Is it Ludditism to complain about “tech” that doesn’t make things easier? An obvious example is the bum’s rush to replace buttons, knobs and switches with tap/swipe interfaces.
What has been improved?
It’s pretty self-evident that the “tech” has done the opposite of that. A knob to increase or decrease the volume of the audio system (or to change the station) is simple, intuitive and can be operated without having to look at it. How is it an improvement to replace a knob with an “icon” on an LCD screen that requires the driver to look at the screen to accurately tap/swipe?
The answer is it isn’t. But it’s sold as that and many people buy into it because many people are bedazzled by “tech.” Especially the younger crowd that grew up with “tech.” For them, “tech” is a given. They can’t image a world without “tech” because they have never experienced a world without “tech.” Thus, they think “tech” is always an improvement.
The vehicle manufacturers play into this for obvious and not-so-obvious reasons. The obvious reason being the feedback loop. “Tech” is almost a religious movement. Almost anything you can imagine that was done without “tech” in the past is an opportunity to engineer “tech” into it. Even to the extent of toothbrushes that have “tech” in them to help the tooth-brusher do something everyone did without “tech” from the beginning of time to our time. In the process, a simple toothbrush has become a complicated, nannying piece of . . . “tech.”
Many new/late model cars do not have dipsticks under the hood. Instead, you tap an app and the “tech” tells you what the oil lever is. Most new/late model vehicles have electric-opening rear liftgates that take forever to open and can’t be slammed shut; you have to wait for the “tech” to safely close the liftgate – something that most able-bodied people can do just as well (and certainly faster) by hand.
In many new/late-model vehicles, you have to wait for a moment for the “tech” that controls the audio system to boot up before you can listen to anything. Sometimes, you have to tap the screen to “ok” the warning/user agreement before the “tech” will allow you to listen to anything.
What has been improved?
Well, that brings us to the not-so-obvious reasons why the vehicle manufacturers are so all-in on this “tech.” One reason is they haven’t got much else to offer. Put another way, there is very little else for them to offer – because of the constraints placed on them by federal regulations (which have homogenized vehicle design) and because the car is such a mature technology. The Great Leaps forward of the past – as from flatheads to overhead valves, fuel injection in place of carbs, radial tires in place of bias-ply tires, four wheel disc brakes – and so on – have all been “leaped.” There’s not much leaping left to do – at least within the guardrails of what’s allowable.
We might, for example, have modern two-stroke engines (or rotary engines) but we aren’t allowed (effectively) anything other than a small (usually 2.0 liter) four cylinder engine almost universally paired with an automatic transmission – because that’s the drivetrain that’s most compliant. If the regs that exist today existed in 1970, there would have been no air-cooled Beetles (or Porsches) because those engines are not compliant and it’s effectively impossible to make them so. Probably half the vehicles available back then -including all economy cars and trucks – came with standard (that is, manual) transmissions, chiefly because there was no compliance pressure to use programmable automatics instead.
Imagine being able to buy a new car with low-back bench seats or jumpseats in the bed (if a truck). Forget it.
Uncle won’t allow it.
The point is, we have arrived at a kind of stasis point. There’s not much that’s meaningfully new. Every new vehicle comes with AC, power windows and locks. Many come standard with sunroofs. Features and amenities that – once – used to be used to sell a given vehicle relative to other vehicles that did not have those features and amenities. Now that the all have them, what is there to sell?
Why, “tech” of course!
“Tech” has another usefulness, too – and here we come to the subtle reason for its widespread use in all new vehicles: It’s cheap. More expansively, it’s a way for the vehicle manufacturers to reduce what it costs to put a vehicle together, which increases the profit margin on that vehicle.
You will observe that the more “tech” a vehicle has, the more expensive it is. Yet this “tech” consists chiefly in cheap electronic interfaces sourced from China. The most obvious example being the bigger-with-every-new-model-year LCD displays that have replaced the instrument clusters vehicles used to have. These displays are vehicular iterations of the flatscreen displays that just about everyone has in their home – even if that home is a single-wide trailer with a leaking metal roof. They are the one thing that’s gotten less rather than more expensive – and the vehicle manufacturers have made the most of it.
