I don't even live in a rural area. I live in DFW.
Actually, they kept the brand alive by buying the product.
Without those people they'd have died long ago.
(and lest you think I'm joking: https://www.dpreview.com/news/9864312105/leica-releases-limi...)
And I say this as someone who has previously owned and shot with a Leica M6 and currently owns and shoots with a Leica IIIf.
Couple being sub-par with being much more expensive and you get something that is moreso useful for image than as a tool.
I disagree, the Company was founded in 1903 and was did well into the 90's and then the 50 plus crowd decided to be some kind of poser biker gang type and destroyed the brand. Not very different than what happened to the Corvette and all the 6o plus folks buying them the last 20 years.
All of a sudden in the 90's a lot of these 40-60 year olds started to try and recapture their youth or that coolness they never had. They started buying Harley's and dressing in Leather and making these ridiculous club patches and driving around revving their motorcycles everywhere. It was so cringe that you actually felt ashamed for them.
Here is a good clip from South Park that kind of sums it all up.
And it's a buyers market.
I’d really like to get away from this phrase.
Some of the most avid off-roading Jeepers I know are women. And mothers. And for all I know they take their kids to soccer.
“Soccer moms” is a terrible phrase.
Just like the phrase "Indian giver". That one is just straight up racist and I will never use it, but sadly I haven't found a substitute for it either. "Someone who gives a gift and then takes it back" just doesn't roll off the tongue...
They also release a large amount of carbon into the air.
So yes, their use as a recreational or status symbol should be discouraged.
Besides, even if you haul sth bigger 2x a year, renting a little trailer of the right size is really a no-brainer. That's what I do.
I'm wondering the same thing, especially since I see more and more of those trucks in Paris, France. Now I've never been to the US, but one thing with European cities is that there are a lot of old, small streets. We also never really had big cars like in the US, so parking spots, etc, are tiny for those cars. Hell, I have an older C-class coupé and it barely fits in street parking spots.
We also have our share of off-road vehicles that have probably never left Paris, seeing how they have huge rims with low tires. But I guess since the streets are in a horrible shape and getting worse, an off-road vehicle may make some sense.
However, I guess that's the whole point of "status". Something that's practical and affordable (financially or otherwise) for everyone can't confer status.
So when it comes to status-seeking, those metrics being outrageous is actually a feature, not a bug.
Yep, this trend exploded almost everywhere in Europe and I think I found the answer to why. Lots of my male colleagues at work (devs in Europe) are married and have kids on the way and when discussions came at lunchtime about buying a new family car for taking the kids places it seemed like the choice is always a SUV. Whenever I ask them why a SUV, even though they usually prefer sleek sedans, the answer is always "my wife/girlfriend says she feels safer in a big, tall car", which mostly makes sense as throughout history, females' reproductive and nesting choices have had a major impact on shaping male behavior and various aspects of society like real-estate and now car choices.
It's sad that this kickstarted what is basically an arms race on the road since nobody feels safe anymore driving their kids in the traditional European compact car when everyone else is now in big heavy SUVs with poor visibility and easily distracted by their phones or infotainment touch-screens so this fear drives them to one-up their "competition" with bigger and heavier cars to make sure their kids have a perceived higher safety in case on an accident.
And it's not just compact cars, modern SUVs, except the ones destined for workhorse off-roading, are also lower to the ground than they were 20 or so years ago since they never leave the city/highway anyway.
This is human nature. Wanting more than you need is actually important to capitalism in countries as rich as the U.S. so I cut people a break.