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Why Microsoft won't make your car crash

David Coursey AnchorDesk

Published: 30 May 2003 11:27 BST

A friend -- one of those computer people who delight in pointing out technology's pratfalls -- sent me a link to a news story this week. The headline read: "BMW glitch locks Thai minister in". "Security guards smashed their way into an official limousine with sledgehammers on Monday to rescue Thailand's finance minister after his car's computer failed," a Reuters news service dispatch said.

Seems that the computer in Suchart Jaovisidha's BMW failed, automatically locking all the doors and shutting off the air-conditioning. "We could hardly breathe for over 10 minutes," the freed minister told reporters. "It was a harrowing experience."

My friend -- who'd take a sledgehammer to Microsoft if he could -- appended a second story to the Reuters report. It was a press release headlined, "Microsoft technology powers the navigation feature used in BMW's innovative new iDrive telematics system."

The juxtaposition of those two stories might remind some of you of an old joke: What would happen if MS designed cars? They'd run perfectly for 50,000 miles and then explode.

Of course, Microsoft had nothing to do with the Thai minister's George Jetson-like experience ("Jane, open this crazy thing! Help! Jane!"). I know because I called Redmond to find out how a BMW could go from "the ultimate driving machine" to a sweltering tropical prison. For the record, Microsoft has no idea.

"We don't have any system that controls starting, stopping, door locks, engine control, or things like that," said Peter Wengert, marketing manager for Microsoft's automotive business unit. "We just handle the navigation system."

More specifically, Wengert's business unit is in the in-car infotainment business, providing software that improves the driving experience, not the car itself. And that business is no joke.