Silicon Valley Finally Addresses Our License Plate Crisis

Reviver Auto

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The highest IQs our nation produces are now hard at work replacing the boring, old-fashioned license plate:

Reviver Auto’s RPlate can be validated via cellular signal when registration fees are paid, saving a state the cost of postage and materials for paper renewals. The screen can display anything, making it easy to switch designs if an owner wants to buy a vanity plate. Amber Alerts can be flashed on the plate; if the vehicle is stolen, the plate can be changed to display that fact. When the vehicle is parked, businesses can display advertisements on the plate, even targeting a vehicle’s particular location because the plate is connected to GPS. The GPS would also allow commercial fleet owners to track their vehicles.

Imagine my excitement. Not only will Amber Alerts infest my phone, they’ll infest my license plate too. And advertising! Who wouldn’t love the idea of turning every license plate in the state into a miniature, GPS-based billboard? If you’re parked in Palm Springs, you’ll get lots of ads for adult diapers. If you’re parked across the street from USC, you’ll get ads for Trojans. So sweet.

And the best news of all? It only costs $699! Plus $75 per year to connect to the cell network. This compares to $0 for the crummy, lifeless, 20th-century license plates we are all forced to suffer with now.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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