Are high-tech cars a gift or a curse?

A recent Yahoo article talks about six features that are apparently going extinct in modern cars:

• Manual Transmission
• Keys
• Crank windows
• Antennas
• Handbrakes
• Bias tires

Go down to the comments section and you see several people complain and talk about how they want things to stay the way they have always been. While some points made were valid (how to escape a sinking car when the windows are closed and the car won't restart) others seemed to borderline on people simply being old fashioned.

What do you think?

I've had cars that had all the gadgets and what-not. Finally, I just got tired of all them and went with a truck with power windows/locks as the only option and couldn't be happier with the decision. While all the luxury features are nice, it's not a matter of if, but when they will start breaking. A vehicle with the basic features is just less hassle, less cost and less to worry about, IMO.

I need a manual transmission and the option to turn off all forms of traction control.  I also like having an actual physical key.  My current car doesn't have that, but oh well.  I'm ok with the other gadgets..  right up until they break.  

I'm not really worried about most of those things. There is something a bit nostalic for me about car keys, but I'm pretty sure I would get over not having them.

I believe the conspiracy that manufactures have to keep the innovation to a minimum. What else is the explanation for the lack of performance? From the Horseless Carriages to 25 miles per gallon. In all that time no one has created a engine that gets 200 miles per gallon, or run on a different fuel? No, we get a gps imbedded in the engine. Whoop-de-dee-doo-daa! Who gains in this conspiracy? The oligopoly formed by the car makers, the oil industry keeping the mpg capped, and governments.

Also, it only took 40 years to improve 4 miles per gallon in the motor bike sector.

I believe the conspiracy that manufactures have to keep the innovation to a minimum. What else is the explanation for the lack of performance? From the Horseless Carriages to 25 miles per gallon. In all that time no one has created a engine that gets 200 miles per gallon, or run on a different fuel? No, we get a gps imbedded in the engine. Whoop-de-dee-doo-daa! Who gains in this conspiracy? The oligopoly formed by the car makers, the oil industry keeping the mpg capped, and governments.

Also, it only took 40 years to improve 4 miles per gallon in the motor bike sector.

LOXO7

I like older cars, they were simple and had so much spare room in the engine compartment you could store a couple dead bodies... modern cars are so complex there's barely enough room to store a dead cat.lamprey263

Antennas suck.

I dislike the fact that with more electronic gizmos in the car there is more to go wrong, and when it does go wrong you can't fix it even with a sound lot of engineering knowledge. 

Back int' day you could build a car, tinker with it, fix it up when it got worn-down. Many new features make it harder to do that. However I think that there are a lot of good safety advances and advantages so I don't think we should resist change completely either.

On a side note here in the UK manual transmissions are the norm.

The more we embrace these safer, more efficient, and just flat out better technologies, the more we are going to see them in our new cars.  The auto industry has been laughably behind the curve for a long time and frankly at this point I'm ready to see some real improvements.

At least people are FINALLY embracing electric cars.  There are always going to be holdouts to new tech, but it's a free market and people are getting tired of old poorly-built gas chugging cars.   

The more we embrace these safer, more efficient, and just flat out better technologies, the more we are going to see them in our new cars.  The auto industry has been laughably behind the curve for a long time and frankly at this point I'm ready to see some real improvements.

At least people are FINALLY embracing electric cars.  There are always going to be holdouts to new tech, but it's a free market and people are getting tired of old poorly-built gas chugging cars.   

starfox15

Show me an electric car that would be appropriate for my needs and wants, and I'll think about it.  

Your perspective on this would depend on what you want in a car. If you're a car enthusiast and want something flashy, fast, that's likely customized and has manual transmission, then of course anything that doesn't fit that mold will be a disappointment. But those kind of people will remain at least a niche market for quite a while, so they still should be able to get what they want. For the rest of the population, they lean more towards affordability, ease of use, and basic functionality to get from point A to point B. To them, a car is more of a simple means of transportation, and how the car is designed will reflect optimizing that functionality. Since more and more people are falling into the latter catogory, the market is swaying towards getting rid of the things mentioned in the OP, since that is what the market wants, since those things are not optimal for simple transportation. 

