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I remember in the 80s cars would talk to you. “Door ajar”, “Lights are on”.

It seemed so cool then, like something out of Star Trek. But it was an unnecessary use of a new technology. Touchscreens seem like the same thing.

An article reminiscing on the talking cars of the 80s: https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/miracle-1980s-talking-ca...

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Some model year Toyota Corollas had an automated seat belt. It was really annoying having a belt across the steering column when you had a bag or anything in your hand to put on the passenger seat.

I still type horribly on a smartphone screen rather than the crackberry keyboard. I could drive and type texts/emails without taking my eyes off the road (not recommended). Being able to navigate things by touch is essential.

IIRC there was a brief period of time in the US where manufacturers could omit putting airbags in cars if they used an automatic seat belt instead. So a couple manufacturers did this to keep their costs down, but eventually airbags were required in all cars and the automatic seat belts went away.

A friend of my Dad's had one of those talking cars. It was t-boned by a VW in an accident, knocking him unconscious. When he came to the car was repeating "your left rear door is open..." over and over. He said "I know already, THERE'S A VOLKSWAGEN IN IT!"

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