Let’s Not Make “In-Car Productivity” a Thing

[Their (computer) scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.]
If you’ve ever thought “Sure, a high-performance German automobile sounds great, but I also want to take video meetings in Microsoft Teams while I drive”, well then, Mercedes has you covered. What’s that? No one has ever thought that, ever? Well, I’m sure we can trust automakers to give us what we need, even when we don’t think we want it at all. Why, if Henry Ford had asked his customers what they wanted, they’d have said “a faster horse”.

The aforelinked press release details how this works:

Mercedes-Benz is launching a new version of its Meetings for Teams app. With this update, drivers can use the in-car camera while driving, allowing other participants to see them during a meeting. Given the brand’s focus on safety, the use of the camera abides by the laws of each country and has been approved for use while the vehicle is in motion. The meeting video stream turns off automatically as soon as the camera is activated to prevent driver distraction. As a result, any shared screens or slides in the meeting are not visible to the driver – and the camera can be turned off at any time.

This seems to wind up much like calling in to a meeting from a phone, in that you can’t see anyone or anything, but now other attendees get to witness your dumb driving face.

Link: https://media.mbusa.com/releases/mercedes-benz-expands-collaboration-with-microsoft-to-boost-in-car-productivity-with-enhanced-meetings-for-teams-app-intune-integration-and-microsoft-365-copilot