Lecture on Modern Cars and Technology

Jul 1, 2024

Lecture on Modern Cars and Technology 🚗

Introduction

  • Speaker shares a personal story about buying and damaging a new car
  • Emphasizes it was entirely their fault

The New Car

  • Purchased a 2021 Hyundai Sonata
  • Main features and benefits:
    • Rearview camera
    • Blind spot indicators
    • No need to plug in phone for music
    • Alerts for lane departure
  • Challenges with new car technology:
    • Prindle (Gear selector) replaced by buttons
    • Difficult adjustment for long-time manual gear stick users

The Incident

  • Six days after purchase, an accident at U-haul facility
  • Misjudged gate's movements—gate closed while exiting
  • Struggled with new gear shift buttons, leading to a scratch on the car

Reflections on Car Technology

  • Contrast between old and new car features
  • **Modern Features vs. Reality: **
    • Touchscreen controls vs. physical buttons
    • Distracted driving concerns
    • Practicality and safety of touchscreens

Touchscreens in Cars

  • 80% of new cars in 2022 have touchscreens
  • Study shows older cars with physical buttons are quicker/simpler for basic tasks
  • Ideal car design: mix of physical buttons and touchscreens

Car Interface Design

  • Critique of consolidating functions into a single touchscreen
  • Economic reasons: cheaper to produce touchscreens than physical buttons
  • Consequences of touchscreen failures: major inconvenience

Additional Car Innovations

  • Retractable door handles
    • Benefits and drawbacks
  • **Car Size and Safety: **
    • Cars, especially trucks, are getting larger
    • Bright LED headlights can be blinding
    • Increase in pedestrian deaths due to larger car sizes

Tesla Cybertruck

  • Initial promise vs. reality
  • Pricing:
    • Originally $40k, now minimum $100k
    • $20k 'Foundation Fee' mostly for yet-to-be-released self-driving feature
  • Frequent and significant issues reported by owners
  • Positive reviews despite problems

Speaker's Personal Experience

  • Rented a Cybertruck to experience it firsthand
  • Observations:
    • Complex and sensitive controls
    • Limited rearview mirror visibility

Final Thoughts

  • Cars have advanced technologically but not necessarily gotten better
  • Consumer desires vs. true innovation
  • Rising car sizes and the impacts on safety and environment

Conclusion

  • Speaker recommends reassessment of current car technology directions
  • Calls for balancing advancements with practical safety and usability