The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is where technology vendors get together to announce upcoming products that are about to be launched as well as futuristic offerings that are still in development. It is at this year’s CES that automotive technology maker Harman revealed it is working with Microsoft to bring the Office 365 productivity suite to cars. This means people can respond to emails, schedule appointments and do Skype calls on their way to work. But do people really want to be starting the daily grind before they even get into the office? Discuss.
Futuristic driving image from Shutterstock
Judging by the amount of traffic I see from Monday to Friday, there are a lot of people who drive to and from work. Perhaps it’s a convenience thing but it’s also nice to have a bit of alone time in a car listening to a podcast, radio show or music before you start the daily grind. For some, driving is a relaxing and enjoyable experience.
Harman’s plan to bring Office 365 into cars would mean you’d be stepping into the office as soon as you jump into your car. The vendor isn’t planning to integrate all the components of Office 365 like Word, Excel and Powerpoint, into its car infotainment systems and some features will only work when the vehicle isn’t moving. But they are still tools for you to work longer than your nominal office hours.
So are you on board with this Office-in-the-car idea or do you prefer to drive in peace without having to deal with work emails and appointments? Let us know in the comments.
Comments
13 responses to “Would You Want To Start The Work Day In Your Car?”
My commute takes 1 hour. If I could clock on as I stepped into my car, hell yes I would. It would shorten my effective work day by 2 hours.
But that’s only beneficial if you could leave work early, no?
That depends on your definition of early…. Mine is earlier than 8 hours after I started work. Now if I was expected to be on top of my emails before I got in to the office, it would start when I check emails.
Work life balance is so so fkd in this country.
I’d still have to work the same hours in the office as I’m there to support the staff’s IT equipment, so the only benefits of this would be the organisation and not me. So no, I’ll be sticking to my audiobooks thank-you very much.
This is exactly the problem with Australia’s work ethic. We are expected to work crazy overtime because the people planning the budgets and schedules don’t mind overstretching their resources.
This begins with YOU. Your work will never enforce your 8 hour day if you are pulling 9-10 hour days already because you are working for them for free…. they’d be crazy to let that go.
One day. When the automated cars are in.
Don’t normally use the car, but if it did my driving for me and I could work in it, yeah. Definitely.
Being in the office is a shitfight of distractions, and people are always surface-respectful but vaguely resentful if you insist on some uninterrupted time to settle into a focused stream of undivided attention to work. That’s always the most productive hour of the day, but hell if you don’t have to fight for it.
Shifting that time to the car would be a real boon. It’s just dead time anyway, wasted on driving focus. Getting home and gaming is the meditation time.
This is the exact definition of what it’s like working in an office. Urgh.
I’m not a fan of the idea of people being distracted by their email, appointments and Skype calls while driving. If you’re driving a car, you should be focusing on the road and nothing else.
The idea of being cooped up in a box every morning to get to work sounds awful. The idea that the box comes pre installed with Microsoft products is even worse.
The idea of being cooped up in a box every morning to get to work sounds awful. The idea that the box comes pre installed with Microsoft products is even worse.
And they reckon there are to many distractions now. ….
You can guarantee someone is going to be stupid enough to try and write a novel or send emails while they are driving.
Not only do I not want to work in my car, but I don’t want other drivers to do it either. Mobile phones are enough of a danger these days, without this. Crazy. Legislation needs to get out in front of this before it goes too far.
If you’ve ever driven down the M4/M5 in the morning people are already doing that while driving. Granted its probably why there are so many accidents causing more traffic jams which is giving people more time to multi task causing more accidents lol.