Most of the letters in this week's mailbag are in
response to Google's
Self-Driving Cars? Real Auto Enthusiasts Want Manual Control,
Old Cars and Old Macs
Revisited, The Carless
Generation, and the December 21,
2010 mailbag.
Carless Before It Was Cool
From Michael:
First, let me say that I loved your article on cars! It really got
me thinking about the differences between my father, me, and the
children I didn't have. I was in high school in Florida in the late
80s, and all my friends had cars.
We didn't have much money then, but my parents asked me what I
though about getting a car. Well, I didn't even want to learn how to
drive! I preferred to study Latin & physics than waste my time
having the obvious explained to me in driver's ed class. (It was also
beginning to dawn on me that the free ride of public education was
ending soon, so I might as well get the most out of it.) In addition, I
found the motor vehicle/insurance bureaucracy Kafkaesque and
depressing. Cops and other establishment types have always given me the
creeps.
Then there was the financial onus, even of a hand-me-down from mom,
dad, or grandpa. There was no way I could get a job, make straight As
in the IB program, and save for college. (As it turned out, I got very,
very lucky college-wise and was able to attend New College - arguably
the best undergraduate college in Florida - for free thanks to good
grades.)
In college, most of my male nerd friends had cars. And debt and
jobs. They were stressed out a lot, and although it was obvious that
one could, um, go more places with girls if one had a car, I was still
not terribly envious. Sarasota, FL was a pleasant backwater in the
early 90s and yet was pedestrian-friendly (for an American town) and
artistically rich. My wife and I once took the bus from the dorm to the
opera!
Recently I bought a used Ford pickup truck and did some mining of
the Internet forums to see what people were saying about the various
models I'd been considering. I think semiliterate knuckle-draggers who
speak their first language as if it were their second are
over-represented in automotive forums. I expected the same level of
nerdy debate as one might find in <Choose a Linux distro> web
forums but was shocked to find mostly unintelligible nonsense. Perhaps
"car-nerds" are not as common as computer nerds. Or they lurk in other,
offline venues.
Then there is the matter of car repair. I've owned four cars in my
life: a 72 Olds Cutlass, 9x Sunny Saloon (some kind of Nissan for
export to UK), 97 Kia Sephia, and a 00 F150. Mostly the cars have
gotten more reliable and the mechanics less. I cannot remember not
being suspicious of a mechanic. They always are trying to replace a
whole alternator when it was just a belt that broke. I've never gotten
away from one with a bill less than $500 and pretty much have given up
on the maintenance schedule concept. (I admit this concept is somewhat
difficult to apply when one has never owned anything close to a brand
new car.) Except for oil changes, which are simple but cumbersome, I
don't let any of those bozos touch my car unless it won't go.
I keep thinking about what might have been had I gotten a car in
high school. Work interferes with study and grades drop, probably
ending up at Tampa or other crap-cheap school, not meeting my wife, not
joining Peace Corps and seeing things most people wouldn't believe, and
not having even more wacky adventures in Oceania. Could my escape from
a probable lifetime of retail sales drudgery in Florida been dependent
on that one decision where I thought I'd - as Morpheus would say -
taken the blue pill?
Michael
Hi Michael,
Glad you enjoyed the article. My youngest daughter has
made some of the same choices you did, in her mid-20s with no car or
even driver's license, but a Masters degree from Cambridge, and
currently working on a Ph.D. at Harvard. Cars would be a
distraction.
"Kafkaesque and depressing" is a piquant but pretty
accurate way to describe the auto insurance rack - er, industry,
although I've been insured with the same company since 1967 and have
had only one minor (under $200) claim in that 43 years, so they treat
me fairly well.
I do think you're being a bit rough on the car
enthusiast community. There are plenty of literate, articulate
automobile aficionados out there. I credit my interest in journalism to
the writings of such as John R. Bond, Henry N. Manney, Warren Weith,
David E. Davis Jr., Brock Yates, and many others on the pages of
Car&Driver, Road and Track, and Automobile Magazine,
but over the years I've found that car-freaks tend to be good people
even when they're less cerebral about it.