They are a way to razzle-dazzle the buyer who has never seen one (in a car) before and that helps sell the car. Of course, it’s only razzle dazzle when everyone hasn’t got one. Think of the small screens almost everyone is carrying around. Twenty years ago, seeing one was . . . razzle-dazzle. Seeing one today isn’t. Seen one, seen them all.
Kind of like “tech.”
If a manufacturer wanted to punch out of this box they’ve placed themselves in, they might try dispensing with “tech” and offering things both different and interesting – as well as functionally superior to “tech” – such as handsome and emotionally appealing instruments, switchgear and such. There are – as yet – no compliance restraints preventing them from doing this.
The only thing that is, is the lemming-like rush to offer more of the same “tech” that every other manufacturer has embraced – which simply feeback loops the dreary homogeneity we see in vehicle design today.
. . .
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I purchased a 2025 Subaru Outback in May of this year. It is the 6th new Outback in our family fleet. Being the 6th I thought it was like the others and, sadly, I never took five minutes to test drive this one. I have learned to absolutely despise this vehicle with a hatred normally reserved for my worst enemies. Why? “Infotainment Center!” It is no way “tainment.”This thing is a cancer and will only be purged upon the sale of it. Besides it being difficult to operate easily without taking eyes off the road, it actually monitors your eyeballs and where your gaze is fixed. Every few minutes t tells be to take a break with a cup-of-coffee icon or to pay attention to the road. Are you shitting me??? This often occurs when I am attempting to change the climate settings or any other goddamn function! I purchased the Subaru extended warranty of 80,000 miles or 8 years and immediately canceled the policy realizing I am not going to make it to the end of the new car factory warranty of 36/36. If possible, the response time to a tap on the screen is far, far worse than that of my very first crap tablet decades ago. Want to lower the fan speed? Tap a few cons and then maybe t will happen before you’ve reached your destination. And, don’t get me started on the engine start/stop nuisance. I defeated that with an aftermarket device before the car was one week old. THAT was the best $99 I ever spent on anything in my 70+ years. After decades of ownership, Subaru has seen the last dime from me.
I leased one for my wife. That on/off ASS button takes so long to respond, I end up pushing it over and over. By the time it responds, its back in the ON mode. The only thing that works is to turn it off when you start the car and wait the 5 seconds it takes to respond. When its on the car drives kluge. No way I’m spending a dime on this car outside the 35O$ a month payment. In 25 months and ten days I’ll be sitting at the dealer waiting for them to open and give the keys back.
Hi Norman!
A thing to know about these ASS-equipped vehicles is they have a second battery – and it’s buried deep inside the car’s guts. This second battery stores charge for the ASS system, which would otherwise deplete the 12V starter battery quickly. The thing is, when the ASS battery fails, the car won’t run. That second battery must be replaced. And it’s not something most people can do themselves…
Hi Eric,
That sounds awful. I cant picture the type that came up with such nonsense. Actually I can. I need no more convincing. Don’t see it changing anytime soon. So sad for those under 4O. What a world they never got to fully experience. We were truly blessed beyond belief to live in those times.
The other day I told my wife this Subaru is the last new car we are going to get. She didn’t like that. But hey, she only drives like 5OO miles, or less a year. She can take the T-Bird to the store. Said she doesn’t feel comfortable in the T-Bird because its so pristine and kind of showy, and, she’s always worried about scratching it or whatever. Nevertheless, once I get a pre 2OOO Ranger, or Toyota 4WD, I’ll keep the old Ford van, maybe add an enduro, a smallish town bike, or a vespa and we’ll be good to go.
