I enjoyed your essay very much. I was laughing out loud (note the use of real words) in agreement and commiseration. I find I am unable to do things that any 5-year-old of today can do with ease. By the time I figure out how to proceed, I have lost track of what I was trying to accomplish. Still and all, glad to be here.
Right on Greg! Haven’t watched TV in a hotel room in 30 years! And with 7 cars my last purchase was a 2020 Maserati SUV because it has the most intuitive small screen I could find.
If anyone is driving 65-70 on the Interstate they are blocking traffic these days.
Recently I was preparing my ten year old Lexus to sell it and discovered that it had a unit in the trunk with "voice activated GPS" on it. I'd been manually trying to use that device, and usually failing, for nearly a decade.
I could not agree more. I have an older model car and am terrified of having to drive with a screen in front of me. I honestly don't know what I'll do as I am fully aware of the dangers of trying to look at a computer screen and press "buttons" in the right order while a car is speeding down the road at 65 or 70mph. I don't even fiddle with my buttons now when driving that fast.
Everything has become so much more complicated. Every website has things bouncing in and out, up and down, with banners and headers and all to distract you from actually completing your task, as an example. Every time there is an improvement, it is not. More junk that we don't need is added, with a worse end result.
And yet no one seems to be listening to the many who question it all.
The other thing that's changing is fewer and fewer options whether it be car colors and models, carpet colors, or who knows. You get three color choices with Tesla - all boring as hell. Variety is no longer the spice of life. It's now a part of our memories and our past. In that case, the marketplace is offering less choice and less complexity. And yet when it comes to technology, it is only getting more complex.
Perhaps some day the human touch will no longer be needed to run anything, but in the meantime we are in for a real mess. No wonder auto accidents are at their highest levels in decades!
Have you seen this editorial yet? It is thoughtful, and spot on. I have a stick (manual transmission), and am avoiding giving it up as long as I can.
The End of Manual Transmission
Stick shifts are dying. When they go, something bigger than driving will be lost.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/08/stick-shift-manual-transmission-cars/671078/?
I enjoyed your essay very much. I was laughing out loud (note the use of real words) in agreement and commiseration. I find I am unable to do things that any 5-year-old of today can do with ease. By the time I figure out how to proceed, I have lost track of what I was trying to accomplish. Still and all, glad to be here.
Right on Greg! Haven’t watched TV in a hotel room in 30 years! And with 7 cars my last purchase was a 2020 Maserati SUV because it has the most intuitive small screen I could find.
If anyone is driving 65-70 on the Interstate they are blocking traffic these days.
Recently I was preparing my ten year old Lexus to sell it and discovered that it had a unit in the trunk with "voice activated GPS" on it. I'd been manually trying to use that device, and usually failing, for nearly a decade.
Bravo! I laughed through the entire piece, hearing your voice in my head. I'm totally with you.
I could not agree more. I have an older model car and am terrified of having to drive with a screen in front of me. I honestly don't know what I'll do as I am fully aware of the dangers of trying to look at a computer screen and press "buttons" in the right order while a car is speeding down the road at 65 or 70mph. I don't even fiddle with my buttons now when driving that fast.
Everything has become so much more complicated. Every website has things bouncing in and out, up and down, with banners and headers and all to distract you from actually completing your task, as an example. Every time there is an improvement, it is not. More junk that we don't need is added, with a worse end result.
And yet no one seems to be listening to the many who question it all.
The other thing that's changing is fewer and fewer options whether it be car colors and models, carpet colors, or who knows. You get three color choices with Tesla - all boring as hell. Variety is no longer the spice of life. It's now a part of our memories and our past. In that case, the marketplace is offering less choice and less complexity. And yet when it comes to technology, it is only getting more complex.
Perhaps some day the human touch will no longer be needed to run anything, but in the meantime we are in for a real mess. No wonder auto accidents are at their highest levels in decades!
Thank you. Hope my 2011 Honda Pilot lasts a long time. New car? Yikes😳Pam Cavanagh, Arcata, CA