,，過(guò)一會(huì)兒又恢復(fù)了界面。有時(shí)右前方的喇叭會(huì)突然冒出某個(gè)電臺(tái)的廣播節(jié)目，聲音大得都失真了,，不論怎么拼命按鈕都無(wú)濟(jì)于事,。屏幕上明明顯示的是“最小音量”，但喇叭還是以90分貝的音量咆哮著,，耳膜都快被它震破了,。幸好只有這一個(gè)喇叭出了問(wèn)題?！?/p>
????目前最有代表性的批評(píng)來(lái)自《消費(fèi)者報(bào)告》雜志（Consumers Reports）,，這家雜志是目前最有影響力的第三方汽車評(píng)估者。今年一月,，《消費(fèi)者報(bào)告》的一名評(píng)測(cè)者寫道,，他認(rèn)為“系統(tǒng)非常容易上手，我用了很短的時(shí)間就學(xué)會(huì)了,，甚至都不用打開那本厚厚的用戶手冊(cè),。”不過(guò)他也補(bǔ)充道：“人們對(duì)該系統(tǒng)的看法并不一致,?！?/p>
????后來(lái)該雜志又發(fā)布了正式的評(píng)測(cè)報(bào)告，這份報(bào)告對(duì)MyFord Touch的評(píng)價(jià)有所下降,。
????“福特原本只對(duì)系統(tǒng)進(jìn)行簡(jiǎn)單調(diào)整就可以了,，但它卻采用了三四種不同的方法。然而這些方法的任何一種都不如老式的旋鈕和按鍵好用,，而且它們操作起來(lái)也比較費(fèi)時(shí),，還會(huì)令司機(jī)分心。首次使用者可能根本無(wú)法理解該系統(tǒng),?！?/p>
????根據(jù)汽車市場(chǎng)調(diào)查機(jī)構(gòu)J.D. Power 的“新車質(zhì)量調(diào)查”（Initial Quality Survey）的反饋，一些購(gòu)車已超過(guò)90天的福特車主也有相同的報(bào)怨,。據(jù)上周四公布的調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示,，福特在各大汽車品牌中的質(zhì)量排名已從第5名下跌至第23名。導(dǎo)致這個(gè)結(jié)果的一個(gè)重要原因就是飽受詬病的MyFord Touch,。
????J.D. Power的副總裁戴夫?薩金特對(duì)《底特律新聞報(bào)》（Detroit News）表示：“如果不是MyFord Touch的緣故,，福特的排名也不會(huì)下降這么多。福特公司決意要成為車載多媒體互聯(lián)領(lǐng)域的領(lǐng)軍者,。如果真成了成了領(lǐng)軍者,，這誠(chéng)然是好事，但這也使你處在了一個(gè)易受抨擊的地位,?！?/p>
????福特公司一直以其產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量排名作為一個(gè)關(guān)鍵的賣點(diǎn),，因此該排名的下降令福特深感苦惱。福特連續(xù)五年都沒(méi)有下過(guò)“新車質(zhì)量調(diào)查”的行業(yè)平均線,。另一搭載了MyFord Touch系統(tǒng)的汽車品牌林肯（Lincoln）的處境也并不比福特好多少,。它的質(zhì)量排名從2010年的第8位下跌到了今年的第17位。福特正在反復(fù)與經(jīng)銷商和顧客會(huì)面,，以更多地了解他們的抱怨,。福特希望最早在今年秋天推出MyFord Touch的2.0版。
????與此同時(shí),，福特顯然并沒(méi)有放緩創(chuàng)新的腳步,。本周早些時(shí)候，福特向一些新聞?dòng)浾哒故玖嗽摴镜囊幌盗行聞?chuàng)意,。其中包括一些能夠自動(dòng)避免事故的設(shè)備,，這些設(shè)備通過(guò)使用wi-fi無(wú)線網(wǎng)絡(luò)信號(hào)，讓駕駛員知道附近其他車輛的位置,，還可以偵測(cè)到轉(zhuǎn)彎處有無(wú)來(lái)車,，以提醒駕駛員進(jìn)行避讓，避免車禍,。除此之外,，還有一些設(shè)備可用于檢測(cè)駕駛員的健康水平，其中包括用于檢查駕駛員的緊張程度的心率監(jiān)測(cè)儀,，以及為糖尿病患者準(zhǔn)備的血糖監(jiān)測(cè)儀等,。
????前進(jìn)永不止步。不過(guò)就像福特的教訓(xùn)一樣,，有時(shí)必須慢慢來(lái),。
????譯者：樸成奎 |
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????More than drunk driving, the biggest single cause of car accidents today is driver distraction: taking your mind or eyes off the road, or your hands off the wheel. As the controls of cars become more complex and drivers continue to manipulate accessory appliances like cell phones while they are moving, the problem is only getting worse. According to a 2008 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involve some form of driver distraction
????Ford (F, Fortune 500) took a giant step towards mitigating driver distraction this year when it introduced its MyFord Touch system of driver controls. MyFord enables drivers to integrate mobile phones, PDAs, and digital media players into their cars, and operate them using any one of three different systems: voice commands, touch-screen inputs, or conventional switches.
