Most of the innovations mentioned above are already with us, in prototype, and should hit our dashboards over the next 10 or 20 years, thanks to unprecedented manufacturing capability in the auto industry. Production lines are lean and flexible. Computer modeling has slashed product-development time.

And merger-hungry multinationals in Detroit, Tokyo and Frankfurt are eager to pull you into the showroom by offering an array of neat little digital add-ons. "There's a revolution at the micro level," says David Cole, director of the University of Michiga n's Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation and a longtime industry watcher not prone to hyperbole. "Big things are in the process of happening; over the next decade, we'll see some real activity."

At the center of that revolution is the impending marriage of two mighty inventions that bookend the 20th century: the automobile and the Internet. Like most marriages, it's a question of striking the right balance, and nobody knows what that will be. But the connected car is already a reality (which, combined with your home and office hookups, means you never have an excuse to go off-line again). The only question seems to be, Where in the car will the Net catch on? Will it join the soon-to-be-ubiquitous DVD screens and PlayStations in a backseat infotainment center? Or will it be up front with Mom and Dad, broadcast as audio, keeping them up to speed by reading their vital e-mail aloud while they keep their eyes on the road? There are advantages to fron t- and backseat surfing. And, hey, this is the new economy; you can always have both.