Life Became Simpler When I Stopped Driving and I Don't Miss Driving When I See "Modern" Cars
Last week in FOSS Force Christine Hall complained about all sorts of things (her rants are typically of real substance and merit) and 3 days ago Marco Fioretti, who started contributing to FOSS Force, blasted "modern" or "smart" or whatever they call the "new" cars (he dubbed them "Overcomplicated Cars"). I like Fioretti; I read hundreds of his blog posts when his blog was still operational; I also linked to these hundreds of times. Then he... vanished.
Days earlier someone said that not owning a mobile phone or cell [sic] phone or "smart" "phone" (or whatever!) is a privilege (we put that in Daily Links). Almost a decade ago I found out insurance companies punished car owners for not having a "smart" "phone" with an "app" running (in effect spyware). It was like a "no phone" tax (premium is the word they favour) even before car parks with "apps" (iOS/Android) were becoming worryingly widespread.
Why would many people still buy cars and drive? I asked around. The answers are one or some of: "I have kids", "I need to get to work", "I get one from work", "groceries", "I live far" or "everyone has one" (so it's just a conformism or status symbol). For people who choose not to have kids, to work from home, to buy "online" (or a nearby shop/market) and to live close to work/town a car is less attractive. There are also parking- or traffic-related limitations (to reduce smog and noise some town centres in Europe stubbornly restrict both).
Seeing not just the rising cost of a car (purchase and maintenance) but also the spread of malicious features inside cars, for Free software sticklers it'll get harder to justify getting a car and acquiring insurance etc.
Had cars been kept simple (yet practical), car manufacturers would earn a lot less by selling them (each). But they would still get the job done.
Making things "Overcomplicated" (to quote Fioretti) doesn't make them more sellable. It only adds more time-wasting (having to learn more things about one's car/s and memorise stuff). If each car is different and has a different "user interface", then it increases risk to the drivers and passengers. As a teenager I'd have to memorise where the basic functions were (differed across cars), not the different "paths" or "journeys" through digital menus. Brake? Check. Horn (mechanical)? Check. Lights? Probably will only need to tinker with these once, upon starting and again when arriving at the destination (blinking/signalling was quite standardised).
"Overcomplicated" cars are a pain in the arse. They're sold as "simplicity" or "safety", but in practice they're just another computer and you need to study how to operate it. Same for "self-checkout" for that matter.
Gee, wonder why car sales have plummeted... █