I've always done most of my own repairs and am
constrained to agree with you about a tendency to mendacity in the
auto-repair business, although I've known plenty of honest mechanics (I
made my living as one myself for a while in the early '70s.)
Thanks for your comments,
Charles
Old Iron
From Lloyd:
Thanks for your reply, Charles. Your family has had a lovely
assortment of classic autos over the years. I smiled at the thought of
the Sunbeam Alpine - wasn't that James Bond's car back when Sean
Connery played the part? (I recall it from the books, too.) The
Chryslers are also a thing in common - my family - father, three of
four uncles, and (indirectly, through a car-rental subsidiary) my
brothers and I all worked for Chrysler. My late mom and dad met at the
'56 Chrysler company picnic in Detroit, so I am (figuratively, at
least), a Chrysler product.
Personally, I've had the big-car taste all my life. My older
brother's first car purchase was a '67 Mustang (351 Cleveland, if
memory serves), and my younger brother always wanted a Corvette, but
even as a grade schooler I like the Grand Marquis, Crown Vic, and the
big Buicks, four of the latter of which I've owned, starting with my
first car, a '74 LeSabre Luxus convertible (455 cid.) down to my
current car, a '96 Park Avenue with 237,000 miles on it. (I plan to
break 300,000 before considering a replacement.)
In contrast, the three Toyotas I had along the way were good,
utilitarian vehicles, but it's hard to love them they way I did (and
do) old-school Detroit iron.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on the generations and their
relationship to the road.
-Lloyd
Hi again Lloyd,
Right you are. Connery as
James Bond drove a Sunbeam Alpine Series II convertible in Jamaica in
the very first 007 film, Dr. No. Unlike many other Bond cars to
come later, the Alpine had not been breathed on by Q. The convertible
Alpine was produced in five series from 1959 to 1968, and the one used
in the movie was likely a 1960 to 1963 example. The Alpine was marketed
more as a sporty car than a competition oriented sports car - sort of
an analog to, for example, the original two-seater Ford Thunderbirds of
the mid-'50s.
Indeed, the early '60s Alpine convertible bore a
strong resemblance to the classic T-Bird styling-wise. "Soft" sports
car or not, however, the Alpine became a high-performance machine when
Carroll Shelby discovered that the small-block Ford 260 C.I.D. V8 would
fit in its engine bay, albeit a tight squeeze. Pretty much the same as
what he did dropping the 260 into the erstwhile four-cylinder A.C. Ace
Bristol to create the legendary Shelby Cobra.
The Shelby-ized Sunbeam was embraced by its
manufacturer Rootes Motors and became the Sunbeam Tiger - first with
the Ford 260 and then the slightly larger displacement Ford 289.
Unfortunately, just about the same time Rootes was purchased by
Chrysler in its first foray into Europe, which left the new owners in
the uncomfortable circumstance of selling a car that used one of its
direct competitors' engines, providing warranty coverage for same, and
the Tiger was quietly phased out after a short production life along
with the four-cylinder Alpine convertible.
As an aside, speaking of Ford 289s, as a big Mercury
fan (I'm not amused by Ford terminating the Merc brand) one of my
favorite Bond cars of lesser fame is the 1969 Mercury Cougar
convertible driven by Diana Rigg playing James Bond's wife-to-be Tracy
(Contessa Teresa de Vicenzo) in On Her Majesty's Secret Service
- the lone Bond film in which Australian actor George Lazenby starred
as 007. The Cougar (actually there were three used in the shoot) got a
fair bit of screen time in that flick, particularly choice being the
ice race with a pack of BMC Minis and Ford Escorts. I thought Lazenby
did a rather better job playing Bond than he generally gets credit
for.
