Jalopnik: The 25 Most Redundant Car Technologies

CrzRsn

CrzRsn

So long, and thanks for all the fish
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Motor City, Michigan
Car(s)
13 Ford Mustang GT, 17 Ford Fiesta ST
Hmm, I tend to disagree with most of that, since most of it's designed for el thicko so he doesn't kill everyone around him.

And they keep banging on about sensors and chips adding weight, but these aren't 80's electronics, and most systems will weigh a fraction of what it would in an older car. That adaptive climate control, for example, is a clever addition to make the car more comfortable for passengers. It makes next to no difference to the weight of the car but may sell it.

Sat nav is a good idea. Full stop. As is voice activation. I saw it on a new Fiesta the other week, and it worked first time every time with no training. And anyway, have you tried to tune a modern radio? I'm much rather keep my eyes on the road and tell it which radio station I want rather than piss about with the 'entertainment system' trying to find the tuner.
 
I agree with most of what is on that list, the most amusing is the sound pipes from the Mustang though! :lol:

I'm not a fan of Sat-Nav, personaly I think that good map reading should be a key skill and included in the driving test. Following a computer controlled box that tells you were the road goes will give people a false sense of security.
Fair enough you can have one, but I'd certianly keep a map handy to back up what it says. :rolleyes:

Electric seats, why? Is it harder to pull a knob or turn a dial on the side of the seat now than it was for the past 70 years of car travel... <_<

Also I have huge dis-trust in electronic equipment, especialy new stuff. The most reliable piece of electronic equipment I have owned is a 1946 radio, I never doubted it would turn on and work even after 60 years service.
My PC on th eother hand is always playing up, as is the TV and the CD player, and they only last a few years before they die completley.
I'd like to know that my car is going to last longer than my other electronic stuff thanks.

I don't see how people can't tune the radio either, why not make it even simpler? 3 buttons to select your frequency, one dial for volume and another to tune it. You don't even need to look at the thing, just grab the right dial and turn. No need to look of the road at all... Oh wait, didn't we actually have a system like that 30 years ago?
A CD player could be built to be that basic too, but modern people want as many features as possible, even if they are useless or only ever get used once.
It makes the whole car more complicated in the name of making thing s more simple!:wall:
 
Spectre will love #7 :D
 
I disagree with about half the things on the list. No crap humans can do it them selfs, automated systems just make driving esier. The way the guy thinks is stupid, if everyone thought like that we would hardly progress in tech and anything because any new thing will make something easier.

btw, My mom has an Audi Q7 with the side assist thing. I can tell you she is driving better with it and not cutting people off like she did before. Its not because of the blind spots from the car its because she takes a quick look and doesn't really look, the side assist helps tremendously. When its lit she then actually looks again and sees theirs a freaking car there lol
 
Rear view camera, satellite navigation, night vision, and rear seat entertainment are hardly redundant.
 
I held my tongue on Jalopnik, but I think this list is clutching at straws. Half the technology there is shot down for the same reason: "because it gets rid of driver involvement." Well yeah, but where's the need for technological progress then? If that was the case, we'd still be driving with steering tillers and hand-cranking our ignitions.

GPS is the same stupid reason. "USE A MAP!" Yeah, well, streets here in MA frequently change names three times per road, and street signs are tiny as to be virtually nonexistent. 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 :blush:), operate radio controls, use emergency brakes, take a break when they're tired, or keep themselves entertained without a rear-seat entertainment system.

Also, those digital gauges look super-cool; the future they promised us in the 60s is finally here, 20 years ago! :dance:
 
Some things I dislike:

- Central gauges
- Substituting the ignition key with anything else
- Rain sensors
- Aftermarket satnav

I like digital dashes to some extent, mostly if they're the AWESOME COOL '80s variety. Having driven a Yaris, I wasn't that impressed with the central bowl with a digital readout.
Aftermarket satnavs look cheap, clutter the dash and powering them from the 12v outlet / cigarette lighter means there's the cord hanging about.
 
Hmm, I tend to disagree with most of that, since most of it's designed for el thicko so he doesn't kill everyone around him.
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Better idea: don't give El Thicko a license.
 
matt2000 said:
Sat nav is a good idea. Full stop. As is voice activation. I saw it on a new Fiesta the other week, and it worked first time every time with no training. And anyway, have you tried to tune a modern radio? I'm much rather keep my eyes on the road and tell it which radio station I want rather than piss about with the 'entertainment system' trying to find the tuner.
Click to expand...

I would NEVER buy a car with voice crap on it. If I have no choice I will rip the thing out and put in a nice system with buttons. I mean really, I have a horrible radio and I can still adjust the volume/turn it off without taking any hands off the wheel because it's that close.

Actually I have none of those things on my car and I do just fine.
 
