Does your car homescreen stop the processes of navigation apps, the video recording of your black box app (if you have one), and the chatter of traffic advisory apps as well? You may wish to stop your music too. LIKE I ALEADY SAID, the case I made is for stopping mulitple processes which are running simultaneously!
Dave, I do understand your frustration, but I think you are looking at a single instance of utility and applying it globally. First I'd like to address your misconception that there is a Jihad against task killers. While certainly there are strong opinions on both sides of the issue, we have to understand a little history.
Prior to Android version 2.x, the memory management model was unrefined and prone to exhaust all available resources leaving some processes hanging or not providing the necessary space for critical processes to be started. At that point in time, the use of a task killer was a workaround solution and became a standard staple of early phones.
With the introduction of improved memory management in 2.0 and 2.1, they became less necessary and redundant. FroYo ended the necessity at all for task killers as a daily utility, especially the automated killing of apps, which, if used can cause excessive battery drain, disable services and possibly corrupt data files.
The problem arises when people continue to recommend the use of a task killer as a necessary utility for Android using FroYo or Gingerbread. Even their value on Eclair is questionable. For months after FroYo was released many people didn't understand the new memory management model so there was a grass roots campaign to educate. Unfortunately it met a brick wall when many of the carriers were still telling sales people to recommend the use of task killers to any customer who came into the store with a problem. It served two purposes ... it got a dissatisfied customer out of the store quickly and it meant they'd usually look for alternative support, like Android Forums. Ask the customer service reps for Verizon and AT&T who hang out here what their supervisors told them to do. It has nothing to do with problem solving.
Slowly the blogosphere got the message out, although there are still a few holdouts who insist that task killers are essential.
Hyperbole aside, no one is saying task killers are evil. The message is task killers are unnecessary. While task killers can potentially cause problems and do very little for the performance of the device, it is also true that their use may not cause any problems and provide a specific utility. Yours is a prime example of providing you the utility desired for how you'd like your device to function.
I would also agree that it should not be the way you have to accomplish what you are trying to achieve. I think, however, you are a little misguided in laying the blame at the feet of Android. Let me say right now that I am not a developer and only have a cursory understanding of the underpinnings of the Android OS. That said, I believe your dissatisfaction should be aimed at the developers. If the processes are triggered by the car dock, then they certainly should give you the option to terminate them when the car dock terminates. It's not up to Android to make those choices for you, even if you do believe them to be universally desired.
When peripheral devices to television began to appear in people's homes, there was a lot of dissatisfaction of dealing with multiple remote controls, cables, power switches, etc. They'd turn off the TV but forget the VCR or the cable box and then complain about increasing utility bills. Their solution was to put a switched power strip between the wall outlet and their electronics. This is analogous to using a task killer to manage apps on your phone. While you may be able to continue to use it without issue, you are running a risk.
Eventually i have no doubt the developers will include the functionality you seek in those apps, just like consumer electronics has integrated universal power control into many remote control devices. I can turn off and on everything with one button the way it is safest for the devices.
Now, the ability to kill tasks can be very useful (which Android provides in application management), especially if there is a service or app that, either through poor coding or system error becomes hung up or goes 'rogue' gobbling up resources. But I stand behind my recommendation that they should not be run as a performance utility or to add functionality that a developer should properly include.
