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Please make a dumb car

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Re: Please make a dumb car

#301

Post by sho_hn »

MisterTea wrote: post #273
stillsut wrote: post #179

I went car shopping this year in the new market and found that that if you want more a "dumb" car (UX occurs primarily outside of a touchscreen, no internet, no geolocation) you lose all potential for any nice non-smart features. So no heated/powered seats, no power windows, the material of the interior is refurbished from a spirit airlines airplane, etc. I think manufacturers are hoping that certain aspects of the m…

> I wonder how well my car will age when miscellaneous sensor all over the car start failing. That's just it, the tech is making the cars less reliable. Will all of these bespoke parts be available in 10, 15, 20 years? I would hate to have to dispose of a working car because the dead now obsolete chip on the bespoke LCD dash module shaped like the cars dashboard is no longer in production. I had cars who's odometers…

Note that "cars are getting less reliable" is a gut feeling that many people have, but largely isn't backed by real metrics.

When's the last time you saw a broken-down car by the side of the road, and is this happening more or less often than 20 years ago?

Do you think cars require more or less upkeep and maintenance than 20 years ago?

Yes, cars do have some new components that have introduced new failure modes, and some of those may be doing worse than others. But as a whole, cars have improved.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#302

Post by deadlyllama »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #171
deadlyllama wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New Zealand? My Dad's old Subaru Legacy used its display to show Japan rotating around as we turned corners, us always in the sea. I'm onto my second 2005 Mazda MPV (they're great cars). This time I've replaced the head unit with one of those nasty cheap Android things. Basically a confused tablet with some extra hardware, running any mapping or other app you want.

Haha, yep, NZ, and the 2005 MPV :D That's not a bad idea at all on the head.

There's a good Geekzone thread on head unit installation. Especially useful if you want to keep the factory reverse camera operating. Note the camera needs 6V. Voltage conversion boards are ultra cheap on aliexpress or if you're in Wellington you could have one from my stash :)

Re: Please make a dumb car

#303

Post by NikolaNovak »

stillsut wrote: post #179

I went car shopping this year in the new market and found that that if you want more a "dumb" car (UX occurs primarily outside of a touchscreen, no internet, no geolocation) you lose all potential for any nice non-smart features. So no heated/powered seats, no power windows, the material of the interior is refurbished from a spirit airlines airplane, etc. I think manufacturers are hoping that certain aspects of the m…

It's an interesting differentiation strategy though, and while cars are becoming more and more similar along some axis, there is a distinct different segmentation between manufacturers.

When shopping for minivans, they all "have" comparable features. But

Manufacturer A base model has no advanced safety features; you need to buy $10k of leather seats and chrome highlights to get them.

Manufacturer B offers a $2k safety pack to any and all levels.

Manufacturer C simply has those same safety features across all levels.

Similarly, features such as Android/Apple Car/Auto play; or Sirius XM; etc. The bundling strategy is completely different across manufacturers.

For us, the last three practical family cars we bought (as opposed to cars of desire:), were hugely influenced by which manufacturer had a bundling/segmentation/feature strategy that worked for us.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#305

Post by throwaway0a5e »

esalman wrote: post #134
tsujp wrote: post #41

One thing I was flabbergasted at recently was Tesla offering, and the government allowing, regular drivers to use a yoke steering wheel like F1 drivers. Not only is it harder for the average person to handle but their firmware hadn't accounted for the fact that if you steer fully left or right the yoke is upside down and if you try and indicate it ends up indicating on the wrong side. What is wrong with a wheel and f…

Tesla is basically the 2000s prius. It is cool now, but in near future won't be anymore.

Pretty much everyone who clogged up the left lane in the '00s in their Prius is still doing the same thing today but in a Tacoma or 4Runner. The specific model of blind adoration may have changed but the fanboys still line the same pockets. If that is any indication Tesla will do just fine.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#306

Post by jve »

kunai wrote: post #225
the_biot wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, and anyone with a heartbeat figured that out at some point in the last 20 years. Yet the article also says > Not having GPS or data (or hidden microphones or cameras) also makes your vehicle feel more private, obviously. I can't exclude the possibility that the author is a moron, but I suspect it's just outrage-bait. Like that whole article.

For vehicles with an inbuilt cellular connection like OnStar or Starlink or any of the myriad of other systems like them, the vehicle will regularly phone home your GPS fix from time to time and there is no way to turn it off. I think this is what the author was trying to get at but phrased it poorly due to it being sort of a technicality.

How?

Escape channel is called internet, not GPS. Obviously if your car has Internet and GPS, it can do it.

But if you had only starlink dish on your car, without GPS, I wouldn't be surprised if it was technically possible to track location to some degree of accuracy.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#307

Post by bdamm »

hoppla wrote: post #253

I see this problem in other things too. I wanted to buy a radio, but the only option I have is an boxed in android phone running apps and a DAB receiver. I only need two functions, a knob to change channels and one to adjust volume. If I need to play music, some aux input would be nice - that’s it!

There are some very cheap handheld FM radios. What's the problem?

Re: Please make a dumb car

#308

Post by pavon »

harlanlewis wrote: post #266
geenew wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the original backup camera models (in ford cars at least) were integrated into the rear view mirror. Worked fine for its purpose and didn’t involve a central dash monitor.

More than works fine - I prefer this spot so that I always look in the same place to see what's behind me whether I'm going forward or backward. Taking your eyes far away from any windows to focus on a tiny rearview camera view while reversing makes it hard to see other motion with peripheral vision. Lots of after market mirrors support this, but admittedly I've only put them in cars that didn't have a camera to begi…

My car has both options. I think the idea is you'd use the rearview mirror display primarily at night as an always-on display in place of the anti-glare polarization toggle that some rearview mirrors have, while using the center console for backing-up.

I prefer the center console. The rearview mirror is shaped and sized to display the small sliver that you can see out of the rear window which are tiny these days due to increased pillar width, and rounded back to improved crash safety and aerodynamics. The size and aspect ratio of the center console makes it much easier to see details, and doesn't have to compete with bright back-lighting from the sun. Increasing the size of the rearview mirror would be an option - don't know how big you can get before it starts impeding forward view (again, because the front roof slopes down more for aerodynamics than they did in the past).

Re: Please make a dumb car

#309

Post by everdrive »

sdrabing wrote: post #299
everdrive wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The easy solution here would be to eschew such features. Remote start seems like it provides no benefit except to waste slightly more gas, and also to occasionally suffocate the elderly or otherwise forgetful.

You obviously don't live in a place with harsh winters.

I live in the northern us. It was -3 F this morning

Re: Please make a dumb car

#310

Post by bdamm »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #246

Aren't dumb cars going to completely go away once the transition from ICE to EV is finished? I could see them being like antiques or something, but they wouldn't really be economically viable to produce anymore. And of course, the fact that dumb cars would be more expensive to produce is just a side effect of digital being cheaper than analogue after a certain about of development.

Dumb cars aren't more expensive to produce. And EVs don't have to be "tech". It's just that is what people want.
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