John Davis, chief nameplate engineer for Ford's compact cars and utility vehicles, said it's all designed to improve the driving experience: from making the 550-mile trek down Highway 99 from Sacramento to San Diego to the daily 20-mile one-way trip to work - the distance some reports suggest the average American commutes.

ENGADGET: Ford's 2013 C-Max Energi rolls out 95 MPGe, arrives later this fall

The union also took care to mandate air travel for any road trip over 200 miles (the distance between Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, according to Mapquest: 206 miles).

FORBES: Magazine Article

The trip from Beijing to Shanghai, a distance of about 1, 120km, costs far more by road than it does to fly.

ECONOMIST: Cars in China

Indeed, Uber passengers do not know the final cost of the ride until after it is over because the service not only takes into account the distance and duration of the trip, but also uses dynamic pricing in which rates change depending on supply and demand conditions.

FORBES: An 'Uber' Problem for Cities: Balancing Innovation with Regulation

DeLorme's CyberRouter lets users plug in a desired to-and-from location, and the site instantly responds with the distance and approximate time of the trip.

CNN: Site-Seer: Web site maps make navigating easy

During my trip this month, I took long-distance road trips across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh, and this core character of India was readily apparent.

FORBES: Access To Water May Limit India's Development

Windbladh decided to celebrate by taking a sailing trip around the world during which he spent a bundle on long-distance and roaming charges.

FORBES: Rebtel Poised to Upend Global Communication

Normally, getting in on the updates requires a trip to your friendly local service center -- or, for the 95 percent of us outside driving distance, saying goodbye to your mobile buddy for a couple days.

ENGADGET: Nokia offering firmware upgrades direct to users Mobile