Apple just announced iCar Apple iOS for your Automobile.  A new partnership just announced with Tesla Motors will make iCar standard equipment starting in 2014…

It isn’t true yet – but that is my dream headline.

A few weeks ago my wife surprised me by announcing that our fourth child was on the way.

Two things raced through my mind:

1. How are we going to pay for this?
2. Pretend to be super happy and not scared at all about #1 so you don’t ruin the moment.

I don’t know if you have ever done the math or not but the expense of a family grows exponentially after the third child.  You need a bigger house (5 bedrooms that is practically a mansion). You can’t all fit in a booth at a restaurant. On a flight you have to book the entire center row of a 747.  Plus you will need a bigger car.

We ended up getting an Acura MDX and let me just say right out loud (in case you missed it in the subtext) I am a cheapskate. This Acura is our first “modern” car with features like a navigation system, bluetooth phone, etc. As excited as I am to have these fancy high tech features I am also repulsed by them.  The interfaces are horrible the usability is terrible.  It takes longer to put an address in to the GPS than it does to drive around lost.

That is when I had a genius idea – Apples next big move should be to own all the screens in my life.  We already have Apple TV, Iphones, MacBook’s and Ipads.  What I really need is iCar.

Just imagine you could ask siri for directions instead of typing them in.  You could have your car read you emails.  Using the GPS and accelerometer you could have apps that tell you your speed, offer driving suggestions to conserve gas.  there are a billion possibilities. Most importantly it wouldn’t suck.

As it turns out a few people are already doing it.

Soundman Car Audio in California has a bunch of great shots.

ipad installed in Dashboard of ford f150

What apps would you want on your iCar?

PC and Mac have been going back and forth for a while now with their advertising. Mac’s “Get a Mac” campaign has been running for a while now, which has been used to beat down the Microsoft name. Microsoft has been less consistent. They’ve had their “I’m a PC” campaign with random sprinkling of Jerry Seinfeld commercial, meant to reintroduce the brand.

Now Microsoft has unveiled their new campaign that is thought to rival Mac’s ad campaign. The premise of the “Laptop Hunter ” ads is to show people looking for laptops with certain specifications within a set budget. Microsoft offers to pay the price of the computer if they can find one within that range. This is definitely a departure from past Microsoft and Mac ads.

It’s obvious that Microsoft is taking into account the economic environment. They’re taking into account that people are more careful about how much they spend on new investments. Microsoft is showing consumers that they can buy a laptop that is personalized and unique for a reasonable price. Whereas Mac is still playing the cool card.

Apple unveiled a $2700 MacBook Pro at this year’s Macworld Expo. It might be time for Apple to shift their selling points to reflect what’s happening economically and socially. At the same time, they might be trying to maintain their status as the cooler, more expensive laptop. However, we’ve mentioned before that Apple is known for not listtening to their customers. Is this just another example of them ignoring what their customers in order to look cooler than PC?

Microsoft’s new campaign is definitely well-timed and it may prove beneficial for them to focus on price and value as opposed to the cool factor.