Expect to see lots of this: Toyota recalls nearly 600K vehicles over infotainment glitch
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/toyota-recalls-nearly-600k-vehicles-over-infotainment-glitch/
The most ridiculous piece of tech in my life is our dishwasher. Apparently, it’s linked up to my husband’s phone, which is linked to the TV. So while we are watching TV, a little alarm sounds and we get a message box on the TV telling us the dishwasher has finished its cycle.
Why? What purpose does this serve? The dishwasher is 15 steps away. We can actually hear that it’s not sloshing anymore.
I asked him why he even let it link with his phone. He said we can start the dishwasher while we are out of the house. Isn’t that cool?! Um, no.
Again, why would anyone want or need that?
Hi Amy!
That one made my teeth ache… I need a drink (if I could drink… sigh).
Yup, it has even effected appliances too. We just did a major addition, and all new shit. And it’s all shit, with every appliance requiring an app. No f’in way we told the builder, we will not. So teach us how to use this crap or replace it. They are a great GC, and he was not happy (w/ me) that he had to read the f’n manuals. Took him 30 min. to figure out how to heat the oven to 350, haha……………….
I bought a 2026 Cadillac CT4 Premium Luxury vehicle last week. My 2008 Saab 93 finally gave out. I called my former Saab mechanic to schedule service and was informed that they no longer work on Saabs. I turned off everything I was able to turn off in the computer. Took about half an hour. Still have to turn off a lot of features every time I start the car. After several hours with the owner’s manual I finally discovered how to turn off the LCD screen on the dash. But here’s the thing. They make the car entrance experience very appealing; everything lights up and sounds greet you and it’s like Disneyland! After I turned everything off I had the same feeling I’ve had when I turn on my computer and the internet isn’t working. BORING!!!!! I can now understand why people like this stuff in cars. I guess that driving isn’t exciting or engaging enough for them without being able to play with the computer. But I like driving and have no interest in the distractions that modern cars are riddled with. I am content to keep all turned off. One other thing. This Cadillac drives very well. The handling is terrific – at least compared to my old Saab. If only they hadn’t ruined the experience with all the unnecessary tech. I am already wanting to get rid of this car and replace it with an old classic.
Great choice Ablert. We love our CT4. Only thing I haven’t been able to solve is the seatbelt chime (yet).
‘they might try offering … handsome and emotionally appealing instruments, switchgear and such.’ — eric
Bingo. Steve Jobs and Jony Ive engineered the iPhone interface, with its many icons, apps and sub-menus, to deal with one overwhelming design constraint: it has to fit in your hand. And they succeeded brilliantly.
But no such space constraint applies to cars. Arguably, an iPhone-like interface might have been appealing for its newness during, say, 2007 to 2010. Just as ‘gee whiz’ tail fins appeared on cars for three years after Sputnik launched in 1957. But by 1960, they just looked ridiculous and dated.
Today auto makers are using a totally inappropriate design model — the cheap and nasty Douchescreen — when they should long since have moved on to finely crafted analog instrumentation and controls, starting on the luxury end of the spectrum. People still collect high-end Swiss watches, even though they could buy a Casio digital watch for $29.95 and save some money.
Obviously the auto industry, with its nose buried in Uncle Sam’s butt crack, has experienced brain death. Euthanasia, in the form of Chapter 7 liquidation, is called for. Die, GM, die!
Thanks, Jim –
One of the reasons I love ’70s Trans Ams (and they are just one example) is the emotional appeal of such design features as the engine-turned dash facing, the chromed Hurst shifter (manual models), even the cigarette lighter in these cars, which has a beautiful stylized lit cigarette. There’s also the tach with its integrated (analog) clock and so many other things that make a ’70s TA look like no other car and thus give it individuality, even if they made hundreds of thousands of them.
Eric, my first car — a 1968 GTO — was similarly equipped. Its four-speed manual shift lever had a thick, ergonomically-designed Hurst T-handle to fit my big hand. Such features are memorable, in a way that generic plastic dashboards and digital displays are not, and never shall be.
