I have a Mercury with Microsoft SYNC and I must say, I'm impressed with it. It pairs with my Bluetooth phone and allows me to make phone calls by saying "Call <so-and-so> at home". It works with iPods, USB mass storage, or other USB-based MP3 players to provide music that can be ordered up verbally.
I'm no fan of Microsoft, but I must admit, it works as advertised.
My first computer was Z80A-based Northstar Horizon. 4 MHz of 8080-compatible CPU with a massive 56 KB of Static RAM! If I remember correctly, it was over $5,000 in 1979.