4 ms·

Letting other people track my location all the time is a very steep price for me to pay for any perceived benefit. > losing it in a parking garage I stop for

Letting other people track my location all the time is a very steep price for me to pay for any perceived benefit. > losing it in a parking garage I stop for a second and pay attention to where I parked my car. Maybe even take a quick picture of the surroundings with my phone. The "lock chirp" using my key fob usually makes up for the times I'm not quite sure where it is. > determining whether it's been towed or stolen Most municipalities where you're likely to be towed have an impound vehicle search website. I'm not going to let other people track me all the time just for a bit more convenience on the extremely rare occasion that my vehicle might be towed or stolen. > rescue help in case it's in a more remote area during a blizzard I check the weather and don't drive into remote areas during blizzards. I suppose if you're inclined to do that, you might want someone to track you all the time so they can maybe rescue you when you make those kinds of choices? > Crime in a lot of places in the United States is so bad right now that being able to track your car is critical infrastructure at this point If you are unfortunate enough to park a Kia in Seattle or San Francisco, I guess you've got a problem. But tracking my car is more for the benefit of my insurance company in that case.

kayodelycaon 3y ago
Remembering to do the right things isn’t possible for everyone. So you’re kind of blaming the victim here. I’ll always have the parking garage problem due to poor memory. Sometimes I remember that I take a picture but my brain can’t remember to do that reliably. Building habits is nearly impossible for me. I even have a documented disability saying this happens, so it’s not for lack of trying. My solution to solving this problem is to not require habits but to preemptively account for my blind spots. AirTags have been life changing for me.
kccqzy 3y ago
You have a patchwork of solutions to deal with the lack of tracking. Some people don't like the mental overhead of that patchwork of solutions and would rather have GPS tracking. It's a valid trade off. It is however typical HN mentality to assume that nobody wants tracking whereas it is a matter of individual choice. > a very steep price for me Great. Now have some empathy with people for whom the price isn't steep at all.
- hn_acker 3y ago
  > It is however typical HN mentality to assume that nobody wants tracking whereas it is a matter of individual choice. Indeed. Which is why car manufacturers should make it easy for individual drivers to disable tracking in a way that can't be remotely reenabled by car companies.
  - giantg2 3y ago
    It is and it isn't, depending on who you are. It seems this is a case of too much tech for some people. Disabling most vehicle tracking is easy. It's usually a matter of disconnecting a wire/fuse/antenna/bridge. The criminals can easily learn it and defeat it, while many drivers don't know how to, or just don't care too until they are a victim.
    - steelframe 3y ago
      Not sure that's really all that easy. My friend has a 2020 I-PACE sitting in his garage and wants to disable remote tracking. Exactly which wire, fuse, antenna, or bridge should he disconnect in order to do that without negatively impacting any other functionality of the vehicle? What tools will he need to do it? How long will it take him? What damage might he cause to his car if he makes a mistake because he's never done this before? How will this modification affect his warranty?
      - giantg2 3y ago
        That's a bit of a cherry picked example since most cars are not expensive imports. The usual way to get that info is to go to the model specific forum (very common for common vehicles). If there are no existing instructions, a shop manual is hugely helpful.
- giantg2 3y ago
  I agree that it should be an individual choice. Right now it's basically quietly defaulted to on. So not much of a choice currently. I do question your argument about some people not being able to find thwir car. Do people who lack the mental faculty to find where they parked simultaneously have the mental faculties required to safely operate the vehicle?
otteromkram 3y ago
>The "lock chirp" using my key fob usually makes up for the times I'm not quite sure where it is. Ah, yes, the "letting people who don't care know I'm now home or letting everyone know that I'm walking away from my unattended vehicle (so robbers better not touch it)" alert everyone loves. Do you do the thing where you hit it a bunch of times to blast the horn and show off that 90s tech because you need people to see how cool you are?
- oooyay 3y ago
  > Do you do the thing where you hit it a bunch of times to blast the horn and show off that 90s tech because you need people to see how cool you are? Heh, I do this but it's because depressing the button on my remote doesn't guarantee that the alarm will arm. The sound of the chirp is key to whatever mode I put it in. I could also just use my phone, but the app is stupidly slow and I kind of hate that my car has an app. I'd much prefer the equivalent of dance dance revolution on a 90s key fob than accept all the things that come with an app.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    I sort of like I can lock my newish car silently by just touching the door handle while still having the usual fob functions if I’m not sure exactly where my car is.
- hn_acker 3y ago
  > Do you do the thing where you hit it a bunch of times to blast the horn and show off that 90s tech because you need people to see how cool you are? This line was unwarranted. What part of steelframe's response suggested that steelframe likes letting other people hear the parked car's location, never mind honking?

