Carputer — why the minivan?
For some insane reason, I’ve decided to install a computer in my minivan. Why the minivan? I never even drive the thing! My wife, who does drive it, hates technology and especially hates computers. 
I’ve wanted to install a carputer for about 15 years. (Among my many “inventions” I never saw through on, one is in-car navigation systems, first proposed by me in 1989 when I saw the US Census was planning to release street information on CD-ROM.) So… Why the minivan? Because that’s where the kids live.
On long trips, we load up the minivan with all the technology required to keep the children alive. We have their Gameboy Advanced pocket entertainment systems, the Gameboy automobile charger, the Nintendo Gamecube Entertainment System plugged into the 110v power inverter, the portable 9-inch television (clumsily sitting on the floor) plugged into the forward cigarette lighter socket, and video tapes to feed the built-in VCR on the television. Yes, I think this is the cause of ADD, but I also think it’s the thing that sustains the kids and the parents on 6+ hour drives across the wasteland of southern Georgia.
I hate the TV setup. We’ve ruined (and replaced) two TVs in that spot, it’s forever getting lost in the garage, and it’s not a terribly convenient location for the kids to see it. I want one of those flip-down monitors they have in all the vans these days, but they’re still very expensive and very limited. I want it to do more, and I know it can. So I will build it.
No, I will. Sort of. I’ll buy the monitor. I saw some for under $200. But I need one that comes with nothing except the monitor itself. I want to add all the external features myself. More on that in another post.