????I tested MyFord Touch a few months ago with generally good results. While I am a slow technology adapter, I found that I could operate it well enough after a half-hour instruction. The steering wheel controls are more intuitive than the dials I've found on German cars, and the voice command system, upgraded to accept 10,000 words, also worked surprisingly well. I'm not a fan of touch screens, finding them insensitive and hard to activate while driving. Ford's system, though, worked faster and more responsively than others I have tried on new Chrysler cars.
????My experience has not been typical, however, and Ford is getting roasted by owners, dealers, third-party evaluators, and the media. The price of leadership, it is finding, is that everybody gets to kick you from behind.
????Complaints started showing up as early as January. One owner reported the following in demonstrating his Ford Focus to three friends: "Too bad about the touchscreen, I say, which only occasionally will connect to my Bluetooth phone, occasionally reboots while driving, and sometimes doesn't bother to offer radio presets. A few minutes later, the screen goes blank and then comes back up. And out of the front-right speaker suddenly comes some radio station's broadcast so loud it's distorted. No amount of button-pressing will stop it. The display clearly shows 'Minimum Volume,' and yet the speaker crackles on with 90 decibels of eardrum-piercing sturm und drang. Luckily, it was just the one speaker."
????The most prominent critic has been Consumers Reports, by far the most influential third-party automotive evaluator. Early reports were encouraging. A CR driver reported in January that he "found the system easy enough to learn on the fly that I didn't have to break out the weighty owner's manual," but he added that "the jury is still out."
????When the magazine weighed in with its formal evaluation later on, however, it lowered the boom.
????"It all adds up to three or four ways to make what should be simple adjustments. None of the options works as well or is as easy to use as old-fashioned knobs and switches, and they can be more time-consuming and distracting to operate. First-time users might find it impossible to comprehend."
????Those complaints were echoed by owners who responded to J.D. Power's Initial Quality Survey after 90 days of ownership. In results released Thursday, Ford fell from 5th to 23rd in the quality ranking of major brands. MyFord Touch was a big reason why.
????"If it wasn't for MyFord Touch, we wouldn't be talking about Ford," said Dave Sargent, vice president of global vehicle research at J.D. Power, told the Detroit News, "They made the decision to be a leader in this area" of onboard connectivity, he said. "If you're the leader, that's great, but you're also in a somewhat vulnerable position."
????Ford, which has made its product quality ranking a key selling point, is chagrined. The automaker hasn't finished below the industry average in the survey for five years. Lincoln, which also offers MyFord Touch, didn't fare much better. It dropped from 8th place in 2010 to 17th this year. Ford has been meeting repeatedly with dealers and customers to learn more about their complaints. It hopes to roll out a version 2.0 as early as this fall.
????Meanwhile, Ford apparently isn't slowing the pace of innovation. Earlier this week, it showed new journalists a portfolio of new ideas. Some are accident-avoidance devices that use wi-fi signals to let drivers know where other cars are and to see around corners to give drivers a warning about an impending collision. Others check on a driver's health with a heart-rate monitor to measure his stress level and a blood-sugar monitor for diabetics.
????Progress can't be stopped but, as Ford is learning, sometimes you have to slow it down. |