Again, it's just a difference is use for a car. If one views cars as more of a mode of transportation, then those things mentioned are a hinderence to that on an objective level, and since people are realizing that, then they are being phased out. If the perspective is different, then the features of the car will likewise change, though it's important to realize that the former use for a car is by far the majority in today's world, and that's why the market as a whole is changing like it is.

The more we embrace these safer, more efficient, and just flat out better technologies, the more we are going to see them in our new cars.  The auto industry has been laughably behind the curve for a long time and frankly at this point I'm ready to see some real improvements.

At least people are FINALLY embracing electric cars.  There are always going to be holdouts to new tech, but it's a free market and people are getting tired of old poorly-built gas chugging cars.   

starfox15

Show me a hybrid vehicle that can carry up to 1000 pounds, maintain up to 75 MPH while going up hill on an interstate and get at least 800 miles on a single tank of fuel or a charge and can be completely charged in 8 hours and I might consider it, but until then, a gas or diesel fueled vehicle will be needed for most people. 

The more we embrace these safer, more efficient, and just flat out better technologies, the more we are going to see them in our new cars.  The auto industry has been laughably behind the curve for a long time and frankly at this point I'm ready to see some real improvements.

At least people are FINALLY embracing electric cars.  There are always going to be holdouts to new tech, but it's a free market and people are getting tired of old poorly-built gas chugging cars.   

starfox15

I wanna know how much is cost if you lose one of those electronic keys. Fightingfan

Manuals are good for very functional reasons entirely unrelated to nostalgia.

Power windows/locks are the biggest pain in the ***. They break way too often.mattbbpl

This, too.

On a side note here in the UK manual transmissions are the norm.

MissLibrarian

A little jelly.

Maybe in the states. Most cars are manual in the UK.

[QUOTE="starfox15"]

The more we embrace these safer, more efficient, and just flat out better technologies, the more we are going to see them in our new cars.  The auto industry has been laughably behind the curve for a long time and frankly at this point I'm ready to see some real improvements.

At least people are FINALLY embracing electric cars.  There are always going to be holdouts to new tech, but it's a free market and people are getting tired of old poorly-built gas chugging cars.   

Fightingfan

Isn't that illegal?

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"][QUOTE="starfox15"]

The more we embrace these safer, more efficient, and just flat out better technologies, the more we are going to see them in our new cars.  The auto industry has been laughably behind the curve for a long time and frankly at this point I'm ready to see some real improvements.

At least people are FINALLY embracing electric cars.  There are always going to be holdouts to new tech, but it's a free market and people are getting tired of old poorly-built gas chugging cars.   

Leejjohno

Isn't that illegal?

I wanna know how much is cost if you lose one of those electronic keys. Fightingfan

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]I wanna know how much is cost if you lose one of those electronic keys. NVIDIATI

[QUOTE="Leejjohno"]

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"] idk pretty hard to text and drive with a stick. Fightingfan

Isn't that illegal?

Well it should be.

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"][QUOTE="Leejjohno"]

Isn't that illegal?

Leejjohno

Well it should be.

Only idiots can't text and drive. Fightingfan

I wanna know how much is cost if you lose one of those electronic keys. Fightingfan

In Europe it's all about manual transmission. Automatic transmission is still a niche thing.

Any real driver only drives a manual transmission.

Any real driver only drives a manual transmission.

l34052

that's the norm in the UK, if you drive auto, peope make fun of you.

unless your a hot girl, then it's totally cool.

I don't really care. My first three cars were manual transmission. The way I abuse my cars, it's better to have an automatic which sort of limits the abuse I can dish out.

The only feature i would really hate going extinct is the manual transmission. I hate automatic transmissions!

My BF and I are big Porsche fans. We are dissappointed that the new 991 are so high tech.

It lowers the hurdle for drivers and takes away the exclusivity