Sometimes I just can’t wait for the world to catch up, for everyday items to adopt to Internet of Things (IoT).
From 2015 you’re obliged by Danish law to secure your license plates for your car with 2 screws – not that it will prevent theft, just that it will make it more difficult, because as we all know, then using a screwdriver is beyond most peoples capabilities. – Sorry, but stupid laws really deserve sarcasm and contempt.
If you don’t abide by the law, you can be fined an estimated 1000 DKK ~ 180 USD
Let’s see which other options might have been available.
We want the license plate to make it possible to easily identify the car for purposes of ownership, theft, debt, and insurance. The license plate will be tied to the cars model, registration number, and the owner.
If the car’s on-board system could know these things, then it could fill out an e-ink license plate, and it could color code the plate on basis of debt, reported theft, warrants, or other such interests. Sure an e-ink license plate would be hacked and you’d see people driving around with Pong being played on their plates.
If the car had a GPS it could even report its location when reported stolen.
If the car could only be started by a smartphone app, then it would be possible to tell whose phone was used to start the car. As an added bonus you could lease a key to someone else and revoke it when they weren’t allowed to drive anymore, e.g. a valet key.
Toll roads could be billed automatically without the need to stop up or have another device in the car.
I know – you could have Big Brother monitor every car, fine everyone speeding, track every ghost driver, every freak occurrence, but then, how bad would that be?
I know – you can’t push technology into older cars. I’m just waiting for some meaningful adoption of – IMHO – sensible things.