As a Boeing engineer famously commented in an internal email about the misbegotten 737 MAX, contemporary cars likewise are “designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys.” [insert photo of EeeVee Mary Barra biting a banana]
Thanks for the memory Jim H. ’69 judge for me. forgot about the T handle and you’re right, I remember it vividly now.
The smart phone interface solved problems inherent to the form factor. For example the pop-up contextual virtual keyboard instead of the tiny real one the Nokia and Blackberry had. Absolutely a leap in user interface.
When they brought it to other things, like cars, it was an improvement because people had already started using other things, like navigation, and integrating that wasn’t clean. A small accessory screen for this made sense.
Same with being able to set a temperature instead of a vague blue to red scale. Whether that was needed is a matter of debate but having a set point was a luxury item in a Lincoln that you didn’t get in a Ford back in the day. Bringing that little LED display into the screen was a change with some justification.
What I’m driving at is these things are incremental. No one stood back in 2005 and said “How can we fuck up the interface for drivers and get Eric Peters something to complain about?”
It just happened over time. Now the absurdity is obvious and the next step is streamlining, which is rediscovering what used to work. The same thing happened in other fields. Digital cameras got back some of the retro look and feel, which wasn’t just a visual art but tactile. Nikon and Leica cameras looked they way they did because over decades controls fell where they needed to. But there was lots of attempts to change it by manufacturers, where a focus ring was put or a lever or knob. A few adapted to them, mostly they didn’t work and didn’t sell. Lots of 80s film cameras morphed with LCD screens and buttons but the classic metal body SLR persisted until the very end, Nikon killing the FM3a finally, their last in a line of FM/FE bodies that went back 50 years.
All engineering is just applying solutions to problems, some of which are real, some derived by sales and marketing, some working around patents. Things that work keep getting used, things that don’t lose sales and ultimately suffer their natural selection fate.
Cars are at this point. People aren’t buying, the manufacturers will evolve or die. Get used to a world of more bankruptcies, more consolidation. There’s no guarantee in life that we get to buy cars. Government edicts can only nudge and force by threat of violence but the market will get what it wants eventually. Lots of people fought against automobiles in the first place and there’s always been a force opposing them as personal items. It’s currently gained a lot of influence. If people want cars they’ll have cars. I don’t get the sense that a majority of people do so we’re in the minority.
As they say, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
Cameras make an excellent analogy for discussing the ergonomic design of a highly engineered device. Thanks!
Eric, thank you for that Pic of Henry Fords magnum opus, the magnificent Ford flathead v8. Though Henry preferred fours, when Chevy’s cheap online sixes started to beat Ford sales, Hank was heard to say,” I’ll give ’em cyliinders”. Back when men ran businesses and the market determined what sold.
My pleasure, Ernie!
I’ve never owned a flathead V8 yet – but I’d like to. I have long had this weirdo fantasy of a whole (large) room of the house devoted to various engines on stands, that can be turned on and listened to whenever the mood strikes…
They are extremely smooth runners. Brothers friend drove an early one in a mid ‘30s pickup. High school friend had a ‘50 Ford with that V8.
Im close to that, its not a dream its a sickness. I have a barn stacked with flathead v8s, flathead sixes, various Mercedes and Detroit diesels, Mazda rotary, small block chevys, supercharged Buick 231s, and one lonely Jaguar 4.0 twin cam straight six. Periodically ill take one out and fire it up on the floor. People seem to like the videos.
Aaah, one can dream, Ernie. That is, can you imagine the vehicles that would be on the road today if such were still the case today? That is, vehicles on the lot that people actually wanted to buy? 8-cylinder engines, manual trans, to hell with the gas mileage because it shoots out of a cannon at a red light. Not made out of stupid plastic….. Okay, sorry, was dreaming there for a minute. It reminds me of the “choose your own adventure” books kids had back in the 80’s. “Choose Your Own Vehicle”. Aaah, now that would be a slice of Heaven.
Eric – this kid will cheer you up ! Maybe there is hope…..
https://youtube.com/shorts/Nsq74P9Wbew?
