Grumbly rant about modern car conveniences (Washington Post)

[ifcar]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/17/AR2010011702270_pf.html

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

The jumper cable story really hits home. 

[omicron]

I must say - I've never used a satellite navigation system in any form.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

I must say - I've never used a satellite navigation system in any form.

I love it! But I also was raised reading maps. 

[Byteme]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/17/AR2010011702270_pf.html

Funny article, thanks for posting it.  There's a lot of truth buried in it. I think we've almost reached the point, where automakers are competing to see who can come out with the newest gimick without regard to it's actual usefulness.  Think of the shifter in the newest Jaguars where you insert the key and the mororized shifter rises out of the console like a zombie from the grave.  Do we really need a shifter that is concealed when the cr is turned off?  Is that what is necessary today to define luxury?

The parents of some friends of mine in my high school days were what us great unwashed masses considered wealthy.  We know this because their cars had power steering and brakes, an automatic transmission and power windows and perhaps even a power seat. Things like power mirrors didn't exist' although some cars did offer an internally adjustable side view mirror with was operated by a joystick like affair attached to the mirror by cables.  Power options were for the rich only.  In fact I remember seeing a 1966 Chevelle Malibu convertible with a manual top.

[Byteme]

I must say - I've never used a satellite navigation system in any form.

I love maps, there is something about consulting a folding piece of paper that denotes the goegraphy you are traversing that is quite satisfing. But we also have a Tom Tom that we move from car to car as necessary that is quite useful.

[sportyaccordy]

Many of these new conveniences just make sense. Perhaps this dude wants us to do away with all modern conveniences.... no thank you, I like my buffalo shrink wrapped, frozen & sold at my local grocer.

As far as his kids being atrophied, that's no fault of society. There are plenty of kids whose parents take them hunting or whatever the fuck he's mad his wife or kids won't let him do. Article is BS. I am not saying all conveniences are great (Lexus parallel parking into a 30' or bigger space for example), but man's natural tendency is towards convenience and laziness, as those are both indicative of higher qualities of life. What is there to be gained by having manual windows and a light switch you have to pull, twist and shake simultaneously? I disagree with the dude.

[2o6]

Many of these new conveniences just make sense. Perhaps this dude wants us to do away with all modern conveniences.... no thank you, I like my buffalo shrink wrapped, frozen & sold at my local grocer.

As far as his kids being atrophied, that's no fault of society. There are plenty of kids whose parents take them hunting or whatever the fuck he's mad his wife or kids won't let him do. Article is BS. I am not saying all conveniences are great (Lexus parallel parking into a 30' or bigger space for example), but man's natural tendency is towards convenience and laziness, as those are both indicative of higher qualities of life. What is there to be gained by having manual windows and a light switch you have to pull, twist and shake simultaneously? I disagree with the dude.

I do too. Making life easier is what science and technology is about.

[Byteme]

Many of these new conveniences just make sense. Perhaps this dude wants us to do away with all modern conveniences.... no thank you, I like my buffalo shrink wrapped, frozen & sold at my local grocer.

What is there to be gained by having manual windows and a light switch you have to pull, twist and shake simultaneously?

Simplicity and a lower failure rate to name just two.

[Byteme]

I do too. Making life easier better is what science and technology is about.

Fixed it for ya'   

[CALL_911]

(While brandishing his cane in the air)

"I walked to school in the snow 3 miles everyday, uphill, both ways!"

Bullshit article.

[Byteme]

    Goddam kids!!



Just kidding

[FoMoJo]

I thought the article was pretty funny.  As a grumbly old fart myself, I can well relate to what he's talking about.  Of course jumper cables were a luxury to many of us back then.  He didn't mention that.  The more common way of making sure you could start the car was to park on a hill.  It seemed that the cars we had back then were good for cranking out about a dozen revolutions of the engine before they died.  Coasting down the hill and popping the clutch usually worked.  As an alternative to a hill, the next best way was to make sure you had 3 or 4 buddies in the car whereever you went.  That you cruised around back then with 3 or 4 guys in the car wasn't really for the company.  Sooner or later you needed them to push.

[WookieOnRitalin]

Ya. Just another adult complaining how youth has it too easy. I have NOT heard that before.

Here's what I think.

