All of this for a solution which provides zero-to-marginal benefits over a normal car door. I don't understand the appeal. It seems to me that almost every industrial designer I've ever met has a dream of re-inventing the world's commonly used objects (doors, umbrellas, mousetraps, etc.) - an obsession so strong that they usually ignore the object's common use cases and completely neglect cost-benefit analyses for the sake of cleverness.
It's a bit too easy to get caught up in shooting down ideas, I think.
Here's a shot at spinning it positively:
- if you have kids in the back, no need to worry they're going to open their own door while you're doing 75 on the highway (sure, there are child safety locks... are you sure the little switch is where you think it is? If you ever carry adults in the back, or once your kids notice there's an interesting little switch there, it probably isn't)
- tight parking spaces; you (or your child) will never ding another car again while opening a door! I'm also frequently in super-narrow parking garage spaces, where it can take some creative gymnastics to squeeze through the door, particularly because I have to get a baby from a rear-facing carseat in the back of a 2-door hatchback That highlight in the video looked pretty appealing to me -- this is a frequent annoyance. I also have a nice little dent on my own door (the only dent on the car...) where someone banged my door with theirs in a parking lot, and left without leaving a note. These are pretty common use cases.
- Raining? Zing open the big door (and pop open a big umbrella or two) and let everyone get out at the same time, quickly and easily, helping each other without dodging around four large wet pieces of metal jutting out of the side of the car -- you can even hop out of the back seat to help your grandma out of the front without a big, wet, dirty door in between you.
I'm not sure I want these doors -- to be sure, there'd be a price premium, and there may be other downsides I haven't seen yet -- but I'd consider it, with or without a map pocket (er, they could have one with a closing lid, I suppose).
Well, we can complicate that for you.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliding_door_(vehicle)#Vertical...
But this (from the wiki page) was interesting:
"The windows may be operated independently of the doors, although they do retract automatically if the door is lowered. Both the window and door are driven by electric motors through toothed rubber belts and may be moved manually in an emergency.[6]"
That could apply to any installation of this kind of door, actually -- if your battery is dead, you have to use a keyhole to unlock the door, then you could manually push down the window & then door structure. If they are well counter-balanced with weights or springs, etc. (as they should be to avoid wasting energy in normal use) and the motor doesn't cause much drag, that would be a bit awkward-looking, but not too hard.
Maybe there'll be a place to use your key that lets gravity take the door out of the way.
Are you saying that a regular door handle makes it more likely that a criminal will open your door, so that's a problem with standard car doors as well?
Not that the door design is perfect, but there's no reason they can't:
- put a door handle on the outside, along with a keyhole (or possibly just a fingertip-lip on the window?)
- ...which would allow you to slide the window & door along their tracks manually if needed.
If you've ever had a powered garage door, it's more or less the same thing; sometimes the power will be out, so you have to be able to tug it up anyway (with a bit of extra drag from the motor, but hey, it's on springs so it's not too heavy).
Here's the horrible website: http://www.disappearing-car-door.com/
And Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/disappearing-car-door/
Has to be a hoax...
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-4491....
If you scroll down you'll find the "consultant for the marketing" MIGHTYTHOR who responds to some questions. Funny that it was exactly today, last year, that he replied.