Thanks, Nasir – it did!
There are some out there…
When it come to “tech”, Eric, I have seen the touch screens with radios in the new, refrigerator doors. Complete with ads! Why would I need either included in a refrigerator? About a year or so ago, I was at the grocery store. The lady in front of me was trying to pay for her bagged groceries with an app on her phone. Whoops, the app was not working, so she had to leave without her food. Meanwhile, the powers that be wonder why some of us still try and pay cash for everything?
Morning, Shadow!
Yup. I have seen the same. I feel like a stranger in a strange land. If more people were like me (and you) this “tech” stuff would never have taken hold. But unfortunately, things are driven by most people and we’re carried along by the rip tide.
I 100% agree with this article. I long for the simple days, and do not like this mad rush into tech oblivion where man merges with machine. I do not want a bar code on my forehead or a chip in my hand. I do not want my brain wired into the internet, nor do I want a smart phone radiating my brain or the skin under the pocket where I store it (I have a friend who got skin cancer from his smart phone, under his pant’s pocket where he kept it).
I liked the home landline phone that the whole family shared. I do not need to be talking to everyone 24-7. My home had a woodstove and I cut my own firewood. I never worried about the heating bill, I could make the house as warm as I wanted and even open the doors and windows in the dead of winter if it was to warm. I feel sorry for the fools who live in the city on fixed incomes and grid homes and can’t afford to keep the place warm. They are screwed and will continue to be screwed as Ai and crypto suck up every last watt.
I had a 1966 Dodge W200 4WD wood truck. It was solid iron, no aluminum in the block, tranny, transfer case, axles, etc. All steel, all lasted. The dash was also steel, no padding, which never cracked. It had a manual choke and twin lever shifters for the 4wd and high/low range. I installed a PTO driven winch, had 20′ chains and a snatch block, plus a handyman jack. I cut big loads of red fir and stuck my Stihl 066 bar into the wood stack and I would go to town, covered in sawdust. Out of towners were intimidated – they could not believe that you could do your own thing outside of the system (which screws you every which way it can). I found that cutting your own firewood is one of the most satisfying works.
The old Indian chief says chop wood, carry water. That is good advice for a world gone mad. I live in peace with myself and my surroundings, have no need for war or violence. I do not covet some other man’s oil. I wish this nation was on a gold standard, have no use for worthless paper script issued by some soulless banksters, or crypto money, or social credit scores, or using a phone to swipe a bar code.
If you see where the world is going, do you really want that future? I sure as hell do not. BTW, I found the original invoice for that 1965 W200 stuck between the padding and wire of the bench seat when I had it reupholstered. It originally sold for $2,000. To say we got screwed by the Fed is not an exaggeration. Some fear nuclear war, I see it as salvation, free at last, free at last.
Why do the Amish thrive while the rest of the world goes to hell? The Amish have no autism because they don’t vaxx. What did the Amish do to stay healthy? The froze tech advancement at c. 1850. What should we do to stay healthy and not become demoralized drones? What level of technology should we say, that’s it, no more?
Have you ever noticed that Buddhists and Amish are not trying to takeover the world? When was the last time the Amish invade a foreign country, or bombed someone? Have you ever noticed the Amish do not have a Talmudvision (TV) in their homes? I can’t say I ever saw an Amish person waving a flag. I do not think Amish people would genocide the Palestinians, they would help them. When a recent flood devastated Kentucky?, the Amish left their farms and went their fixing those peoples homes for no pay.
We have much to learn from natives, Amish, and Buddhists. What we need to do is re-think our lives and change our ways and be self reliant and stop thinking and voting the lunatics which run the District of Criminals. Really, since when did voting for the president actually change anything?
Rammstein – Amerika (Official Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8ljRgcJNM
“I do not think Amish people would genocide the Palestinians, they would help them.”
No the Amish wouldn’t.