The Sunbeam Alpine my mother owned was a completely
different car than the Alpine convertibles - essentially a British take
on the American pony car concept of building a sporty car on an
existing sedan floorpan and running gear. Just as the original Mustang
was a tarted-up Ford Falcon, the Chevy Camaro a rebodied Chevy Nova,
and the Plymouth Barracuda a fastback variant of the Plymouth Valiant,
the late '60s - early '70s Sunbeam Alpine (called a Sunbeam Rapier in
the home market) was sporty fastback-styled two-door hardtop sheetmetal
with the floorplan, suspension, and running gear from the Sunbeam Arrow
compact sedan, albeit with a twin-carburetor, aluminum head version of
the venerable Rootes corporate 1,725 CC four-cylnder powerplant. The
concept was too similar to the corporate parent's Barracuda to have
been a coincidence.
A buddy of mine had a 1964 Buick Wildcat two-door
hardtop with I think a 421 C.I.D. V-8. A very cool car that I spent
some time in. His dad was also partial to big Buicks, one of which I
drove some as well.
Charles
Charles,
Yes, it is a shame about Mercury, but like Oldsmobile, it suffered
from loss of identity. Mercury, at least in the US, had last been
made-over as a "chick brand," featuring higher-end versions of Fords
meant for suburban, upscale women. That was the kiss of death for male
buyers, and they just couldn't settle on an identity for the brand.
It's a shame, really, as it leaves a loyal customer base homeless.
Unlike GM, Ford's made very few mistakes of late, so I'd be more
inclined to listen to their reasoning. Still, I don't like saying
good-bye to Mercury anymore than I did Olds, or for that matter,
Plymouth. (The '67 Fury is a favorite, and the Olds Cutlass 442 was a
fine muscle car in my youth.)
Regards,
-Lloyd
Hi Lloyd,
"Chick-brand?" Ouch! That stings. ;-) (Not
that there's anything wrong with cars that appeal to women, but not the
image Merc projected over most of its 71 year history. It's also one of
the last vestiges of Edsel Ford's legacy, since he created the brand in
1939, to, as Wikipedia puts it, "market entry-level-luxury cars slotted
between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury
vehicles" - a "junior Lincoln," if you will. I think that still
reflected Mercury's role at the end quite accurately, at least with the
Grand Marquis, which some have described as almost a Lincoln Town Car
at two-thirds the price. Works for me; I like mine a lot. The Ford
Panther platform may be the best big rear wheel drive chassis Ford ever
built, much beloved by police departments and taxi operators in its
Crown Victoria variant. It handles well, offers lively performance even
with the base 4.6 liter mill, gets amazingly good fuel mileage and is
comfortable doing it all.
In the interim between the '40s and the '70s mainly,
Mercury staked out distinct territory as a performance brand with
models like the S-55 and the original Marauder, various souped-up and
muscle-car versions of the Comet and Montego, and of course the early,
Mustang-based Cougars - especially the 1967-'68 XR-7 "euro-themed"
option package, which turned out with real cowhide bucket seats, an
overhead console, round, no-nonsense competition-type gauges in a
woodgrain dash with toggle switches, a matching steering wheel, plus
map pockets and door pull straps, all intended to create the ambience
you would experience in a Jaguar or other English sports sedan of the
day.
The last sporty Mercury was the 2003-'04 revival of
the Marauder, a Grand Marquis base with a stiffened (by 24%) Panther
platform, speed-sensitive variable assist rack and pinion steering, a
3.55 limited-slip rear end, police-interceptor spec 28mm and 21mm sway
bars, coil-over gas-pressurized monotube shocks, 18x8 forged five-spoke
wheels with Goodrich G-Force T/A 235/50WR18's in front and 245/55WR18's
out back, four wheel ventilated, 11 inch rear and 12 inch twin-piston
front, ABS disk brakes with electronic brake force distribution, the
4.6 L DOHC V8 in Mustang Mach-1 Cobra tune with 302 hp and 318 ft Lb.
of torque, Faurecia dual exhausts starting with 2" diameter pipes up
front, H-pipe crossover, and 2" pipes out back with 3" polished
stainless tips, and a high stall-speed converter. Definitely not your
typical chick-car.