Name:
Click to expand...
Rear Seat Entertainment Systems
Extreme Example: Some minivan/SUV systems allow 3 seperate movies to be played; two in the middle row and one in the rear.
Why it's redundant: When I was a kid I looked out the window on road trips. If I complained, my dad spanked me. If your spoiled brats won't shut up, don't buy them an expensive DVD player. Instead, hit them. It's free and as an added bonus, it builds character.
Click to expand...
:lol:
 
captain_70s said:
I agree with most of what is on that list, the most amusing is the sound pipes from the Mustang though! :lol:

I'm not a fan of Sat-Nav, personaly I think that good map reading should be a key skill and included in the driving test. Following a computer controlled box that tells you were the road goes will give people a false sense of security.
Fair enough you can have one, but I'd certianly keep a map handy to back up what it says. :rolleyes:

Electric seats, why? Is it harder to pull a knob or turn a dial on the side of the seat now than it was for the past 70 years of car travel... <_<

Also I have huge dis-trust in electronic equipment, especialy new stuff. The most reliable piece of electronic equipment I have owned is a 1946 radio, I never doubted it would turn on and work even after 60 years service.
My PC on th eother hand is always playing up, as is the TV and the CD player, and they only last a few years before they die completley.
I'd like to know that my car is going to last longer than my other electronic stuff thanks.

I don't see how people can't tune the radio either, why not make it even simpler? 3 buttons to select your frequency, one dial for volume and another to tune it. You don't even need to look at the thing, just grab the right dial and turn. No need to look of the road at all... Oh wait, didn't we actually have a system like that 30 years ago?
A CD player could be built to be that basic too, but modern people want as many features as possible, even if they are useless or only ever get used once.
It makes the whole car more complicated in the name of making thing s more simple!:wall:
Click to expand...

You have a good point there. People are getting so lazy. What's so hard about turning a few knobs or pulling a few levers? People have been doing it for decades now, so why can't we? No wonder obesity has been increasing lately. People can't even be bothered to move their arms when they're sitting in a car. Soon cars will only come with one knob: the driver. And another problem with satnav is people will never bother to learn the roads. So what happens if their car breaks, if the satnav breaks, or if you find yourself in a car without satnav? You won't know where you are and where to go. And then there's the issue of reliability. Things nowadays are made to be disposable, because all companies now assume everyone's a billionaire and can afford a new car every 5 minutes. So this stuff will almost certainly break sooner or later, and so your satnav WILL break, and since you haven't been learning the roads and you haven't bothered to bring along a map because you've been trusting your satnav (And at this rate, you'll probably be too lazy to get a map and put it in your car), you WILL be lost.
 
Driver involvement isnt about using amps and whatnot. Its about how a car feels and responds to the driver's inputs. Stuff like brakes and throttle and suspension are what driver involvement is about not satnav and dvd's. That being said I my vote for most redundant car tech is drive by wire systems. what was wrong with throtle linkage?!?!? It worked fine if not better than drive by wire.
 
thescreensavers said:
I disagree with about half the things on the list. No crap humans can do it them selfs, automated systems just make driving esier. The way the guy thinks is stupid, if everyone thought like that we would hardly progress in tech and anything because any new thing will make something easier.

btw, My mom has an Audi Q7 with the side assist thing. I can tell you she is driving better with it and not cutting people off like she did before. Its not because of the blind spots from the car its because she takes a quick look and doesn't really look, the side assist helps tremendously. When its lit she then actually looks again and sees theirs a freaking car there lol
Click to expand...

I've said this before and I'll say it again, if you have blind spots that large, your mirrors are not adjusted properly. Adjust them properly and you can magically see whatever is in your "blindspot." I don't have to turn my head around to see for myself if someone is back there because my mirrors are adjusted to show what's in those spots.

That said, there are a lot of silly things on that list. The GPS is one of them. Who carries around print maps that detail every single street and business in a town, for the entire country?
 
I've said this before and I'll say it again, if you have blind spots that large, your mirrors are not adjusted properly. Adjust them properly and you can magically see whatever is in your "blindspot." I don't have to turn my head around to see for myself if someone is back there because my mirrors are adjusted to show what's in those spots
Click to expand...
Exactly. Or you could just, y'know, turn your head 45 degrees.
 
Most of this invents are rubbish, only are for simplify the driving more and more. Now you buy an E-Class and you only have to turn the steering wheel, it does the rest and, furthermore, says you when you have to stop. The next will be cars that drive itself and you only have to sit down and wait.

Things like GPS, semi-automatic gearbox, entertainment system for the passengers... even ESP seems good to me but all the things that automate the driving I prefeer that the engineers make good use of his time to create things more useful like get more light cars
 
totally disagree on the sat nav being redundant, trying to navigate and drive while holding an open map in your car = bad idea.

Plus a paper map doesnt tell you where YOU are which is the most important function of GPS, esp if you have no familiar streets or landmarks around you.
 
vikiradTG2007 said:
:blink::blink::blink:

In the name of all that's holy, why would anyone think that this was a good idea?
Click to expand...

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