Latest craze in automotive widgetry? Telematics. According to the article, it's all about getting your car to connect to other cars, various emergency and information services, and even a dealership or repair service so that (presumably) all the information it knows about itself can be transmitted to relevant parties, and all the information the outside world knows that may be of interest to you can end up in your car.

While a simple and nifty enough concept, the execution has some mind-boggling complexities to deal with, not the least of which is just how it all takes place. The service is also very expensive right now, acting as a brake on widespread adoption.

Which doesn't mean it's all just going to go away. Far from it. Which is why I'm hanging on to my ancient Alfa. Can't wait to see the look on some punk road hacker's face when he points his jac-u-matic 2000 at it and I just smile.

Well, as soon as I fix the oil leak, anyway.