4 ms·

OMG, 1971, it's almost like finding a joke in a cave drawing!

rfrey 7y ago
Well, it's another piece of evidence to support the hypothesis that our parents and grandparents had modern human-like qualities. Don't discount it: these theories proceed by slow aggregation of data, not one big-bang discovery.
simonblack 7y ago
Now come on, 1971 wasn't all that long ago. I got married for the first time that year. My car at the time had a rotary engine and it cruised at 85mph on the road every weekend. Did I mention that fuel was 31 cents a gallon? (And that was classed as expensive.) It really wasn't back in 'horse and buggy' days.
- caiobegotti 7y ago
  It's like someone installing Windows 95 just bought from a store and you say you got married when WWII was just ending :-)
- pavlov 7y ago
  Interestingly the things you mention do make it sound like a different era. Many millennials don’t drive, don’t know what fuel costs today, and have no idea what a rotary engine is. The American fascination with cars probably peaked around 1971.
  - casefields 7y ago
    Mazda used them. The 2012 RX-8 being the most recent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine
  - serf 7y ago
    >The American fascination with cars probably peaked around 1971. that's an interesting question. cars/motorcycles/fast things were a huge box-office theme in the 90s and 2000s, with many franchises featuring car thieves, enthusiasts, and racers -- but the same trend was around in the 70s. If one generalizes social direction by using box office themes as an indicator, like plenty of people (probably unwisely) do, it's a tough question. Sports car sales, a decent indicator of automotive interest due to their singular purpose nature, were higher in the 90s and 2000s than the 70s. Just as a singular example, take the Corvette[0]. A practically useless car for anything but enthusiasts, sports driving, and status. It sold 21 thousand units in 71, and 53 thousand units in 84. If that's any indicator, the peak must've been past 71, at least, albeit that's a fairly weak indicator given the gas crisis a few years later that spurred most folks away from anything with a big engine. Cars are still a huge status symbol for the rich, famous, and successful. Millenial-aged rappers are still buying Lamborghinis. To be clear : I think you're dead-on correct that millenials are driving less, but personally I think that means more about millenials lack of financial mobility more than it does the failure of the automobile to allure current generations. [0]: https://www.corvsport.com/corvette-sales-volume-year/ https://www.corvsport.com/corvette-sales-volume-year/
    - serverQuestion 7y ago
      If the fascination peaked in 1971 then those who were 20 then finally had the money to spend on cars in the 90s and 2000s. Cars are a status symbol because most city people don't really need them.
  - jrochkind1 7y ago
    I would like to see a cite for the claim that fewer "millennials" have driver's licenses and/or cars than the equivalent age group in 1971. I am skeptical.
    - icebraining 7y ago
      This is for 2014: > About 87 percent of 19-year-olds in 1983 had their licenses, but more than 30 years later, that percentage had dropped to 69 percent. > Drivers in their 20s, 30s and 40s also saw their ranks fall as a percentage of their age group population since 1983—down about 13 percentage points for those in their 20s, more than eight percentage points for thirtysomethings and nearly three percentage points for those in their 40s. http://www.umtri.umich.edu/what-were-doing/news/more-americans-all-ages-spurning-drivers-licenses http://www.umtri.umich.edu/what-were-doing/news/more-america...
      - jrochkind1 7y ago
        thanks!
  - goatinaboat 7y ago
    Many millennials don’t drive An aside but I’ve always found that turn of phrase bemusing. The right word is “can’t”, nobody says “I don’t swim” or “I don’t wire a plug”. It’s like people realise that it’s something they ought to be able to do and are deficient in it.
    - pjc50 7y ago
      There are also urban dwellers who can drive, hold a license, but don't own a car due to cost or space issues. Undoubtedly more common in Europe - lots of Londoners don't own cars because there's nowhere cheap to park at either end of a trip, the traffic is bad, and the public transport is usable.
      - goatinaboat 7y ago
        who can drive, hold a license, but don't own a car due to cost or space issues. In my experience those people never use that phrase, they say “I don’t have a car”.
    - matsemann 7y ago
      Huh, I got a license. Even inherited a car when I was 19. But I sold it, biking everywhere is faster and cheaper.

