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lapinot

Not sure about the downvotes, care to explain? I did not expect this would be seen as out of topic.

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I did not downvote you, but I imagine it's partly because of this:

> Are cars still a topic? Who owns a car here?

I think that's very self-centered to imply cars aren't worth talking about just because you don't have one.

I think it's perfectly fine to have that opinion, but if you're reading this thread, it's about cars, so it equates to "this thread shouldn't exist" which isn't very constructive.

I was simply trying to have a broader thinking, not only about how current cars are bloated with hitech but about the place of cars. I care about technology and consumer goods getting more and more opaque, littered with useless electronics (not all, abs and esp have proved themselves). But to have a complete picture one should also take into account their usage of cars, which use case they fulfill, and whether or not this could be done otherwise.

Even if people in cities weren't using cars it would still be a problem if they were designed badly, and worth discussing. Conversely, even if cars' electronics were designed well, that would mean very little to the discussion of whether they are optimal transportation in cities. In summary, your comment is in the wrong thread.

I'm not sure i completely agree with that, maybe you're right. Isn't bad design is at least partly linked to the fact that these are personal (non-utility) cars, which are for a large part used in (sub)urban areas, ie usage influences the design and reciprocally. It seems to me utility cars (and other "professional vehicles") are among the less prone to this interface bloat. Actually to support your point i recently saw how this exact problem was a big issue for tractors, farmers being locked in with broken (electronic) stuff they're not allowed to/can't repair themselves.

Except in a few major cities, almost all working adults in the US own a car.

For better or for worse. A lot of those things should not be on the road.

Yeah I've been reading about wireless hacking for luxury cars and I'm amazed they let things like new BMW and Lexus vehicles on the road.

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