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Comment by porknubbins | Hacker News Reader

Power seats are not a pointless luxury. I’m pretty sure they are continuously adjustable which is much better than trying to pull on some lever and get the seat to pop into approximately the right place. To say nothing of mulitple drivers with memorized positions etc.

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Until the motor fails, or the tracks became "crusted", and you have no ability to adjust it anymore.

My car is nearing 20 so I live in fear of all of the motors failing, but none has so far.

Exactly, plus movement in more directions (up & down, didn't see a single car with manual adjustment that allowed this), very useful for us blessed with non-standard body dimensions (ie I am quite tall). It changes default-settings car where I touch roof with my head into one where there is more than 5cm/2" clearance.

Adjustable tightness of part of the seat above your hips which keeps you better in tight/fast curves. Heating for cold starts. Massage for luxury. My BMW has it all apart from massage and its makes longer drives much more pleasant.

I used to have a Neon many years ago that had the up-and-down adjustments for the seats - and it was all manual. You just turned a knob on the side at the base of the lever that allowed you to recline.

EDIT: It was still a tight fit for tall folks, though. In that particular car, the adjustment mostly helped short folks see better.

My mercedes has manual seats and it can go up and down, its got like a pump lever on the side.

> (up & down, didn't see a single car with manual adjustment that allowed this),

My 2010 Kia Soul has manual seats that can go up and down.

Although when the Kia Soul was first introduced, Kia threw almost every feature they could in it to win market share!

Try your favorite image search engine and query "manual seat height adjustment" and you'll find dozens of brands that have this. Most use a lever that you pump up or down to adjust the height. Some use a dial.

I recently accidentally moved my seat waaaay up without realizing it when I was cleaning my car. I spent a week worrying about my weight because suddenly the seat belt seemed to have a lot less slack, and my stomach seemed closer to the wheel. Went to weigh myself an no increase.

when I figured out what I had done I laughed at myself for a solid 10 minutes

> Power seats are not a pointless luxury. I’m pretty sure they are continuously adjustable which is much better than trying to pull on some lever and get the seat to pop into approximately the right place. To say nothing of mulitple drivers with memorized positions etc.

YMMV, but I have no problem using mechanical adjustments. Power is no advantage for me.

Except when you go to slide your seat back as you're braking to a stop, and you find yourself skidding to a sudden and complete stop with the steering wheel in your chest.

Mechanical adjustment is fine for up-down, tilt (if it uses a dial), and lumbar, but for forward-back I prefer electric. Also because manual forward-back adjustments are very coarse.

I absolutely hate electronic seat adjustment. There is latency and no real tactile feedback like with mechanical seat adjustment.

Are all your chairs at home and office also powered?

... and at the restaurant, cinema, etc.?

Chairs at home and office aren't fixed in place to a vehicle that has a battery.

Ok, what about airplane or bus and train seats?

They are fixed in place to a vehicle with a battery, still you don't have them powered.

Not that car ones (powered, heating, massaging, etc.) are not nice and comfortable, only that they remain a form of luxury.

I don't drive planes nor busses. I'm a passenger: The back seat(s) of passenger cars are often fixed too. I wouldn't be surprised to find that the bus driver's seat is powered.

I do drive cars, though, and sometimes other people's cars. I'd much rather be able to adjust while driving so that I can have better control over the car than have to fumble with levers, which might propel me back far enough that I cannot brake. Heck, I might have been having to adjust because I didn't realize how far i needed to press the brake in the first place.

Well, you shouldn't start driving before having verified that you can reach all commands, and that brakes work, the standard checklist, JFYI:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29603532

Direct link:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/71bus/page1.jpg

> what about airplane […] seats?

Modern business and first class seats are indeed powered.

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