Song Of The Day: She Blinded Me With Science - Artist: Thomas Dolby
So this morning I decided to fill up at the gas station, at a Sunoco station, because my fuel gauge was running low.
This is typical for millions of people around the world, but it seems like such a hassle to stop and fill up. When I do, that’s when I wished I lived in a city where I could jump on public transit. For example the Bay Area is wonderful with things like BART and Muni. For a few bucks you can get most anywhere. $6.50, gets from the airport and back–at least it used to.
Okay. Anyway. Back to my somewhat non-public transit world of Northern Virginia! :) Sure. We have Metro, but for local, practical purposes, it is still easier, and more convenient, to drive a car around.
So filling up is one of those minor annoyances in life I guess; and of course, there always seems to be some additional nuances to prolong the pain :)!
For example, outside of the obvious issue of dipped, but still high prices, anyone else ever miss the touch screen option “Would you like a car wash?” As you’re standing there wondering why the gas isn’t pumping, the winter wind blustering around, it’s prompting you “yes” or “no.” You think, “Damn it. Will it just start pumping!”
Well, today, I was in such a situation; except now, there is something new to pass the time away: Sunoco TV!
With advertising and broadcasting blasting (i.e., the volume pretty loud) I fingered away at the screen to press “no,” again, for a car wash, all the while wondering why anyone would want to endure such an annoyance. Okay…so maybe I’m being harsh, but that was my initial impression as I battled the gas-pump elements.
And guess what, it’s not just Sunoco who is assisting the gas station TV future: CES 2008 presented Pumptop TV–coming to a gas station near you. The one associated with Sunoco TV is GSTV (Gas Station TV), which broadcasts programming from CBS, etc. It’s just recently started branching out after being in pilot mode for some time.
I didn’t care much for the broadcasting today, showing some advertising and short CBS news clips, but I could see traffic and weather reports being useful during my 4 1/2 to 5 minutes (see GSTV demographic info below):
Reference: Gas Station TV
More after the jump…