Well, it's another piece of evidence to support the hypothesis that our parents and grandparents had modern human-like qualities. Don't discount it: these theories proceed by slow aggregation of data, not one big-bang discovery.

simonblack 7y ago

Now come on, 1971 wasn't all that long ago. I got married for the first time that year. My car at the time had a rotary engine and it cruised at 85mph on the road every weekend. Did I mention that fuel was 31 cents a gallon? (And that was classed as expensive.) It really wasn't back in 'horse and buggy' days.

caiobegotti 7y ago
It's like someone installing Windows 95 just bought from a store and you say you got married when WWII was just ending :-)
pavlov 7y ago
Interestingly the things you mention do make it sound like a different era. Many millennials don’t drive, don’t know what fuel costs today, and have no idea what a rotary engine is. The American fascination with cars probably peaked around 1971.
- casefields 7y ago
  Mazda used them. The 2012 RX-8 being the most recent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine
- serf 7y ago
  >The American fascination with cars probably peaked around 1971. that's an interesting question. cars/motorcycles/fast things were a huge box-office theme in the 90s and 2000s, with many franchises featuring car thieves, enthusiasts, and racers -- but the same trend was around in the 70s. If one generalizes social direction by using box office themes as an indicator, like plenty of people (probably unwisely) do, it's a tough question. Sports car sales, a decent indicator of automotive interest due to their singular purpose nature, were higher in the 90s and 2000s than the 70s. Just as a singular example, take the Corvette[0]. A practically useless car for anything but enthusiasts, sports driving, and status. It sold 21 thousand units in 71, and 53 thousand units in 84. If that's any indicator, the peak must've been past 71, at least, albeit that's a fairly weak indicator given the gas crisis a few years later that spurred most folks away from anything with a big engine. Cars are still a huge status symbol for the rich, famous, and successful. Millenial-aged rappers are still buying Lamborghinis. To be clear : I think you're dead-on correct that millenials are driving less, but personally I think that means more about millenials lack of financial mobility more than it does the failure of the automobile to allure current generations. [0]: https://www.corvsport.com/corvette-sales-volume-year/ https://www.corvsport.com/corvette-sales-volume-year/
  - serverQuestion 7y ago
    If the fascination peaked in 1971 then those who were 20 then finally had the money to spend on cars in the 90s and 2000s. Cars are a status symbol because most city people don't really need them.
- jrochkind1 7y ago
  I would like to see a cite for the claim that fewer "millennials" have driver's licenses and/or cars than the equivalent age group in 1971. I am skeptical.
  - icebraining 7y ago
    This is for 2014: > About 87 percent of 19-year-olds in 1983 had their licenses, but more than 30 years later, that percentage had dropped to 69 percent. > Drivers in their 20s, 30s and 40s also saw their ranks fall as a percentage of their age group population since 1983—down about 13 percentage points for those in their 20s, more than eight percentage points for thirtysomethings and nearly three percentage points for those in their 40s. http://www.umtri.umich.edu/what-were-doing/news/more-americans-all-ages-spurning-drivers-licenses http://www.umtri.umich.edu/what-were-doing/news/more-america...
    - jrochkind1 7y ago
      thanks!
- goatinaboat 7y ago
  Many millennials don’t drive An aside but I’ve always found that turn of phrase bemusing. The right word is “can’t”, nobody says “I don’t swim” or “I don’t wire a plug”. It’s like people realise that it’s something they ought to be able to do and are deficient in it.
  - pjc50 7y ago
    There are also urban dwellers who can drive, hold a license, but don't own a car due to cost or space issues. Undoubtedly more common in Europe - lots of Londoners don't own cars because there's nowhere cheap to park at either end of a trip, the traffic is bad, and the public transport is usable.
    - goatinaboat 7y ago
      who can drive, hold a license, but don't own a car due to cost or space issues. In my experience those people never use that phrase, they say “I don’t have a car”.
  - matsemann 7y ago
    Huh, I got a license. Even inherited a car when I was 19. But I sold it, biking everywhere is faster and cheaper.