Here in Canada, the Mercury brand had a higher profile
than in the US, especially in the era of the Canada-only full-sized
Meteor models of the '50s and '60s (there was a mid-sized Meteor sold
stateside), which were quite popular. However, you're probably right
from a rational perspective. Allan Mullally has made few bad calls
since becoming Ford CEO, and Mercury sales, which had peaked at an
all-time high of 580,000 in 1978, had slumped to a pathetic 92,299 in
2009 - less than 1% of the US market.
Charles
"'Chick-brand?' Ouch! That stings.
;-)"
Not how I'd want it, either, Charles. it's one of those
"reinvention" schemes that is the kiss of death, like making Oldsmobile
the "import fighter" in Saturn's place. Destroying a brand's identity
is not the way to save it.
"(Not that there's anything wrong
with cars that appeal to women, but not the image Merc projected over
most of its 71 year history. It's also one of the last vestiges of
Edsel Ford's legacy, since he created the brand in 1939, to, as
Wikipedia puts it, 'market entry-level-luxury cars slotted between
Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles' - a
'junior Lincoln,' if you will. I think that still reflected Mercury's
role at the end quite accurately, at least with the Grand Marquis,
which some have described as almost a Lincoln Town Car at two-thirds
the price. Works for me; I like mine a lot. The Ford Panther platform
may be the best big rear wheel drive chassis Ford ever built, much
beloved by police departments and taxi operators in its Crown Victoria
variant. It handles well, offers lively performance even with the base
4.6 liter mill, gets amazingly good fuel mileage and is comfortable
doing it all.":
"In the interim between the '40s and
the '70s mainly, Mercury staked out distinct territory as a performance
brand with models like the S-55 and the original Marauder, various
souped-up and muscle-car versions of the Comet and Montego, and of
course the early, Mustang-based Cougars - especially the 1967-'68 XR-7
'euro-themed' option package which turned out with real cowhide bucket
seats, an overhead console, round, no-nonsense competition-type gauges
in a woodgrain dash with toggle switches, a matching steering wheel,
plus map pockets and door pull straps, all intended to create the
ambience you would experience in a Jaguar or other English sports sedan
of the day.":
My Dad's first car, when he got back from the Korean War, was a '49
Mercury. I recall him saying that he liked it a lot.
"The last sporty Mercury was the
2003-'04 revival of the Marauder, a Grand Marquis base with a stiffened
(by 24%) Panther platform, speed-sensitive variable assist rack and
pinion steering, a 3.55 limited-slip rear end, police-interceptor spec.
28mm and 21mm sway bars, coil-over gas-pressurized monotube shocks,
18x8 forged five-spoke wheels with Goodrich G-Force T/A 235/50WR18's in
front and 245/55WR18's out back, four wheel ventilated, 11 inch rear
and 12 inch twin-piston front, ABS disk brakes with electronic brake
force distribution, the 4.6 L DOHC V8 in Mustang Mach-1 Cobra tune with
302 hp and 318 ft Lb. of torque, Faurecia dual exhausts starting with
2" diameter pipes up front, H-pipe crossover, and 2" pipes out back
with 3" polished stainless tips, and a high stall-speed converter.
Definitely not your typical chick-car.":
The Marauder has the distinction of being the only Merc that my 22
y/o Mustang-owning son really likes. I see a few on the road around
here - 'chick rides' they are not.
"Here in Canada, the Mercury brand
had a higher profile than in the US, especially in the era of the
Canada-only full-sized Meteor models of the '50s and '60s (there was a
mid-sized Meteor sold stateside), which were quite popular. However,
you're probably right from a rational perspective. Allan Mullally has
made few bad calls since becoming Ford CEO, and Mercury sales which had
peaked at an all-time high of 580,000 in 1978, had slumped to a
pathetic 92,299 in 2009 - less than 1% of the US
market.":
It's a sad way to end, but I suspect that it was planned for a long
time, probably even pre-Mullally. (The skinny around Lansing, where I
work, is that GM stuffed Olds with deadwood for a couple of decades,
steering top-tier management and engineering staff elsewhere. Whether
that's true or not I cannot say, but I would hope that they wouldn't
cavalierly drop whole lines without long, agonizing deliberation.