Kids should learn some principle skills. Cooking. Cleaning. Auto Repair. Principles of health, nutrition, exercise, and how all three affect your mind, body, and spirit.

When I'm 40, I do not want to hear my kid call me up crying needing help to change a tire. YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW TO CHANGE A G'DAM TIRE. Check your fluids. Keep up with oil changes. Know how to chop a vegetable. Understand how to use a broom.

Despite how awesome modern vacuums are, the broom is still a more convenient tool to use. You can sweep an entire room in seconds without messing with tons of cords. Does it get everything? No. But from an everyday perspective on keeping a house tidy, it is far easier to deal with than dealing with a long corded bulky vacuum to help you tidy up an area. If anything, do that once a week. Sweep the rest.

I do not blame the educational system. Frankly, it's not their responsibility even though I think our educational system could use a good overhaul. Parents are the primary force of development for their child. If you want your child to do and know things, then TEACH THEM. The problem is that the PARENTS have fallen for these modern conveniences that have forced them to be absolutely lazy. My children will not be babied and they will be mad and annoyed with me, but they will be strong, smart kids.

I am not going to baby my kids. Sending a kid to a room nowadays is useless.

Parents need to step up to the plate. Plain and simple. Own up to your own inadequacies. That is truly the source of the ineptitude of the modern young person.

On the other side of it, these kids know more about technology than I do and I'm not much older than they are. The way their brain processes information on how to use technological devices is incredible. In some cases that is for the worse and in others for the better.

Here's my ultimately problem with the modern teen. They are disconnected, associative people reliant on technology instead of real human emotion and experience. They are developing an attachment and a connection with a piece of technology (computer, phone, etc) instead of going out and forming relationships with people based something that does not rely on technological devices.

There was a time when I could not message my friends on facebook so I would get a hold of them. There was a time where I wrote letters to my girlfriends when I was away from them. There are times when a text is useless and surprise visit is everything. Kids are disconnected from people and disconnected from activities like READING.

Jefferson said that he was nothing without his books. True education comes from exploring your own mind of the possibilities and a lot of that information is held in literature, non-fiction, and books that explore different aspects of government, society, and culture.

200 years ago, the illiteracy rate was incredible and books were not widely available. Today, every kid has access to libraries, bookstores, and they know how to read those books.

I did not understand this until I got into my 20s. I was not a reader growing up. Had I known that reading would have increased my intelligence, world view, and create a profound change in my life then I would have done it much sooner. It really is a modern tragedy.

My kids will read.

[Submariner]

Aside from the quip about vampires and Apple, he just comes off as some bitter old man upset that modern technological conveniences were not around for him.

This isn't Wall-E, this is convenience.

[Submariner]

(While brandishing his cane in the air)

"I walked to school in the snow 3 miles everyday, uphill, both ways!"

Bullshit article.

Seriously.

"Walking three miles?  When I was a kid, I had to dodge mortar rounds and pick up dead guys in the fields of northern France."

See?  I can make him look like he lived in the lap of luxury.

It's a stupid article. 

[giant_mtb]

Things change. Technology advances. We're not cavemen anymore. His elder generation probably said the same kinda shit about him. He's angry 'bout something.

[WookieOnRitalin]

I agree in principle with a lot of that, but I think these teenagers/children are weaker people.

Technology is a good thing. It helps improve lives. These kids though, I do not know about them. They have odd values. Maybe that will change as they get older, but right now, they scare me. They seem so naive, gullible, detached, and unable to perceive the world outside of their own limited existence. Yup, that is a generalization I know, but based on my experience with them.

I will say this about them. They want to learn. They want to improve. A lot of kids I have worked with really want guidance and advice. It just seems that despite everything, they choose to ignore it.

[AutobahnSHO]

I'm with you, Wookie.

Just today the kids asked for some help because some PC game froze up. I showed how to alt-tab and alt-F4 to figure out that the other game they left going needed to be closed for game #2 to work.

The more we can teach our kids, the more they will be functioning human beings.

(Yes, that includes reading a map. Amazing how many 18-20yr olds brand-new in the Army can't do that.)

[giant_mtb]

I honestly despise a lot of the people in my generation.  These people are so self-righteous, self-indulged, and just flat-out stupid sometimes that it makes me wish I wasn't a kid from the 90's.

