What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
208 Comments
- chris9902, on 02/23/2008, -8/+77Lets make a joke about crashing. Because you see cars crash and computers crash. GOD! I'm so ***** smart.
- tmessing, on 02/23/2008, -10/+74And both blame it on drivers....
- marcushe, on 02/23/2008, -6/+51I just got a 2008 Focus with Sync and it's definitely the best feature of the car. I love it, and so do my friends!
- Demitaka, on 02/23/2008, -37/+81Oh god, you can smell the mac fags coming.
- bhartzer, on 02/23/2008, -22/+56I suspect that a lot of those people didn't buy the car because of sync.
- TheTyrant63, on 02/23/2008, -1/+31Back a year ago there was a manufacturer's convention that I went to and I tried this and it was cool. They had 5 different MP3 players and it worked with all of them. iPod, Zune, Creative, some others that I haven't heard of. Also it works with any phone that has bluetooth. It is very nice add on to a car, they have really taken their time to design it.
- latova, on 02/23/2008, -44/+72Ford + Microsoft, both known to make products that eventually crash.
- yoshman, on 02/23/2008, -2/+28I can't tell you how many times I've taken my eyes off the road trying to find a song on my iPod, even though I know I shouldn't. Honestly, I think it may even prevent accidents.
- VulnoX, on 02/23/2008, -2/+27My girlfriend just bought a 2008 Ford Fusion with Sync and I am totally in love with that system. It works well, it takes a little bit to learn how to talk to it. By that I mean, usually when you talk to a voice recognition system you have to speak slowly, and you tend to do that with Sync. But really you just have to speak to it normally. The only quirk is that you have to learn to be specific about what you are looking for. If you have thousands of songs, hundreds of albums, etc, and you just say "Play ..." and the name of the song, if its similar to an album name or an artist name, it might play one of them instead. Say "Play Track ..." or "Play artist ..." and it gets is 99/100.
The way it speaks your text messages to you and all that is awesome as well.
Basically, the Fusion itself is reason enough to get a Fusion, that is a great car. But the Sync puts it over the top. I don't plan on buying anything else at this point, but hell I wish the system was on every car because its safety advantages alone should make it standard on every car. - WarezAppz, on 02/23/2008, -6/+30Wow I see digg users are uninformed. Microsoft's 'Sync' comes from Microsoft's current software called 'Voice Command' which has been available for years used mainly on Windows Mobile 5 and 6. It's an application not an OS and it's also one that works quite well. Yes, there are things that Microsoft does do and does them well, and this is one of them. Don't hate on Microsoft because they were first at a 'marketing concept'. After all, that is one of the things Microsoft does the best at. Need proof? How much is Microsoft worth . . ? . . . exactly. FYI: i am no Fan Boy but I do see facts.
- inactive, on 02/23/2008, -1/+24you're an idiot
- franklymister, on 02/23/2008, -1/+18FTA: "Sync works not only with Microsoft's Zune digital music player, but Apple's iPod and players from Creative Technology and SanDisk among others."
I'm not saying Sync is any good or not, never tried it, but it seems to be player-agnostic. - TheTyrant63, on 02/23/2008, -3/+18Competition is nice. But Microsoft's Sync works with almost all MP3 players. Why would I want one from Apple where It would only work with their overrated iPod?
But I do agree competition in a market makes for more innovation and better products....in most cases. - brimg87, on 02/23/2008, -3/+17I don't understand why people still hate Fords so much. You do realize they received more top models from JD Power and Associates than anyone else last year and that Ford, Mercury and Lincoln were all rated in the top 10 brands out of 50 some.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/06/ford-dominates- ... - protogenxl, on 02/23/2008, -0/+14Now if Ford would just give us the European Focus.
- fuzzynyanko, on 02/23/2008, -0/+12Considering that adding a CD/MP3 player to a car by a manufacturer costs $200-300, this looks like a good deal.
- Namakemono, on 02/23/2008, -1/+13You got any Michael Bolton?
- PuffyC, on 02/23/2008, -2/+13I agree that Sync is the best out there. It's the most agnostic system available.
- chodaboy, on 02/23/2008, -3/+14Yeah interoperability, what a concept!?!?! Kudos to Microsoft for not trying to use this as an opportunity to lock people into a Zune or Windows Mobile phone. Now if you could only move your music and videos between platforms as freely...
- nephilimx, on 02/23/2008, -3/+14car companys are too cheap to put radio controls on their steering wheels. I guess paying MS millions was cheaper.
