Friedman – Big Three screwed from lack of vision

As to what WOULD BE a good auto vision for the future, Tom Friedman offers a Better Place - literally.

Imagine not just an electric car, but one that looks for renewable electricity as its preferred recharging source. Imagine being able to order charging miles for your car, under such a system, via your cell phone.

And, imagine GM snubbing such an idea.

But, as Friedman says, it’s all real, and being set up for full roll-out in some places, as we speak.

And, no, you don’t have to imagine the GM snubbing, either. Hence, Friedman’s polemic:

(O)ur bailout of Detroit will be remembered as the equivalent of pouring billions of dollars of taxpayer money into the mail-order-catalogue business on the eve of the birth of eBay. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into the CD music business on the eve of the birth of the iPod and iTunes. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into a book-store chain on the eve of the birth of Amazon.com and the Kindle. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into improving typewriters on the eve of the birth of the PC and the Internet.

Read Friedman’s full column for details.