has technology jumped the shark, or is it just me getting old
 

Mass transit is wonderful and necessary in big cities. In spread out cities or the western states between cities it is total folly. Oklahoma City metro is over 1,000 square miles. Just about a million people total. I can often drive 3 or 4 miles and not see another moving car. We have a bus system and a writer tried to get to work one day on mass transit. It took him 3 hours to get downtown and he had to walk over 1/2 a mile. Try mass transit in thousands of small cities. It is hopeless. Only a automobile will work in the small cities.

That's because they figured if you are are dumb enough to buy the car you need it to tell you...
Sorry, I couldn't resist.:D

I've had people mock by flip phone until I tell them that my total bill (tax, tag, dealer prep...) is less than $35 per month and I have unlimited minutes whenever I need them.
What about going online? Forbidden in my secured office and we have desktops in the break room. Don't travel enough to make it worth it and I despise having to dodge people who are all over the road because they are staring at a computer screen instead of looking where they are going.
Want to send me a text? Just call and leave me a voicemail message. Too much work for you? Then it probably isn't worth my time to read about it. Too much detail? E-mail me.

I had the update to the flip fone, the one that slid open. You could actually count the pixels on the screen. When it literally split in two I went to the iPhone. Sorry I ever did.

I agree they are new back doors those updates. If your system is locked down really good why do you need another update? Because its probably gov mandated with a NSA letter they can't talk about.

The rate of technology innovation is about to exceed our ability to consume it. This is theoretically a good thing - but will spawn a huge pile of useless "innovation".

...Limited only by the imagination of the human mind, we are also about to be swamped by the vaugueries (vague, vagaries?) and randomness of it as well.

I'm all for bridging the gap between man and machine, and I recognize it's inevitability, but then I think about how my phone doesn't always connect via Bluetooth to my car...

AI this AI that, but the best we can really do is "what is the weather". Nothing about artificial intelligence is actually intelligent yet.

All I have to say is...

GTF off of my lawn :)!!!

....and I had a career in the leading/bleeding edge of computing/communications equipment that was top-of-the-line for 25 years...multi-million $ stuff that were MY toys so to speak....

I've reverted back to cave man tech....don't miss much either imo...YMMV.

yep. my iphone just did the update (caught me by surprise! didn't intend to let it). now it's acting weird.

I guess all those 6 figure salaried twenty something beer snob tech dorks need to justify their jobs somehow.

We can now drive a vehicle 100,000 miles with only adding gas and changing oil and air filters.

spark plugs that last forever, sealed transmissions, coolant systems that rarely need topping off, brakes that last nearly forever.

I remember always having a matchbook in the glove compartment because it was close to the .016" thickness required to gap the points.
I remember changing spark plugs every other year.
i remember oil going black after 1500 miles.
I remember having to adjust brakes to keep them from pulling to one side.
I remember having to check the tire pressure once a week because the paint on the steel rims was chipped and didn't seal perfectly.
I remember adding water to the radiator every month because it didn't have a plastic catch can.

No, the grass was definitely NOT greener back then.

I love technology - like most men of a certain age, witnessed an incredible series of events, starting with putting a man on the moon where the computing power was less than what today's hand held calculator has.

The downside in my experience, is the interface to humans. You could develop the most revolutionary software to address problem "X" - but if the interface is complex or not intuitive on a very basic level, no one will use it.

Past example: BMW's I-Drive launched in 2003 exclusive to the 7 series was genious where you could select / control all the functions with 1 knob that served in purpose as the MS mouse.

Problem: The engineers provided almost endless adjustments to HVAC, radio, trip computer, etc. The issue was it was not intuitive. People thought is was cool until they couldn't figure out how to navigate it - or once in one of the functions, no one could figure out how to get back to the main menu. BMW bought back a lot of those early cars.

They quickly simplified the interface adding a separate menu button. Now even Kia has a form of that.

Some of you have already theorized that updates are NSA inspired. Naw, they don't need that. They can already listen, watch, monitor everything you do anyway.
Every credit/debit card transaction is recorded by the banks: what you bought and where you are at (are you buying ammo, beer, and a pregnancy test?). Every smart phone call dialed is logged (who you called and your triangulated location and most believe that the call is route through a black box location that records everything). Your phone's GPS tells Big Brother where you are located 24/7/365. Your car's OBDII is logging how you drive so if you put in one of those nifty little plugins to get a better rate on car insurance they can track your driving habits and location 24/7/365. Car rentals all have GPS trackers. I suspect that our fancy radar detectors that give GPS related warnings can report your location. We won't even get started on what the NSA can glean from your internet activity.
Staying off the grid is virtually impossible unless you use a burner phone, no landline, no internet, no credit/debit cards, and drive an old car.

