Blogger ‘Ventura’ left a comment on the ‘They’re Not Joking When They Say Hands Free’ thread about how the Ford ‘SYNC’ system will actually read your text messages to you, along with doing about a hundred other things we used to not think necessary. Having been apparently living in a cave for the past two years (SYNC came out in 2008), I hadn’t heard of it so looked it up. Here’s a portion of what Wikipedia says about SYNC:
“Ford SYNC allows various portable devices (e.g., the iPod, Zune, and most other USB mass storage devices) and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones to be operated with simple voice commands. SYNC can even receive text messages and read them aloud using a digitized female voice “Samantha”. SYNC can interpret a hundred or so shorthand messages such as LOL for “laughing out loud” and will read swear words; it will not however, decipher obscene acronyms.
Obscene acronyms?? Not familiar with those. I must not be getting texts from the right people. While I try to figure out what an obscene acronym would be, here’s a link to the official SYNC site, in case you want to invest in a Ford.
I dunno, I guess people will just have to start typing WTF/WTH out all the way…
Personally, I use WTF all the time when speaking, pronounced as the three letters, as a polite-company substitute, like "what the heck."
I guess, in that regard, it's fitting that Samantha won't read it out.
It would be kind of funny if she did read it though, with her British accent and all.