I've dubbed my generation "The Entitlement Generation."  People my age (and seemingly those kids of the 2000's generation) seem to feel that they are entitled to everything.  Sure, they might have to actually work for something, but it seems like most kids these days just feel like everything should be given to them.  Gah.  It kills me, man.

[ChrisV]

As far as his kids being atrophied, that's no fault of society. There are plenty of kids whose parents take them hunting or whatever the fuck he's mad his wife or kids won't let him do.

Um, he wasn't talking about HIS kids. He said "one of my daughters' friends."

Apparently, like other kids today, you can't read.

And what he's talking about does make sense, not just for kids, but for a lot of adults in modern society that have had things handed to them and taken care of for them for so long they are incapable of relying on themselves for anything. From cooking to fixing their car when they break down. Hell, around me I see people that if their car stalls on a HILL they are incapable of thinking far enough ahead to coast downhill to the nearest parking area to get off the street, and instead just sit there in the middle of traffic on the phone waiting for help.

[Tave]

Our world depends on technology as much as it benefits from it. We simply couldn't function if everyone took the time to learn how to be a jack-of-all-trades. Society would grind to a halt.

Efficient allocation of resources and all that: while Johnny fixes cars, Billy's time is better spent making paperclips.

[Byteme]

Our world depends on technology as much as it benefits from it. We simply couldn't function if everyone took the time to learn how to be a jack-of-all-trades. Society would grind to a halt.

Efficient allocation of resources and all that: while Johnny fixes cars, Billy's time is better spent making paperclips.

I disagree having a little working knowledge in a multitude of areas is helpful for a variety of reasons.  A lot of people refuse to learn to do simple tasks like changing oil, repairing a will switch, changing a faucet because they feel it's beneath them, when in fact it's quite useful.


It can save you time
It can save you money.
Being able to do a variety things with your hands often gives great satisfaction.

The nature of my work brings me in contact with IT types.  More often than not they are smart in their area of expertise but clueless on even the simplist task outside of that area. 

[Tave]

To a point, but as the world becomes more and more complex, it will become impossible to be an expert in everything.

[Byteme]

To a point, but as the world becomes more and more complex, it will become impossible to be an expert in everything.

Which is why I stated "working knowledge".  When Katrina hit Houston in 2008 guess who around the office was being asked elementary questions on how do you do this and that."   It wasn't the  Programmers and young guys.  Everybody was asking about 4-5 of us, guys who knew how to open a can without an electric can opener, or even worse how to open the garage door when the power went out.

The old saying is "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing", but in reality a little knowledge could save your life.

[Rupert]

I'm with you, Wookie.

Just today the kids asked for some help because some PC game froze up. I showed how to alt-tab and alt-F4 to figure out that the other game they left going needed to be closed for game #2 to work.

The more we can teach our kids, the more they will be functioning human beings.

(Yes, that includes reading a map. Amazing how many 18-20yr olds brand-new in the Army can't do that.)

Whoa, I just now figured out Alt-F4.

[Rupert]

I think relying on a GPS device for directions is a terrible idea. The usefulness of consumer GPS is in finding where you are, and therefore which direction to go. When you start depending on even Google map directions to get you where you want to go, you start to depend on the left-right directions, and you don't actually know where you are. It's too easy to end up depending on the GPS to know which route is best, and to continue to function. GPS devices can't tell you when a mountain pass is too snowy, and they don't necessarily take you to the most well-traveled route. People do get stuck in the snow in the middle of nowhere because their GPS told them to take some po-dunk gravel road.

[giant_mtb]

I like to use that one on girls sometimes.

"Chriiiiiis, I can't get such and such to work!"

"Alright...did you try alt-F4?"

"No...?  DANGIT!  IT CLOSED!"

Hardy har har.

[AutobahnSHO]

I like to use that one on girls sometimes.

"Chriiiiiis, I can't get such and such to work!"

"Alright...did you try alt-F4?"

"No...?  DANGIT!  IT CLOSED!"

Hardy har har.

hehe
It's probably about time for the "automatic cup holder" to make it's rounds to this new generation.

[sportyaccordy]

Um, he wasn't talking about HIS kids. He said "one of my daughters' friends."

Point still stands that the issue is with that kid in particular, and is in no way indicative of a general trend. I can cook, clean, fix my car etc etc. I guess all kids my age can then.