On the plus side, Mullally did bring back the Taurus after he
discovered that the nameplate was still the third most-recognized car
people identified as a Ford, even after years of relegation to rental
car status and then discontinuation. That, at least, was common
sense.
FWIW, my work's taken me to the Glass House a number of times for a
multiyear project, and I have a good feeling about the people I worked
with. (I've been in a number of GM plants for extended projects, too,
but I've not dealt with their HQ staff.) I'm pretty confident that
Mullally's team will keep Ford moving in a positive direction, even
without Mercury. As a native Detroiter, I hope so.
In
closing, while I share your love of the big sedans, there is one car
like the Sunbeam Alpine that's always turned my head. The attached
picture is of a Studebaker Avanti. If I could have any car ever made,
that would be it.
Best wishes to you and yours for a happy and prosperous New
Year,
-Lloyd
Hi Lloyd,
Oh boy. Now you're going to get me going on
Studebakers and Raymond Loewy! My late father was a big Stude fan in
the '40s and early '50s, and Studebakers were the family car of my
early youth.
I should probably just offer 2002 article I wrote for
Applelinks, Steve Jobs May Be
the Raymond Loewy of Computer Design, but That Doesn't Make Apple the
Studebaker of PC Makers.
The original Avanti was my dream car as well back in
the early '60s, and it was many years later that it sunk in how
advanced a design it was (and is). Raymond Loewy was a polymath,
Renaissance man, and probably as close to a 20th Century Leonardo as it
got.
Raymond Leowy's daughter, Laurence Loewy, liked my
article and sent a letter of appreciation, subsequent to which I
interviewed her for a couple of follow-up articles, and we maintained a
sporadic correspondence until her sudden and untimely death at age 55
in October 2008.
Those articles were republished by the Avanti Owners
Association International's Avanti Magazine in the Summer/Fall
2006 edition and also by the Ontario (Canada) Studebaker Drivers Club
on their
website. Also see Raymond
Loewy's Custom 1959 Cadillac on Applelinks.
In 1995, Laurence Loewy established Loewy Design, LLC
to promote the legacy of Raymond Loewy as well as the aesthetics and
philosophy he subscribed to. She served on the board of Raymond Loewy
Foundation from 2000-05.
One of Ms. Loewy's most significant accomplishments
was the establishment of a traveling exhibition entitled "Raymond
Loewy: Design for Consumer Culture," which has been featured in museums
across the country since 2002. The exhibition draws heavily on Loewy's
personal archives, a treasure collection of images and information not
previously available to researchers or the public. Sponsored by the
National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces, the
exhibition traveled throughout the US thru 2009.
As CEO of Loewy Design, she was currently involved in
a new gallery, plans for a Raymond Loewy Museum of Modern Design in
Manhattan, and a Loewy film documentary entitled "Raymond Loewy Loved
Locomotives."
I do appreciate Allan Mulally's good sense in
restoring the Taurus nameplate, and the current Taurus (ex Ford 500, ex
Volvo S70) is a very attractive large sedan, as front wheel drives go.
It will be interesting to see how much success Ford has in convincing
police departments, cab drivers, and other fleet customers to
substitute a new Taurus-based Interceptor that will be offered with
both the standard 3.5 liter 263 hp DOHC V6 or an All Wheel Drive model
with EcoBoost 3.5 liter twin turbo with 365 hp, for the Crown Vic when
the latter is discontinued next year. I hear they're working on a new
large rear wheel drive sedan, what with General Motors
"badge-engineering" the erstwhile Pontiac G8 into a Chevy Caprice
Police Patrol Vehicle for police and fleet sales.
Chrysler's recently redone Dodge Charger is also
available in a police version.
Charles
'Just Tools'
From Kevin:
Charles,
I would love to have the time to sail across an ocean. Now, if only
I didn't get sea-sick. :D
Cars and jets and so on are really just tools, but we mourn for the
loss of things that made us and that we made. I hope we can find ways
to use the new ones worthy of what we replace. With cars, someday I may
not be able to drive my family on a cross country vacation like my
father did with us, but I hope that I'll be able to sit and talk and
point out the birds with my kids in all the ways my dad couldn't
because he was busy driving!