- vagarach, on 02/23/2008, -5/+15Looking at the current (US) ford focus, sync is the only valid reason to buy one.
Who green-lighted that monstrosity of a design? It's like Quazimodo turned into a car. - Innocentious, on 02/23/2008, -10/+19Most people like bashing Microsoft because they have actually believe the Mac marketing campaign. Look Mac does some things well ( still crashes, except all that happens is the system freezes and then you can't do anything ) and Microsoft does things well at times, this is one of them. Ironically I can run Microsoft products once again on any intelligent arcitecture. Mac I can only run on thier hardware arcitecture... I wonder which one is the superiour product... One that can run on anything and make it work or one that has to be coddled... Sync shows Microsofts thinking, lets make sure we interface with all the hardware we can, including our rivals. Brave and bold, good job Ford and Microsoft. btw I use mac, linux and windows, diffrent tools for different situations, and to be honest out of the three Mac is the one I can do without since between linux and windows there is nothing I can't outperform mac on. ( sorry this seemed to turn to mac bashing on my end, it is a good proprietary system, don't mean to belittle it that much :-)
- inactive, on 02/23/2008, -7/+16That's cause you're a Mactard.
- gotamd, on 02/23/2008, -3/+12Sync is one thing that I think Microsoft has done right. They've brought features which were either previously unavailable or prohibitively expensive to the mainstream.
- xxNIRVANAxx, on 02/23/2008, -0/+7fail.
- Scott2, on 02/23/2008, -3/+10Cover your butt!
- Darcy, on 02/23/2008, -0/+7Why would you end up dead? It's not driving the car.
- weyr, on 02/23/2008, -4/+11I bought a Toyota Yaris the end of last summer, right before I saw any of the marketing for Sync, and I would have bought a Focus over the Yaris for that feature. Oh well, my Yaris gets better gas mileage than a Focus, and I do have an AUX input in the center console that I can plug my Zune into ad I guess that works fine. But Sync is defiantly a reason to buy a car if you are in the market for a new car, not only for the convince of having your mp3 player voice activated, but also having a built in hands free feature in the car is excellent as well--especially considering my state of residence (California) will have a ban on talking on the phone and driving without a hands free device starting this summer.
I'm pretty sure systems like this will be as common as cruise control or power windows on all new cars in a few years. I am actually surprised you cant get this on all ford vehicles, I think its only available on the Focus, Fusion, Edge, Taurus, and the Explorer (and the equivalents in the Mercury and Lincoln lines), thats still a good group of their vehicles without it.
Plus the Focus got a redesign in 08 that included a lot of fixes for problems the focus with having (the 04-07 focus' had problems with their transmission), and I would have loved to have owned another Ford especially after how my Explorer went 350,000 miles without any major mechanical problems. - smacksaw, on 02/23/2008, -0/+7I had AutoPC in my GMC a few years ago. All of the people wondering about voice activation being useful...when you have it, you use it. That's really all I can say. I could use it manually, but I never bothered. It was better to just concentrate on driving.
Anyway, this sort of thing is going to be good for Microsoft. They need to do more things like this and diversify their business. - VulnoX, on 02/23/2008, -0/+7Because Sync has anything to do with the control of the vehicle?
Man, Microsoft haters are so damn annoying. You make it sound like Microsoft has one person, like its one entity, and anything they make is made by the same entity. When in the REAL WORLD, its composed of thousands of employees, many as talented or more so than those at other companies, and while not everything they do is perfect, it does not mean everything they do is bad. Get over yourself and try to be an adult and look at each product by its own merits instead of just going OMG MICROSOFT PASS LOL. - adml_shake, on 02/23/2008, -0/+7Because other then the geeks who the hell wants to spend the time and money doing that. Average Joe is going to take the easy way every time.
- mojoel, on 02/23/2008, -0/+6Still not sure of all the details of Sync. However my wife and I have complete different tastes in music. If I can say "Play Mo's Heavy Metal Destruction playlist" and stop The Blackeyed Peas from vaporizing my sanity, that would be the greatest thing ever.
- inactive, on 02/23/2008, -4/+10HAR HAR HAR!!!!! You sir are a comedy goldmine! I get it! Microsoft makes it so it CRASHES!!! Most creative comment of the millennium right here folks!
- estvir, on 02/23/2008, -1/+7If you replaced Sync with an Apple product and someone made the same comment he wouldn't be called a shill.
