4 ms·

Similarly, in Australia, I've only seen it once, and it was on a (from what I was told) special edition F-150 won in a contest in the US, that was converted to

by mwill 14y ago

Similarly, in Australia, I've only seen it once, and it was on a (from what I was told) special edition F-150 won in a contest in the US, that was converted to right hand drive. Seems to be a security vulnerability all by itself, to me. I'm not sure I see the appeal.

delinka 14y ago
"I'm not sure I see the appeal." 'Convenience.' That is all. US'ians are notoriously lazy and require convenience everywhere. Convenience overrides security and often convenience overrides safety. It's surprising how many devices and service businesses have been created to allow people to continue to be lazy under the guise of "increasing productivity" - 'You just keep sitting on your backside at your desk and we'll run your errands!'
- jtheory 14y ago
  It's worth noting that security/safety and convenience are almost always in opposition. There are probably cultural trends as to where different groups make the trade-off (I've never dug into it), but the principle is the same everywhere. You could put all of your money and attention into guarding your stuff, if you so chose, and guarantee that the work required to defeat your security was far greater than any potential benefit. Never take your car out of its concrete bunker. Or you can ignore security in favor of convenience -- always leave your car key in the ignition, and thus never be locked out accidentally, never fumble to find your keys in a large bag, never drop your keys in a snowbank.... But obviously most people try to fall just on the side of "safe enough that no one will steal my car", depending on how high they perceive that risk. For a car keypad entry -- if trying all of the possible combinations would take 20 minutes, that's probably not any less secure than driving a slightly older car with a fairly-easily pickable lock, and in return you will never accidentally lock your keys in the car again. I don't think I'd go for the keypad lock on a new car, but I have locked my keys in my car twice in my life, and it's really annoying. One of those times there was a three-year-old in a carseat, inside the locked car... fortunately it was the loaner, sitting in the parking lot at the mechanics (where my normal car was being repaired). The first time it happened I was driving an old car, and I was at the grocery store... so I went back in, bought a screwdriver & coathanger, and broke into my own car in about a minute. In that security context, having a keypad would have been convenient without adding anything to the security risk whatsoever....
rdl 14y ago
It's a convenient way to loan a car to someone; just lock a key inside and give him the code. I did this in the middle east often, but the car itself was either in a place where it was guarded by someone with an AK or M4, or was in a country where they'd cut your hands off for theft (and was a Lincoln LS parked next to a bunch of Cayennes and Lambos), so I considered it a fair security trade.
derekp7 14y ago
I had it on my Mercury Cougar back in the 90's. The main use for it was so I could lock my keys in the car if I didn't want to bother with taking them with me (such as at the beach -- hard to swim with your keys in your pocket).

by mwill 14y ago

delinka 14y ago

"I'm not sure I see the appeal." 'Convenience.' That is all. US'ians are notoriously lazy and require convenience everywhere. Convenience overrides security and often convenience overrides safety. It's surprising how many devices and service businesses have been created to allow people to continue to be lazy under the guise of "increasing productivity" - 'You just keep sitting on your backside at your desk and we'll run your errands!'

jtheory 14y ago
It's worth noting that security/safety and convenience are almost always in opposition. There are probably cultural trends as to where different groups make the trade-off (I've never dug into it), but the principle is the same everywhere. You could put all of your money and attention into guarding your stuff, if you so chose, and guarantee that the work required to defeat your security was far greater than any potential benefit. Never take your car out of its concrete bunker. Or you can ignore security in favor of convenience -- always leave your car key in the ignition, and thus never be locked out accidentally, never fumble to find your keys in a large bag, never drop your keys in a snowbank.... But obviously most people try to fall just on the side of "safe enough that no one will steal my car", depending on how high they perceive that risk. For a car keypad entry -- if trying all of the possible combinations would take 20 minutes, that's probably not any less secure than driving a slightly older car with a fairly-easily pickable lock, and in return you will never accidentally lock your keys in the car again. I don't think I'd go for the keypad lock on a new car, but I have locked my keys in my car twice in my life, and it's really annoying. One of those times there was a three-year-old in a carseat, inside the locked car... fortunately it was the loaner, sitting in the parking lot at the mechanics (where my normal car was being repaired). The first time it happened I was driving an old car, and I was at the grocery store... so I went back in, bought a screwdriver & coathanger, and broke into my own car in about a minute. In that security context, having a keypad would have been convenient without adding anything to the security risk whatsoever....

rdl 14y ago

It's a convenient way to loan a car to someone; just lock a key inside and give him the code. I did this in the middle east often, but the car itself was either in a place where it was guarded by someone with an AK or M4, or was in a country where they'd cut your hands off for theft (and was a Lincoln LS parked next to a bunch of Cayennes and Lambos), so I considered it a fair security trade.

derekp7 14y ago

I had it on my Mercury Cougar back in the 90's. The main use for it was so I could lock my keys in the car if I didn't want to bother with taking them with me (such as at the beach -- hard to swim with your keys in your pocket).