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I'm an Internet addict, and I love being able to find
out almost anything factual that I want to know with Google and a few
mouse clicks. I like the immediacy of communication as well.
On the other hand, I don't perceive that the quality
of my thinking has improved, and indeed may have deteriorated. It's the
endless distraction and shortening of attention span.
Cars, where I live however, are an absolute necessity.
The nearest access to any sort of public transportation is 50 miles
away. Ditto for taxis and car rentals. The nearest grocery store is 12
miles away, as are the bank and post office. Other than GP office
visits, most medical and dental services are 50 miles distant as well -
often farther.
A transocean cruise is one thing I've probably crossed
off my bucket list, although it's something I really wanted to do at
one time, back when I owned a sail yacht theoretically capable of blue
water sailing. Seasickness goes away after a few days.
Charles
The Clueless/Carless Generation
Dear Charles,
I've been a longtime reader of LEM, and, whilst I don't always agree
with your opinions on non-Mac subjects, I always respected them.
However, your follow-up discussions on the post "The Carless
Generation" were deeply disappointing.
As an early member of "Generation Y" (born '83), I may possibly be
biased, but I found it very saddening to see Boomers gloating at my
generation's "failings". The entire tone of the discussion was
generally derisive and extremely dismissive of a whole generation -
your own children, no less.
Something that was not tackled at all in the comments made by
yourself and your respondents was who taught and raised us. As a
generation, Y are consumers and coddled and whatever else, but they
were taught these values by their parents, the Boomers.
Of course, one can't lay all the blame at the feet of our parents; I
think that it is fair to allocate a significant portion of it to them.
Who else can be expected to instill values and skills in their
offspring if not their parents? The answer of the Boomers was that the
schools should take over a significant part of the burden of parenting,
all the while tinkering with (that is to say, dumbing down) the school
system to ensure that none of us were "failures".
Add to that the fact that, under the stewardship of the Boomers, we
have witnessed a massive removal of wealth-producing jobs to the Far
East in the name of increased profits, and the picture is somewhat
different. It stops being the case that we've failed as a generation
because of some innate flaw in us (which was heavily implied in the
tone of the discussion) and starts being the case that the failure
started with your generation and, knowing no better, my generation
accepted that as "the natural order". We, as Ys, are unarguably selfish
and inwardly focussed, but this is largely a result of being taught to
be so by the Boomers - to my thinking, the first and last generation in
history who have wanted for nothing.
I felt this last point was captured perfectly (if unintentionally)
when you said:
"I'm just thankful I lived some of my lifetime in an
era where oppressive anticipation of energy shortages and ecological
entropy was not front and center. I'll continue enjoying my V8s."
I think, as statements go, that captures the Boomer attitude rather
well: "As long as I'm okay, Jack, you can burn in hell."
Addressing the topic itself: I am 27 and carless. Though I am
worried about the environmental impact of the massive explosion in the
number of two-plus car families over the last decade or so in the UK,
this is not motivated by environmental concerns. It's motivated by a
lack of necessity and the extreme cost of car ownership (north of US$7
a gallon of petrol here). As it stands, I live in the city, and I can
get the bus or walk everywhere I need to go. One day, I'm sure, I'll
get a car, but for now, I don't need one.
Yours with best wishes,
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the thoughtful response. I think you
misunderstood me at least partly. I am benevolently disposed toward
your generation, which, as you observe, includes my own offspring, born
in 1982 and 1984. Some of our closest non-family friends are
twenty-somethings.
I actually agree with you more than you evidently
perceived, and it was farthest from my intention to imply that I
"gloat" over the millennials' "failings". It is your generation that
has been failed, in large part because of Boomer narcissism and
self-absorption.
I don't blame you and your chronological peers for
feeling a bit bitter at the steaming pile you've been handed by my
generation, and you're dead right that the quality of teaching and
values transmission has by and large ranged from mediocre to
disastrous, although it's always dangerous to overly generalize. I
acknowledge exceptions.