Basically 1984 is here. Big Brother is watching and listening. The only difference is that the info isn't interfering with your freedom of choice yet.

I remember all those things as well. In the 1980s the technology was in a sweet spot. Electronic ignition and reliable fuel injection were in the cars. The entire car could be repaired piece by piece or in large projects. Parts were inexpensive.

The new cars of today are no longer repairable by any mechanic. If a transmission goes bad, the manufacturer just replaces it with a new one. Under warranty it is a good deal for the owner. Out of warranty it is after more that the entire value of the car on economy cars. The same thing for engines. The dealer is not allowed to even try, just replace it.

A friend of mine has a Porsche GT4. A car designed to take to the track. His 3rd gear died. Evidently it is not a rare issue. His car was at the dealership for several months waiting for Porsche's supplier to have enough orders to spool up production to even make some more of them. Hopefully they fixed the engineering issue to prevent it from happening again.

A different friend has a new Ford F-250. The diesel engine left him stranded on the side of the road. He finally got it towed back to the dealership. The dealership had to replace the entire engine it it has taken three months. He got it back, and before he got home the dash as full of lights. He just drove it right back to the dealership.

What will happen to any 2017 model car in 10 to 15 years. How will anyone ever repair them. They won't.

Remember my Dad insisting on Michelin tires. Don't remember my Dad ever getting a flat. Didn't think much about it until I heard a friend's Dad complaining because he always bought new Firestone tires before their family vacation and always got at least one flat on their trip.

My parents lived in a small town 25 miles from the big city. Mom said she used to always take one of her boys with her to change a tire because somewhere during the 50 mile round trip they would get a flat.

The problem with our increased technology is what I call programmer's interface. The interfaces for all these newfangled features are hacks added to current interfaces by programmers instead of being added by interface designers. If you need instructions to operate it, the interface sucks.

I just bought one of these for my 25 year old W140. OBD1 Break out box for reading blink codes!
That's about as high tech as I want to get for my cars & I work in the IT support industry so I play and fix tech items everyday. ;)

I really believe the rot began with OBD2. At some point I wont have much choice but I'll try and delay that as long as possible.

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My wife pines for the "good old days" like in the show Little House on the Prairie. I remind her that she would have had to get up before dawn with no heat, go through the snow to get water from the well, build a fire... She would have died at a very early age.
My concern is when I serve technology rather than it serving me. I lived before answering machines no less voicemail and cell phones. For sure there is a give and take but do I really need a programmable thermostat and a refrigerator that sends a text to tell me we are low on OJ?

Have you seen the latest batch of Smart TVs? :rolleyes:

It's like they want us to spend most of our free time in front of the Boob tube. How many steaming options are out there? Back in the days of the video shop at least you had to get off your arse to rent one. It's getting truly ridiculous.

One of the reasons I keep things simple is so that I have time to go out and meet up with people for real & spend time doing the things that make me happy. (bike riding, walking and fixing my cars or stuff around my house)
Faceplant is a perfect example... I know for a fact a lot of my so called friends spend most of their free time on there. It's likely their only social outlet.

My parents have a two year old Lincoln suv whatever.
It's based on a ford edge platform but with lots of do-dads and gizmos (technical terms).

I've spent a lot of time with them recently and have logged several hundred miles on their car driving them around the greater Fee-nix area. All with the radio off.

They can't figure out how to turn it on, and I haven't had time to mess with it. It was not something I could safely decipher while driving. So we drove quietly except for conversation.

Question to electronic geeks: Why make sheet complicated? What's wrong with an on/off button?

LOL, just found out how it works.
Now i just need to Know WHY?


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Touch-Sensitive Controls
SYNC with MyLincoln Touch technology is touch-sensitive. Your vehicle’s center console is equipped with touch-sensitive controls such as Hazard lights, CD Eject, A/C, Max A/C, Defrost, Rear Defrost, Fan Speed, and Auto. You can operate your radio system with the touch or swipe of a finger instead of pushing buttons or turning switches.




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Volume
Radio Volume increases or decreases the radio system volume. You can glide your finger along the slider control to adjust the volume from the center console.

to distract you from the lack of engineering innovation.