Are We Getting Ahead Of Our Self

[R TUNE]

Had a thought while watching the news to night.

Are we getting a head of our self in regards to technology?

What brought this on was two new subjects. 1 being the Toyota situation in the USA (being investigated for poor quality by US congress, which is believe to be elec problems) as some of you may be aware a lot of new cars use electronic solenoids for accelerator, brakes and steering. No cable or rack and pinion.

Pretty much every car comes with abs, ESP, power or torque split to any of the driving wheels. Brake assist, downhill assist.

2nd was talking about how in the next few years (probably months) broadband speed will be fast enough to allow 24H TV channels of the net. (Although it is predicted that a few hours of HD TV would use the monthly budget). Then at the end it mentions 3D TV will be available in about 6 months.

Gee's LED TV’s just came out.

Think about this. In 2003 most cars only had 2 air bags and ABS, and were still pretty much driver controlled. compared to 20 (drastic example, but were the cost of a front end crash which sets of all bags writes the vehicle off that is worth about 60k, did see this happen to a SAAB 93.) and so many driving aids and now no direct link to basic control. all you have to do is change the solenoid to get better performance and response.

And in 2003 colour mobile phones with 2mp cameras were out and most TV were analogue and rear projection.

Just wondering what people think.

[Birds]

I'm more concerned with the learning curve of technology. I think it'll be so advanced one day that you'll need education just to learn how to "operate" life. We've grown up with technology as it evolved from calculators to the birth of the internet into mainstream use...but our infants/children have to enter a world where things like the internet are all the norm. How do you explain all these technological concepts to a child without starting from the basics that we learnt them from? Or will they pick up on it straight away?

[R TUNE]

True.

an 8 yo now knows more on operating a computer then what i probly would. HOW? they use them in school as standed (some schools).

amagen when the 35GTR can be brought as a first car. GOD HELP THE KID THAT DRIVES IT. esperly if it's moded.

[SABBAi]

I'm more concerned with the learning curve of technology. I think it'll be so advanced one day that you'll need education just to learn how to "operate" life. We've grown up with technology as it evolved from calculators to the birth of the internet into mainstream use...but our infants/children have to enter a world where things like the internet are all the norm. How do you explain all these technological concepts to a child without starting from the basics that we learnt them from? Or will they pick up on it straight away?

Welcome to the world of our Parents.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

just amagen that eh.. i can almost imagine it..

[mad082]

times are changing and we are becoming ever more dependant on technology. and the problem is that an ever decreasing amount of the population actually knows the sort of skills we need to survive if and when the shit hits the fan.

[Tony de Wonderful]

Aircraft have been fly-by-wire for years with pilot inputs being reviewed and modified by computers.

So no suprise we will see this stuff in cars.

Call me a ludite but I will stick with manual cars with minimal driver aids for a while longer.

I guess it is like why people still ride horses even though the horse is obsolete as a mode of transport.

[HEKT1K]

times are changing and we are becoming ever more dependant on technology. and the problem is that an ever decreasing amount of the population actually knows the sort of skills we need to survive if and when the shit hits the fan.

a mate of mine was given a book with a similar storyline for christmas. he said it was really bad

[CARSICK]

times are changing and we are becoming ever more dependant on technology. and the problem is that an ever decreasing amount of the population actually knows the sort of skills we need to survive if and when the shit hits the fan.

keep the pushbike for a little while longer

[warps]

Due to the high risk of injury from the steering column assembly, the aim is to have cars joystick controlled in the future. You just push forward to accelerate, back to slkow down, left and right to turn etc. The car will calculate the safest rates of acceleration and do the driving for you - you just tell it which direction to go.

That's a scary place to be in.

I don't mind most of the driving aids these days. I still maintain that I get as much feel from a well set up modern car as I used to get from my 60's and 70's race / rally cars 20 years ago. Remember, the ride doesn't have to be bone jarring, noisy and smelly to be considered a "proper" driving experience. The feedback from the Rex is superb. It still tells you exactly what it's doing, just doesn't bash you over the head with a lump of 4x2 (100 x 50 for the young'uns)

IMHO, one of the most important features of a successful race car (in the hands of a human) is how easy it is to drive. If course all the hard arses out there will scoff at that concept and claim that their oversteering, fire belching, cantankerous overpowered brute is a real car, and anything that doesn't scare you at least a dozen times in a session is just a hairdressers car.

[blind_elk]

True.

an 8 yo now knows more on operating a computer then what i probly would. HOW? they use them in school as standed (some schools).

amagen when the 35GTR can be brought as a first car. GOD HELP THE KID THAT DRIVES IT. esperly if it's moded.

And they can probably spell better than you as well! With or without a computer!

It's THAN - " ... computer than what ..."

It's PROBABLY - " ... I probably would ... "

It's STANDARD - "... school as standard ..."

It's IMAGINE - "imagine when the 35GTR ... "

It's BOUGHT - " ... can be bought as a first car."

It's ESPECIALLY (I think) - " ... especially if it's ... "

It's MODDED - " ... if it's modded"

[Priestley]

And they can probably spell better than you as well! With or without a computer!