But the ‘Palestinians’ would most definitely genocide the Amish, as their Mohammedan brethren have been doing for centuries to both the ‘infidels’ and the ‘heretics’ – i.e. other Muslims, who do not follow the same branch of the vile religion/political system known as Islam.
https://thereligionofpeace.com/attacks/in-the-name-of-allah.aspx
Do read the bit about ‘Palestine’. In fact, that whole site is worth reading, and no, it’s not ‘run by Joos’.
At least one thing must be given to the goat copulators – they don’t lie about their ultimate aims. And they will happily explain, too, if you happen to live among them for a while.
BTW, if Israel wanted to truly ‘genocide’ the ‘peaceful Palestinians’, they could have done it ten times over years ago already. And save themselves a lot of endless grief.
A few years ago, I read Ray Kurzweil’s book, “The Singularity Is Near”. It was a real chore slugging through the first, 1/4 of the book, as it seemed to be a bit of a dry read. However, the latter 3/4 was interesting. Kurzweil firmly believed that man would merge with machine and thus, live forever. He admitted he was not sure about that “bothersome” soul and spirit aspects of a human, however. I just bought his second book, “The Singularity Is Nearer With AI”, but have not started reading it yet. If it is anything like his first novel, it will be a chore to read, but am sure that there will be some interesting nuggets tucked in there.
Thanks, Jack!
I don’t think I’m a Luddite. I like to think I’m not an idiot. “Tech” that does not make a task easier or cost less (in fact, makes it more difficult and expensive) is idiotic in my view. But I suppose opinions vary….
Let me get this straight.
I’ll get arrested if I use my phone in the car, but it’s OK to watch a 12” TV screen to turn on the radio?
Am I missing something?
Exactly. And don’t forget the school bus has no seat belts. The precious children – the children have no seat belts when the go to school and are taught never to think.
Idiocracy: IQ test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbmq9P-8FiM
How can there be any contradictions when you have a inoperable brain? In the future, those who point out contradictions will be labeled enemies of the state. A thinking person is obviously dangerous, maybe even a terrorist.
Hi Just,
No, you’re not. You are using logic and reason. Which just makes you a weirdo these days.
Wouldn’t that be something, nobs and dials you could control while keeping your eyes on the road. And that thing with the trunk, not opening and closing freely, makes me want to smash the guy who designed it in the face with my fist.
A Dodge Charger
Many ages ago, early 1970s, I had a buddy in college who was a former Navy fighter pilot (aircraft carrier). Tech began to creep into the jets. First thing the pilots did was turn the tech off. More of a distraction than help.
The unfortunate reality of these last few decades is that there is virtually nothing available on the dealers lots that has any sort of appeal to anyone who actually likes cars/automobiles.
Even the Germans. In times past you could unusually count.on VW or Opel to offer something fun and reasonably priced and Porsche, not reasonably priced but something to love that will excite and challenge you.
The Corvette, love it or hate it was raw powerful totally unreasonable. The Dodges, wicked, loud, fast and fun. Or even the Fiats- I expensive, fun as hell to drive with the bonus of making your shade-tree mechanics bones.
There were colors too, something besides black, white and gray.
Today, Porsche has screens and the Cayenne doesn’t even have a shift lever! Screens everywhere. It’s way past the point of ridiculous.
If you told me I could have any new car free, I don’t think I could find one I could stomach driving around, assuming that with all that “assist ” garbage that I would actually be driving instead of commanding a computer.
Cars use to have soul, now they suck the soul right out of while massaging your ass with 45-way power seats!!
I am truly hoping this is a fad, and yes certainly the government is to blame for what we are forced to endure.
Oh but regulations have made driving safer hasn’t it. I recall Tom Woods a while back observing that prior to NHTSA road fatalities were only decreasing by 5% a year. But now thanks to regulation and a few $trillion dollars and diligent efforts by those who care about our wellbeing they managed to reduces traffic fatalities by 5% per year!
What would we do without them….
The dealers don’t have anything to appeal to “car” people because they aren’t car dealers. They’re finance companies that deal in cars. Rooms2Go is a finance company that deals in furniture.