As The Register's Lewis Page noted in a
commentary
a while back,
"with the old-timers clinging ever more
tenaciously to life, eating up all society's spare capacity and more
with their decades of richly-pensioned retirement and medical expenses,
failing to vacate their homes and so driving property prices through
the roof - not to mention forcing the workers who support them into
vast commutes past their conveniently-located palaces of idleness - and
in general being expensive parasites, you can see why the youngsters
are getting a bit stroppy . . . Perhaps it's time
. . . to stop hassling the kids and start picking on Western
society's real problem group instead."
Taking care of all us old boomers (my generation) will
cost a bundle, with the tax burden falling mainly on the Generation X
and Generation Y folks. Or so it is thought. I'll be surprised if there
isn't a tax revolt of unprecedented proportions once Gen X and Y
realize they are being set up to finance the boomers' retirement.
Raising the retirement age to 67 would help. You might say it's the
least we boomers could do to atone for our excesses. It also makes
sense with average life expectancies now significantly higher than they
were when the age 65 retirement threshold was set.
My comment about enjoying my V8s was more rueful
resignation than uncaring obstinacy. I just don't see any point in not
enjoying them as long as the Chinese keep building superhighways and
coal-fired generating plants. And my big V8 powered Mercury gets better
than 30 miles per (Imperial) gallon anyway, which is not bad for a
V8.
Charles
More Thoughts on the Carless Generation
From Brian:
Hi Charles,
It's been very interesting to read your (and others) thoughts on
this phenomenon, and I thought I would weigh in with my own 2¢. I
am a late Generation X, born in the grey area where I've read some say
generation Y was just beginning, so I feel I'm close enough to them to
have a coherent thought or two.
I'm not a car
guy, per se, but I am all about my car. I can't tell you the
difference between a hemi, or a DOHC engine by listening to them, and I
couldn't quote you specs on almost any car, except the ones I've owned.
But I can tell you how to replace an alternator on a 3100 or 3800, or a
power steering pump, or replace the brakes, rotors, change the spark
plugs, etc, etc, because I've had to do it myself.
I think I agree with the sentiment that most people see cars as
appliances these days. I got in an argument once with a coworker my
same age once about slowing down in icy/snowy conditions. Her claim was
it couldn't be done, because the brakes simply weren't good enough. I
told her to just downshift it slowly to "1" (she drives an automatic
transmission) and let gravity do the work for her. She refused, saying
it would ruin the engine. My other older coworkers buy new or near
brand new cars for their kids, which I find appalling, and others my
age who are "car guys" have never worked on a car themselves, even
though they have some very nice custom sports cars they take to car
shows.
I think this shows an interesting parallel with computing and Apple
hardware. Actually having or being able to work on something - know it
from the inside out - offers an almost intangible quality that (I
think) makes you proficient at your day-to-day duties, as well as gives
you an appreciation for when you own and rely upon. And I think that is
a good thing. When a new car costs you $20k+ starting out, why
wouldn't you want to be able to get every last inch you can out
of it?
Instead, I
feel lost in a sea of consumerized neophytes, who will blindly throw
away a year's salary on something they don't understand at all, and
can't even tell you what the "1" does on their transmission control. I
am quite proud of the work that I, with my own two hands, have
accomplished on my poor old Cutlass Supreme, but my friends and
coworkers simply shake their heads in disapproval. Personally, I think
they should at least read the manual and get out once in a while to
hand wash their car, instead of just treating it as a disposable
item.
Brian
Hi Brian,
Nice analogy, and good on you for your dedication to
keeping that Cutlass Supreme on the road. Despite the large assortment
of cars I've owned, the newest (at the time) was three years old, and
10 to 15 has been more typical. I've never been one to give up on a car
I liked because it was getting some years on it. My wife's summer daily
driver is a 1990 Toyota Camry that we bought back in 1998.
