I actually laughed out loud at the Russian comment, so, so true! I think a lot of people do not want wires hanging about so they dislike the cig cord idea, then quit at the thought of actually wiring up a cam. I just hardwired my radar detector in a new car, and got ready for hardwiring a new dashcam. Was not the easiest in my new car and I had to bust out a drill to drill a hole for a ground screw for example. No problem and the radar detector is wired great but that 10 minutes of work is literally beyond a lot of people I know sadly.
Another thing I think will help is wireless cameras so people can get video on the phone easier. I work in IT and help people weekly with getting photos off of cameras, off of thumbdrives, sending security video to cops via dropbox, then teaching the cops how to flipping click a link to get it. There are a few departments in my area that do not have email. It amazes me what people do not know at times.
On the other hand I feel like the people I am talking about are the ones I'm worried about filming... They are literally why I got a dashcam!
It seems strange that in the last 30-odd years that I have been driving, technology has come on in leaps and bounds - my first ICE was a push-button radio (am, fm, lw), pull out a button, tune the radio, push button back in to fix that channel, choice of only 6 presets. Under my dash I had an 8 track cassette.
Under the dash, I had miles of cables dangling down. Accessing any one of these provided a decent source of power or ground.
I also had one 12v cigar lighter.
Nowadays, I have 2x 12v cigar lighters (although one is called a power socket) and accessing cables is a half-day's work to unscrew the myriad of screws holding the acres of plastic (which also seems to be interlocked to the piece next to it!
Yet there's also all sorts of technology available for cars - mobile phone needs chaging, satnav needs power, radar detector, reversing cam, dashcam (s) and other stuff that might be deemed essential by some. All require power - and only one power socket.
Strangely, when you dismantle a car's interior, you'll note that there's no end of empty space available behind the plastic facade of the dash. It's all so false. At least cars like the original mini were honest, a shelf with the clock located centrally. Nowadays, the whole thing has been brought out to meet the driver, to cocoon him in plastic & gadgets/switches/knobs/buttons etc & all they give us is a tiny, tiny glovebox!
It's almost as if those who design car interiors are stuck in the past.