The last place you’ll find a car guy is on the sales floor of a dealer. Some of the techs in back are gearheads but, not all…by a long shot.
This is true and it doesn’t matter the dealership.
I have hadva long relationship with Brumos Porsche in Jacksonville going back to when got back from Vietnam and used my savings to buy a 911. I could only afford the T but Peter Gregg directed them to sell me the S at the same price.
Back then you could go by the dealership and have a coffee and shoot the shit all day, Peter was there a lot, Hurley as well and all the sales guys were enthusiasts. I was thrilled to buy cars there.
Fast Foward to now, Brumos dealership was sold to Fields Group. Bye bye to any hint of enthusiasm for the cars, the Brumos Driving Experience ended and replaced with a Cafe. The lounge, no more car magazines – same as the Mercedes store, Golf Digest, Modern Mom, Architectural Review. Forget car love.
I guess I am a dinosaur. A very unhappy one, but…
Bring a Trailer will hook me up with my next car absolutely.
I find it much easier to touch a button without looking to change the radio. Luckily I still have that option. staring at a screen or trying to coordinate touching the right spot on the screen to fast forward or skip is very annoying.
More tech – we put a deer in the back of a buddy’s KIA SUV. He tried to move so someone else could back out of the parking area. The Kia wouldn’t move until we shut the tailgate.
So I guess no hauling anything long home in that vehicle.
Much of the technology of the last 10 years or so has been about reducing complexity and collecting data. The idea that someone would have a hard time operating a heat/cool lever or 4 position fan control and therefore would need it to be hidden behind some “human interface” touch panel is laughable. But it is harder to connect linkages and doors than it is to run a wiring harness or connect an encoder to a CANBUS system. Even cheaper to put all the hardware behind a touchscreen.
As for the data collection, someone must think it has value. Not quite sure how the climate control settings have a street price, but I guess someone thinks so.
High-tech is, by and large, a Leftist platform. Think about it: the modern technology everyone has become addicted to allows the Communist control freaks that dominate government, media, military and finance to constantly surveil us, brainwash the crowd into submission and keep everyone tightly controlled so that if they ever decide to wander off the reservation, it becomes extremely difficult to make a decent living. They’ve technologized everything from transportation to money, which means they’ve got most Americans by the throat.
During the Scamdemic, there was a lot of talk among the liberty-minded about creating our own parallel technologies — including a “dark” version of an Internet. But if you think about it, if it’s “techie” by nature, the Left will certainly figure out a way to control it since it’s one of the few (useful) things they excel at. The answer, I suspect, is throwing off tech as much as possible from our lives and going back to the old ways.
It wasn’t always that way. The phone phreaks and hackers of the 1970s were libertarian style anarchists. The enemy was the big centralized governments and corporations. Mostly as fallout from Vietnam, and the fear of being drafted I reckon, but still they wanted to distribute the computing power to the people, not turn users into a profit center.
Hi Jason,
I am coming around to this point of view as well. Much as I understand that “tech” makes it possible for me to work from my redoubt in the Woods, I begin to realize that ‘ol Ted was right about some things. Also (more so) Frank Herbert. Maybe there is still away – and time enough – to avoid our enslavement.
Was Ted the original neo-Luddite?
“Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto, “Industrial Society and Its Future,” argues that the Industrial Revolution has led to the destruction of nature and the suppression of human freedom through technology. He contends that modern society forces individuals to conform to technological systems, ultimately advocating for a return to a simpler, more primitive way of life.”
Eric, I thought you would want to read this:
https://stateofthenation.info/?p=36282
The Ongoing Khazarian-Directed Kabuki Theater Starring “The Donald” EXPOSED
Trump’s Never-Ending Con Game Has Two Sides To His Counterfeit Coin
Trump’s political CON GAME is really very simple and only has two basic strategies.
