Get out of 1st Gear!

It's about three years ago now that the family badly needed a runaround car - so I bought a used demonstrator off the forecourt of a local Ford garage - a tiny Ka. It was 2006, yet to my amazement, the car radio boasted a - wait for it - a cassette deck. "A what?" cried my children in confusion. And I could hardly blame them. They quite honestly didn't know what it was. I had already formed a poor impression of the speed with which car manufacturers keep up with technology developed outside their own spheres. This did nothing to change my mind. They're woeful, quite woeful. Years of mp3 players and what did they come up with? A stereo minijack socket. Inspired.

So pardon me if I don't join the clamour of excitement at the recent news that manufacturers have pledged to make DAB standard in new cars by 2013. Would that be anything to do with the fact that the UK government wants to turn off analogue radio by 2015?

In other words, they're being forced into it. No sign of initiative at all. Ireland shouldn't miss out on this - in case you are wondering. RTE says DAB is the future of radio too, and DAB is already available in the Irish Republic.

For now - DAB radio for cars - those that are currently on the market - are generally thought to be pretty good. But you'd be hard pressed to find one fitted on the forecourt. There are already products like Pure's Highway . I like Pure's DAB radios - there are a couple in our home, and one wakes me up every morning. Whilst I'm sure this one is excellent - well, it looks like a bit of a clunky inelegant add-on to me. You even have to stick the aerial onto the windscreen...

The point is, the electronics should be built into the car, not stuck onto the window with a big suction cup.

Could we coin "Car Manufacturers" to mean the exact opposite of "Early Adopters"?