kayodelycaon 3y ago

Remembering to do the right things isn’t possible for everyone. So you’re kind of blaming the victim here. I’ll always have the parking garage problem due to poor memory. Sometimes I remember that I take a picture but my brain can’t remember to do that reliably. Building habits is nearly impossible for me. I even have a documented disability saying this happens, so it’s not for lack of trying. My solution to solving this problem is to not require habits but to preemptively account for my blind spots. AirTags have been life changing for me.

kccqzy 3y ago

You have a patchwork of solutions to deal with the lack of tracking. Some people don't like the mental overhead of that patchwork of solutions and would rather have GPS tracking. It's a valid trade off. It is however typical HN mentality to assume that nobody wants tracking whereas it is a matter of individual choice. > a very steep price for me Great. Now have some empathy with people for whom the price isn't steep at all.

hn_acker 3y ago
> It is however typical HN mentality to assume that nobody wants tracking whereas it is a matter of individual choice. Indeed. Which is why car manufacturers should make it easy for individual drivers to disable tracking in a way that can't be remotely reenabled by car companies.
- giantg2 3y ago
  It is and it isn't, depending on who you are. It seems this is a case of too much tech for some people. Disabling most vehicle tracking is easy. It's usually a matter of disconnecting a wire/fuse/antenna/bridge. The criminals can easily learn it and defeat it, while many drivers don't know how to, or just don't care too until they are a victim.
  - steelframe 3y ago
    Not sure that's really all that easy. My friend has a 2020 I-PACE sitting in his garage and wants to disable remote tracking. Exactly which wire, fuse, antenna, or bridge should he disconnect in order to do that without negatively impacting any other functionality of the vehicle? What tools will he need to do it? How long will it take him? What damage might he cause to his car if he makes a mistake because he's never done this before? How will this modification affect his warranty?
    - giantg2 3y ago
      That's a bit of a cherry picked example since most cars are not expensive imports. The usual way to get that info is to go to the model specific forum (very common for common vehicles). If there are no existing instructions, a shop manual is hugely helpful.
giantg2 3y ago
I agree that it should be an individual choice. Right now it's basically quietly defaulted to on. So not much of a choice currently. I do question your argument about some people not being able to find thwir car. Do people who lack the mental faculty to find where they parked simultaneously have the mental faculties required to safely operate the vehicle?

otteromkram 3y ago

>The "lock chirp" using my key fob usually makes up for the times I'm not quite sure where it is. Ah, yes, the "letting people who don't care know I'm now home or letting everyone know that I'm walking away from my unattended vehicle (so robbers better not touch it)" alert everyone loves. Do you do the thing where you hit it a bunch of times to blast the horn and show off that 90s tech because you need people to see how cool you are?

oooyay 3y ago
> Do you do the thing where you hit it a bunch of times to blast the horn and show off that 90s tech because you need people to see how cool you are? Heh, I do this but it's because depressing the button on my remote doesn't guarantee that the alarm will arm. The sound of the chirp is key to whatever mode I put it in. I could also just use my phone, but the app is stupidly slow and I kind of hate that my car has an app. I'd much prefer the equivalent of dance dance revolution on a 90s key fob than accept all the things that come with an app.
- ghaff 3y ago
  I sort of like I can lock my newish car silently by just touching the door handle while still having the usual fob functions if I’m not sure exactly where my car is.
hn_acker 3y ago
> Do you do the thing where you hit it a bunch of times to blast the horn and show off that 90s tech because you need people to see how cool you are? This line was unwarranted. What part of steelframe's response suggested that steelframe likes letting other people hear the parked car's location, never mind honking?