#1 — First, Trump tells the brainwashed and fanatical MAGA movement anything and everything they want to hear. And then he presents the appearance of following through on his oft-stated commitments, but mostly when the MAGA maniacs demonstrate that he had better make good on a particular campaign promise. In this way, Trump forever appears to act in good faith regarding the implementation of his domestic agenda. In reality, he gets very little done and actually makes matters much worse for We the People (witness the raging inflation and ongoing economic collapse for the middle class while for the 1% keeps getting richer).
#2 — Secondly, Trump is always advancing Israel’s MIGA agenda, especially with regard to every single foreign policy initiative and warmongering act that he takes. It’s now crystal clear that Trump’s State Department and Department of War take their orders directly from Netanyahu’s junta. And no matter how unpopular or daffy the orders, Trump does his very best to act on them for the sole benefit of the apartheid Zionist state of Israel, which is always to the great detriment of the United States. Which means that the ultimate CON GAME Trump is playing 24/7 is this: his MAGA agenda is really a MIGA one.
Could you imagine if the toilet had been invented today? It would contain servos and sensors; a screen; be paired to an app on ‘your’ smartphone. You’d be forced to view ads while pinching off a loaf.
You go to flush the toilet and are presented with: “Would you prefer an economy flush; a standard flush; or a turbo-flush?”.
[Chooses turbo-flush and walks away]. Gets notification on app: “We’re sorry to inform you that your excrement may have encountered some unexpected resistance, and has taken an unauthorized detour outside the bounds of this device” [Ads appear for bathroom remodeling].
Finds flashing screen on toilet: “Out of order – Call an authorized repair center for assistance”. Repairman comes out: “Here’s yer problem, it just needs a new mother board, vacuum modulator and water level sensor; and of course, will need to be reprogrammed. Shouldn’t cost more than $2300”.
A few months later, sitting on toilet: Gets another flashing screen: “Unauthorized user! Enter password in order to continue” . Notification appears on app: “Warning! It appears that an unauthorized user is attempting to deposit fecal matter in your ObamaDon3000, as the time of usage and quantity of content does not appear to match the Bodily Elimination Profile we’ve established for you, nor do the audible methane emissions conform to your prior pattern and decibel level. Please contact an authorized representative. Love, ObamaDon, where we care about your shit”.
Excellent Arthur! 😆😹🤣
Oh Lord, Arthur, do not give them any ideas. Can you imagine being forced to watch several minutes of ads before the toilet seat will unlock so that you can do your business?
I don’t remember if it was in China or Japan that they made you watch an ad before it coughed up some toilet paper. Apparently the government intervened on that issue.
Only if you don’t pay to upgrade to the premium subscription…
Tis the valuation of form over function…..much like the Fed’s actions this is all they’ve got now…..we are rushing towards a world of bland consistency of appearance….the polar opposite of a society that favored individualism……this trend towards Soviet ideology marks an ironic turn…the signs of debauched “gender” fluidity, violence in the streets, uncontrolled “migration” and abject tyranny at every level of government mark the end of empire…..too bad the actors on all sides will not realize how they’ve been had until it’s too late….Tuck Frump and all his ideological sycophants. Hey, at least we were spared cackling Kamala and Tampon Tim…….we’d already be in the camps under those toads…
Save the analogs. Save the manuals.
I recently bought a brand new car for the first time because it was going out if production. This website brought to my attention that this type of car would never be made again. The car has the right mix of tech and traditional mechanical features. The radio is a touch screen with a mechanical dial for the volume. No sunroof, turbo, or CVT. The trunk lid is mechanical which is actually great as well. You can slam the thing down.
Extra low mile 20+ yr old Toyota tacos with manuals and window cranks are being advertised for way more than they sold for brand new.
Rust never sleeps. Be careful kids.
I suspect part of this is due to their novelty angle as well as practicality of the things.
Yes. Just overhauled the hatch release motor and springology of my 26 yo V6 5 speed. Its now better than it ever was. I will NEVER sell that vehicle. Theres nothing even close available new.
What model did you buy?
I bought a Dodge Charger