- xoxota, on 02/23/2008, -8/+14Do you also drink Pepsi and wear Air Jordans and smoke Marlboro and watch Spiderwick Chronicles on your Sony Bravia while eating McDonald's?
- inactive, on 02/23/2008, -0/+5You must be new to the internet.
- AuroraAlpha, on 02/23/2008, -0/+5Most of the luxury car makers already do, Acura, Lexus, BMW, Mercedes all have these systems, but you almost always have to buy the navigation system to get them because that is how you get the screen and the 'talk' feature. If you look at reviews these systems generally do very badly which is sad because they cost $2000+, easily 5 times as much as the Sync system. On the other hand you often get navigation, a massive screen, and back-up sensors/a camera, so in reality they are meant for different markets. On the ford is a main feature, in the other cars it was designed as something that they already had the components for from a more expensive feature.
- palpacino, on 02/23/2008, -1/+6You guys are crazy if you think that the average idiot consumer is not buying the car for the Sync technology. Those commercials are all I hear people talk about when the topic of cars and new stuff in cars come up. I'll bet if you go ask a Ford dealership (if you could get an honest answer) what people ask about when they come in lately, it will be Sync. I can almost hear them saying "So what about that thing on the commercials where you say what artist you want to hear and it plays it?"
And let's not forget the computer nerd perspective (everyone reading this including me :) ). How many of you other developers out there saw the commercials and started revisiting that ol' MS SAPI technology to see how good it has become since 2000 when you last touched it?
I fired that thing up and said "Play Artist Michael Bolton" in the simple dictator and it spit it right out! I was shocked. I thought you had to read books to these things to make them learn how to hear you.
I can almost see a programming manager telling his team working on speech technology saying to them "Alright guys. No matter what. When someone says 'play artist Michael Bolton' it HAS to work. We can't get that one wrong because you know that's the first thing every smart ass is going to say when they fire it up!" - EtherGnat, on 02/23/2008, -1/+6What are you talking about? Ford has a whole series of ads promoting the gas mileage on the Focus at least.
- Drewboy64, on 02/23/2008, -1/+5My parents are strung up on Honda and their ability to run for an eternity. They also like how nice they are until I got a Ford Fusion. Once my mom got in the car she shut up right away and said "this blows the top off your dad's Accord" almost on cue. I can say if my Fusion can take me a run for my money in terms of reliability than Ford may have a new customer. ; )
- FutureGuy, on 02/23/2008, -6/+10You are right a lot of them didn't but another lot did, there is a reason this is the biggest feature Ford is advertising, and its from MS, get over it.
- inactive, on 02/23/2008, -2/+6Why do you care if your music player thinks it's impossible to know whether a God exists? Intolerant *****...
- varun1s, on 02/23/2008, -2/+6You're a pretty sorry ass of a person if thats your "goal"
- dotnetnoob, on 02/24/2008, -0/+4The most important point of the article and the secert of SYNC that everyone overlook seem to be how MS is able to produce the system for only $400 while other similar system cost $800+.
- GQCarrick, on 02/23/2008, -2/+6I have voice dialing on my Motorola and it works great, I don't know what you are talking about. I think this is an ingenius system.
- Ryosen, on 02/23/2008, -9/+13You'd never know by seeing the advertisements. It seems that with the Ford Focus, the only feature that Ford has been talking about is Sync. Gas is at the highest price in history but they seem to act as if people aren't interested in fuel economy. Rather than talk about it's MPG rating (24/35), they just blather on about how you can talk to it. I agree with you, bhartzer, that people probably aren't buying it for sync.
And anyone who did should just slash their wrists and put pictures of it up on their myspace page. That seems to be the demographic that Ford is shooting for, anyway. - greenlight2001, on 02/23/2008, -1/+5"13. You'd press the "start" button to shut off the engine."
I turn the IGNITION KEY to turn my car off... - inactive, on 02/23/2008, -0/+4Whether or not you personally like the Sync is irrelevant (I've never seen one in person). What IS relevent is the competition this will provide and hopefully persuade other major manufacturers to follow suit and develop internal computer systems. Hopefully it'll be well integrated and not just the "Pimp My Ride" approach of just throwing a computer in a car to say you have one...
- neodorian, on 02/23/2008, -1/+5You're doing it wrong. See latova and tmessing for how to do it right.
- Dantetheinferno, on 02/23/2008, -2/+6I dunno, I kinda like my 2007 focus. Looks kinda like a race car (Sports package lol) for cheap.
Keyword: CHEAP. -
Show 51 - 100 of 211 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is