Jalopnik: The 25 Most Redundant Car Technologies

[racingfan1]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

The article gives humans too much credit: people are dumb as hell and sometimes can't determine distances on a highway (ask me all about it. On second thought, don't ), operate radio controls, use emergency brakes, take a break when they're tired, or keep themselves entertained without a rear-seat entertainment system.

This.

For most of us here, we could do fine without a lot of those things, but for the rest of the world, they've become a necessity.

[matt2000]

Originally Posted by AiR

I think its a good idea. It's fast and it should get it right every time, unlike speech recognition.

Seriously though, it's sorted in the new Fiesta, to my own shock. It just did what it was told, and my uncle has a, how can I put it, unconventional accent. I'm still not sure I believe he hasn't trained it.

This all depends on how much of a gadget fan you are too. I only have a sat-nav for my car, on my phone, and I don't miss any of them. But on a 'normal' car, say an Audi, I would want some of this stuff, apart from auto seatbelts. It adds the luxury feel to a car, like electric windows do. And I love toys in a car.

I like electric seats that remember different positions for different people, I like cameras that give me better views of where I'm going or have been. I like the security of a system that, should you turn it on, will maintain traffic speed, etc, etc.

Maybe they used the wrong word, 'unnecessary' would've been better.

[2Billion]

I think they're giving humans a bit too much credit. If the editors lived around where I do, their tune might quickly change.

[freeferrarisdonotexist]

I dislike almost all "driver aids" and electronic technology. Yes in computers, fine and in everyday life, fine, but my car is more than just a thing to me. And therefore it is an exception to the "endless progress" rule. I agree with the article in the sense of driver involvement- I do want to tell the car what to do, and through a direct and mechanical process, not through an easily breakable/controlling computer. I want to be able to know how it works. Fix it myself the majority of the time. And ultimately, having this understanding and knowledge improves everything from performance to economy, and gives a unique feeling to the owner (which is what takes it above "appliance" in the first place). And even if these aids are disconnected from the driver, they still do add weight, which ultimately requires more aid, etc.

If some flyweight vehicle- a Beetle perhaps- was updated with modern technology, but none of the things we consider "necessities"- from heated seats to mirror cameras to fancy electrics- then it would not only be fairly simple but also reliable, faster and more economical than before. In other words, using modern innovations but keeping the old philosophy of "doing without"- would be a good answer to many problems.

[GM_IV]

I find it incredible how many of these lists always manage to bash digital dashboards. Is it because they never actually experienced a good one? I've yet to read of a Cressida digital dash that has actually produced a failure. Plus my dash is so much easier to read than any analog, to be honest.

[phoenixsac]

I used to own a 1990 Buick Regal coupe with a digital dashboard like Jalopnik showed. It worked fine for me, and while I would have preferred an analog gauge setup, it would have meant losing all gauges except the fuel gauge, speedometer and maybe the tachometer, and using idiot lights.
Given a choice between full digital instrumentation, and analog speedometer and idiot lights - I'll choose digital every time.