As for slowing/stopping in icy-snowy conditions, your
friend should just get a car with good-working ABS. A real eye-opener
for me in that context was one night a few years ago when my elder
daughter, who is fearless behind the wheel, took me for a drive in her
'03 Crown Vic Police Interceptor one frigid January night and
demonstrated a full panic stop from 70 MPH on a stretch of packed snow
and ice-covered rural dirt road. I braced for impact, but the big Ford
just slowed to a stop in a straight line and without any drama,
accompanied by a lot of hammering sounds from the ABS unit under the
hood.
I agree that the "disposable" mentality is
unfortunate, what with the environmental footprint and substantial cost
of both cars and computers. I view so-called "cash for clunkers"
government programs that have sent an awful lot of cars with years of
good service left in them to the crusher, and I'm highly dubious that
any emissions benefits would compensate for the carbon footprint and
expenditure of resources required to replace them with new rides.
Charles
Canadian Vendor for Laptop Batteries?
From Tim:
Hi Charles,
Wondering if you can suggest a Canadian vendor for my needs. I am
looking for 3 third party products:
- MacBook battery (mid 2007 model)
- iBook (clamshell) battery and power adapter
I am having trouble locating a vendor who ships to Canada
Thanks,
Tim
Hi Tim,
For the past decade or so, I've purchased my own
replacement laptop batteries from either Other World Computing or FastMac, both of which ship to
Canada. I've never found a Canadian source for batteries that could
compete on price, even when the Canadian dollar wasn't at exchange rate
par with the greenback.
Charles
iPad 2 and Micro-USB
From Bjoern:
Small comment; as 17 vendors of GSM equipment, including Apple,
signed the EU treaty to get micro-USB as standard for charging, it is a
no-brainer that the iPad 2 will get a micro-USB connector - no matter
what kind of functionality is served.
Best
Bjoern
Hi,
Right you are.
Charles
European Commission Welcomes Industry
Commitment to Provide a Universal Charger for Mobile Phones
Deeming the incompatibility of chargers for mobile
phones a major inconvenience for users and a major source of
unnecessary waste, the European Commission has invited industry to take
itself a commitment to resolve this problem to avoid legislation on
this point.
Leading manufacturers of mobile phones have now agreed
to standardize the chargers in the EU. In a memorandum of understanding
submitted to the Commission, the industry commits to ensuring the
compatibility of chargers via a Micro-USB connector. In addition, new
EU standards to ensure that the use of shippers continue to be safe
will be developed to facilitate implementation of the MoU.
Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European
Commission responsible for enterprise policy and industrial policy,
commented: "I am very pleased that the industry has reached an
agreement that will simplify consumers' lives. They can recharge their
mobile phones anywhere with the new charger. This will cause a
significant reduction of electronic waste, since it will take more than
throw his old charger when you buy a new phone. I am also pleased that
this settlement has been reached on the basis of self-regulation.
Therefore, the Commission finds it unnecessary to introduce
legislation."
There is currently a wide variety of chargers for
mobile phones within the EU. Many of them can be used with a specific
type of phone. Almost every household has a collection of chargers that
can no longer use. Chargers obsolete several thousands of tons of waste
per year.
During the intensive and constructive negotiations
with the European Commission, the mobile phone manufacturers have
agreed to settle the problem. In a memorandum of understanding
submitted to the Commission, the industry is committed to ensuring the
compatibility of new handheld devices using the Micro-USB connector,
which interfaces with the charging stand. The potential load is
expected of a good standard. In future:
- Users will have life easier with their phones,
- Decrease the number of shippers,
- There will be a positive impact on the environment.
The MoU will be accompanied by a new EU standard,
which will safely use the new mobile phones and avoid problems with
radio interference. The European Commission continues to work closely
with industry to ensure that the MoU will be operational soon. It
provides the entry into the EU market from the first generation of
mobile phones universal charging from 2010. The following companies
have signed the MOU: Apple, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm,
Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Texas
Instruments.
The Commission is pleased that the MOU does not
preclude innovation on a mobile phone market rapidly changing forever
by setting a certain technology. Therefore, when appropriate, the MoU
will be adapted to future technologies for loading.
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