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First a nit: 'Now, he says, “cars have become virtual reality boxes,” infantilizing the driver. BMW even pipes phony engine noises through its cars’ sound syste
by dade_ 11y ago
First a nit: 'Now, he says, “cars have become virtual reality boxes,” infantilizing the driver. BMW even pipes phony engine noises through its cars’ sound systems...'
Chevy and Ford do this too with their trucks at least.
Second: 16 years ago I chose a car loan instead of a student loan. I was living in a small town and it was a ticket out. It was key to getting a higher paying job as employers required the mobility. In areas with poor or nonexistent transit, this is still the case. I live in Toronto now, sold my car 2 years ago, walk to work and telecommute and use car sharing. Why? Roads are too congested (I consider commuting in rush our soul destroying), it is so easy to rent a car today compared to 20 years ago and the big one: Insurance. It is prohibitively expensive and I have a perfect driving record. I now rent out my parking stall, and have more money available to travel and I no longer have expensive surprise costs for car repairs.
These people are describing a hobby and the author seems to have missed that.
- nsxwolf 11y agoAt least in BMWs case, the stated goal of playing the engine sound recordings is to assist the driver with shifting by reproducing the audio cues that are muted by the cabin's quiet design.
- aianus 11y ago> Roads are too congested (I consider commuting in rush our soul destroying) Drive a motorcycle and filter past all the idling losers. Best feeling in the world :D
- delinka 11y agoExcept in some places, this is illegal. And because other drivers know that, doing it is fraught with danger.
- aianus 11y agoIt's even more fun when it's illegal. Loser cagers get so mad they look like they're about to burst a vein in their heads.
- delinka 11y agoI'd like a response to the last part of my statement. You do this in my state, and some other driver 'accidentally' cuts you off, they're not liable because you shouldn't have been there and they had no [legal] expectation that a two wheeled vehicle would be there. They get off, you're injured and out a whole motorcycle, and your insurance is paying for the damage to their vehicle.
- aianus 11y agoNever seen it happen, and even if it did it would be worth it for the overall time savings ($50/h * 50 minutes every work day = $9,000 a year in time savings). I would also be very surprised if they're not liable. What if I had been a bicycle? It's not hard to do reasonably safely.
- fmoralesc 11y agoAlso, ride a bike and filter past all the motorcyclists who get stuck between the cars.
- anon4 11y agoOh boy, if you thought drivers hated you when you were on a motorbike, just wait until they see you on a bicycle. It's like waving a giant red flag in front of a bull, while someone is sticking it in the balls with a hot poker. It doesn't help that driving education skimps on the road rules governing car-bicycle interactions and the rights of bicyclists on the use of roads, so a lot of drivers believe in made-up folklore rules.