Re: repairs and obsolescence ish

On Wed, 7 May 2025 11:46:50 -0500, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

On 5/7/2025 11:38 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On 7 May 2025 00:17:10 GMT, Roger Merriman <roger@sarlet.com> wrote:
 

Rather depends on the how and the why, I believe has been a push back by
consumers for example with car dashboards in that while screens and so on
are fun, they’d like some buttons still please and so on.

 
There is hope for push buttons, in the name of safety.
 
"Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again
Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than
being drunk or high - no wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using
touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its
senses."
<https://www.wired.com/story/why-car-brands-are-finally-switching-back-to-buttons/>
"Automakers that nest key controls deep in touchscreen menus forcing
motorists to drive eyes-down rather than concentrate on the road ahead
may have their non-US safety ratings clipped next year."
 
Sorry, but you'll need a Wired Magazine subscription to read the
entire article.  If you don't want a subscription, you might find the
reader comments interesting.
 
In my never humble opinion, buttons, touch screens, haptic feedback,
voice control, gestures, sign language and AI all have their good and
bad points.  The trick is to attach numbers (fatality rate, accident
rate, cost, fashion, etc) to the various schemes and settle on the
least disgusting and most tolerable method.
 

>
No electronics works for me.
>
I have owned cars with a 110v type wall switch on the dash
and a starter button next to it.
>
From what I have seen I could not possibly drive a 2025
model auto.

Such things take practice.  You shouldn't expect to jump into an
unfamiliar machine and become instantly proficient with the controls.
Find an empty parking lot and drive around while testing how the
controls function.  You probably will not approve of all the design
decisions.  If you run into difficulties, start over and try again.
Or, move on to trying some other feature.  If desperate, read the
owners manual.

My 2001 Subaru is 49 years old.  I've owned and driven it for 41
years.  Yet, there are push buttons and controls that I have no clue
how to use or even what they do.  I have never used the cruise
control.  There are some light switches on the dash that I have no
clue which lights they operate.  I installed an aftermarket trailer
hitch and some towing lights, but have only used them once.  I'll
learn how to connect the lights when I need to use them.  Until
recently, I had no idea that the Subaru had 3 cigarette igniter
connectors.

Given sufficient incentives, I'm fairly certain that you could learn
to drive a 2025 model vehicle.  You might actually enjoy driving it.
If the choice is between learning to drive it and walking home, I
suspect you'll learn to drive it rather quickly.

Basically, we all stop growing and learning at whatever age we last
felt comfortable.  You feel comfortable driving a museum candidate and
don't see any reason to drive anything more modern, which might make
you feel uncomfortable.  For myself, I probably stopped at some time
during college.  I'll stop the lecture at this point because I'm sure
you don't want to hear it (and my stomach is demanding my attention).





--
Jeff Liebermann                 jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272      http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann      AE6KS    831-336-2558