Okay, so driving your car is a less dramatic example, but we can all cite examples where technology has let us down just when we needed it most. The incorrect directions leading you up a one-way street the wrong way. Loss of GPS signal when you are stuck in the middle of nowhere. A dead battery on your mobile phone just when you needed to make a call. The new BMW 3 Series Saloon seems to ?y in the face of all this, with a distinctly old-school eighties concept at its very heart; ironically one that I think illustrates BMW's cutting-edge approach to their cars, and sets it streets apart from the competition in terms of innovation. Back in that decade, where I ?rst found my love for computers, there were several really cool TV shows that embraced modern technology and inspired us young'uns to do likewise. The two that really appealed to the much-younger version of me were Knight Rider, and Streethawk. Both had an ex-policeman hero, one murdered and legally dead, whilst the other was injured in the line of duty. Both gentlemen were to be seen sporting some exceedingly impressive transportation. But of the two, Streethawk was without a doubt my favourite. And the reason was very simple... Knight Rider starred a high performance TransAm car that could think for itself. A car that when the occasion arose, would weigh up the pros and cons, and make a decision for itself, regardless of what its human partner thought.
And even as a young lad wowed by BBC B computers and Atari games consoles, I didn't like the idea of this one little bit. Streethawk's strength, on the other hand, consisted of a wily human – the suitably-if-notsubtly-named Jessie Mach) riding a highperformance and heavily armed motorbike, and assisted on the hi-tech front by another human – the rather less ?amboyantly named Normal Tuttle. The bike had every gadget and gizmo a crime ?ghter could desire, but ultimately, the humans in the story always called the shots. The pre-teen me approved greatly of this, ?YZ[?? H[?? [?]H??? ?[??H[?] [??H \???XZ?H H^X?]]?HX?\?[??[???H [\? ?[X???[?\?H ?H??[??[? H ?\?? \? YX?H8?$? H ?[?H?]??U? ??\?Y\??[??;? [?[???[YH[?H ?[Z[\?\?K[?[ ??H [??[X?? Z[?? H ?\?H ?[YH]??\?? ?Y]]??[?Z][?H??\??Y[Y [?H ?X[\?X? ?^K?[? ?]\??XX?[?H?[???X?]\?HY? H ??] ?H \???Y\?[[??[?H\? HX\?? H ??\?Y\?H?? ] ?H ??Y ]\?Y [? H ?Y??\?[??\??^H? X?????H[? ?\??X?\???Z[?Y[? H? [?[?U? ??\??[?[][ [YYXH X??Y?H\?H[??{? [?][ H H?\?????Z[??H X??Y?K[]?\?Y ? H ?]?\? ?XHH?X]]Y?[\???\?????KYX[?? ] \??\? ?X[ H\? ?]K[?]KX\? [?[ H ?Y? ?^\?H ?] [?]? ?\?[H
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