It's THAN - " ... computer than what ..."

It's PROBABLY - " ... I probably would ... "

It's STANDARD - "... school as standard ..."

It's IMAGINE - "imagine when the 35GTR ... "

It's BOUGHT - " ... can be bought as a first car."

It's ESPECIALLY (I think) - " ... especially if it's ... "

It's MODDED - " ... if it's modded"

I believe we need a "grammar nazi" image uploaded as soon as possible

[archangel62]

I think the general attitude is to "idiot proof" the world. I think this is a bad idea. Darwin's theory of evolution, ie; picking off the stupid, got us this far didn't it? lol..

Plus, it takes the fun out of life. I tried to powerslide my mate's folks' VE S-pack... The thing's s'posed to have loads of power and an LSD, but even after turning off every electronic assist we could find, the thing would just sort out any mess you could get it into. Now imagine that with some moron behind the wheel, with no idea about cars, who wants to show his mates how fully hektik his new car is. Maybe he's never driven a car fast before - but this one shows no signs of losing control... So he puts the pedal to the metal towards a u-turn in the hills. What computer can fix that?

Wait, maybe Darwin's theory of evolution isn't gone, after all.

[funkymonkey]

I'd say we're actually in a technological slow down. we made massive leaps and bounds in the 90's when it came to technology, our biggest advancement in the last 5 to 10 years has been... the iPhone? GTFO.

We've got a massive rush of tech application of late, basically new ways of using old tech (like broadband internet, and combining javascript and XML to produce "web 2.0", pushing data over wireless etc). About frikkin time. Manufacturers and provider mentalities used to be too conservative to adopt radical ideas for fear of alienating customers. Nowadays they're expected to adopt it or simply miss out, so they learn to use what they're given.

Its about fuckin time we stopped letting the knuckledraggers in society stop the rest of us from leading better lives.

[Kujotk]

Fly by Wire techbnology is the worst invention in the world, the stupid car companies are not using "contactless" throttle bodies, basically this means that anywhere after 60 000km, your car could go into a limp mode on a bizzy highway or while going through a roundabout.... limp mode (all cars have one to some extent) means the car is electronically limmited so the damge the computer picks up cannot get worse by driving the car too hard or fast. Some cars like my euro trash are limmited to 2000rpm when this lappens, its not a fun feeling when it goes in limp as your darting across a peak hour round about, i concider myself a good driver who thinks fast, can you imagine some of these other people on this earth trying to get out of a hairy situation??? as mentioned previously i guess this is darwins theory again so not all bad lol.

in the volvo's their limp mode when the fly by wire electronic throttle body wares out is it can be limmited to 2000rpm, or it can completely loose power all together and accidents have occoured because of it.

electronic throttle bodies are great when they work, they utilise things like esp and all that boring but safe stuff, but when they fail it is more dangerous than a car that doesn't have esp....

[iamhe77]

And they can probably spell better than you as well! With or without a computer!

It's THAN - " ... computer than what ..."

It's PROBABLY - " ... I probably would ... "

It's STANDARD - "... school as standard ..."

It's IMAGINE - "imagine when the 35GTR ... "

It's BOUGHT - " ... can be bought as a first car."

It's ESPECIALLY (I think) - " ... especially if it's ... "

It's MODDED - " ... if it's modded"

Beautifully put

I believe we need a "grammar nazi" image uploaded as soon as possible

Considering we are all READING (or trying to in some cases) a forum, shouldn't correct spelling and grammar be used?

I know it makes reading a hell of a lot easier and really, it is not that f**king difficult!

Edited February 26, 2010 by iamhe77

[bigslick]

Considering we are all READING (or trying to in some cases) a forum, shouldn't correct spelling and grammar be used?

I know it makes reading a hell of a lot easier and really, it is not that f**king difficult!

No, no, wait. I love the sig

2003 toyota camery sportivo Daily driver

R32 skyline GTS25 current project

R31 Skyline DIED

16.2 sec @ 85mph (with 90rwkw and a slipping auto)

1.58.800 @ winton (auto)

118.6rwkws with k&n pod. exstractors, 2.25" cat back, 282' cam and nistune computer tuned for econermy

[warps]

I tried to powerslide my mate's folks' VE S-pack... The thing's s'posed to have loads of power and an LSD, but even after turning off every electronic assist we could find, the thing would just sort out any mess you could get it into.

And that's a bad thing?

Imagine an average muppet driving a VE S-pack with the handling, chassis balance and braking capacity of a HQ Holden. For the average motorist, these features are a life saver. Simple as that.

Not everyone is a highly skiller driver with reflexes faster than a computer. Even the best drivers make mistakes, have lapses in judgement, etc from time to time. At those times, it's nice to know there's something going on to save you from yourself. Of course these electronic aids aren't infallible, but to suggest that they are contributing to the road toll more than they are preventing it is just stupid.

I remember when people used to have the same arguments against seat belts. Just about every old codger in town has a story about the night his mates rolled the car, and it burst into flames. If they had been wearing seat belts, they wouldnt have been thrown clear of the car and they would have burnt to death. Instead, they only received 2 broken legs and a mild concussion