'Buy an iPad, get a free Hyundai'

'Buy an iPad, get a free Hyundai'

Of course, as The New York Times' Stephen Williams quips, it will cost you about $50,000. But that's the gist of Hyundai's latest offering, announced at the New York Auto Show:

"Anyone who buys a new Hyundai Equus — the car will be out in September — will receive an iPad instead of a printed owner’s manual. “Who reads a 300-page manual anyway?” asked John Krafcik, the chief executive of Hyundai North America. “Instead, they’ll have a gorgeous color touchscreen loaded with the manual electronically, as well as photos of the whole Hyundai lineup.”

The iPad also can be used to schedule service appointments.

Is this merely a new gimmick that gloms off Apple's iPad-a-mania, or reflection of something deeper -- a sort of singularity effect emerging between computers and automobiles?

A few posts ago, I remarked how we're looking to space-age technologists to help us manage issues with today's automobiles.

Is there a point in the not-too-distant future where we'll be shopping for computers with a 100-terabyte hard drive, user-friendly interface, and, by the way, gets 80 miles to the gallon?

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com