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