Knight Rider

I remember as a child when I was held in awe on the hi-tech car that was the Knight Industry Two Thousand (or KITT) as it is more frequently called on the popular show, Knight Rider. The story would start by their familiar theme music and then the narrated intro...

Knight Rider: a shadowy flight into the dangerous of a man... who does not exist.

Michael Knight: a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world where criminals operate above the law.

Michael Knight was portrayed of course by David Hasslehoff. Back then the trademark sensor light that runs up front the car was so popular, it seemed like each jeepney was trying to get one even if it meant improvising.

Anyway, the nostalgia began when my brother in law watched a few of the episodes of the old series i have downloaded from the net a long time ago. Since I have seen the pilot episode of the new 2008 series, I thought I could download it so they can catch up and be updated.

Unfortunately, I kinda got hooked.

The Knight Rider from the 80s

It can think. It can talk. It was virtually indestructable thanks to the Molecular Bonded Shell as its skin. For the weird stuff, in the later episode, it can attain super speed using the Super Pursuit Mode and even weirder, it can control other vehicles remotely (without a scientific explanantion I can remember). Still, it was a cool at the time.



above: The Knight Rider from the 80s.

I found it funny having watched the pilot episode and heard David Hasslehoff comment as he got inside the car for the first time, "This looks like Darth Vader's bathroom!". I can't help loving the Star Wars reference.

The Knight Rider of 2008

The new Knight Rider makes more sense in a sci-fi way. Instead of being one man backed by a foundation, the new season is one man backed by a special division of the FBI. The car seems to employ advanced nano technology. The "indestructible" armor actually gets damaged but is almost instantly repaired by the computer controlled nano machines. This of course allows it to be vulnerable when the computer is Off. The new KITT has access to the Prometheus project (a super satellite connected to the US Defense system) which allows it to access vast information it uses on a regular basis.

And below is the "new" Knight Rider, Knight Industry Three Thousand (or, KITT again).



Oh and I love the projected output that of course is projected on to the windshield.

Bottomline

I wish my PC had the same AI as the new Kitt. And he doesn't even have to be connected to the US Defense System. I just wanna be able to tell it, "Kitt, download the following shows and archive as I describe for later viewing", "Kitt, sort all of my mp3s", or "Kitt, please prepare an audio version of this ebook". I'm thinking it won't do me any good to add KITT to my wishlist. LOL.

.