I just lost 3/4 of a really good blog post by typing :q! without thinking and I'm having a really hard time rewriting it.

(#a56s6mq) @mckinley I figured it out: Digital License Plates Considered Harmful

(#a56s6mq) @mckinley This sucks! Both rewriting and digital number plates. I never heard of them before. > I think this product started with the question "How can > we put an Internet-connected computer in people's cars?" > and everything else was an afterthought. I'd say this is > a solution looking for a problem, but it's not about the > solution. That's what I was thinking right at the beginning. Humankind is lost, there's no hope.

(#a56s6mq) @lyse I'm porting to 9front.

(#a56s6mq) @lyse The thing is, if it didn't connect to the Internet on its own, it would be basically fine. You could make a device like this that communicates directly with an app on your phone. The app would spy on you, I'm sure, but just about all of the user-facing features I can see could be done in the app alone and the plate could be updated over Bluetooth or something. You could prevent people from incorrectly changing their registration year or plate number with cryptographic signatures from either Reviver or the DMV, which I hope they're doing already. Of course, on a phone, you have all those pesky permissions that people can turn off.

(#a56s6mq) @mckinley To me it sounds the only actually useful feature is the plate renewal. But all the license plate registration department would have to do is offer an online service – if that's not already the case. Solved. Everything else: What the heck!?

(#a56s6mq) @lyse That's already the case where I live. There are also some DMV kiosks in public places, usually grocery stores, and you can renew your registration right there. If I remember correctly, it will even print your updated registration and give you the sticker for your license plate so you don't have to wait for the mail.

(#a56s6mq) @mckinley Digital plates for cars? A little computer with a TFT screen and internet access, yes? That’s gotta be the most absurd, useless, and wasteful thing I’ve read all week. (Wars aside.)

(#a56s6mq) @movq It's an e-ink display, which makes it a little more practical from a design perspective, but it's still completely ridiculous.