I'm not sure if you've read some of my older posts, but for those of you who have, those of you who will and those of you who will not, it's obvious I like utilitarian vehicles.
Something happened. Some fool made a Calculator, TV, Radio, Tape player combination called a computer at some point. It changed the world when it ended up burning peoples laps at coffee shops out in the sun, looking at pictures of birds online that are sitting in the grass a few feet in front of the nerd. Computers made an impact on the world, it's been a pretty decent smack. The problem with the computer is CAD. Computer Aided Design has allowed the speed at which items are designed and built to be dramatically improved. It's been such a fast rate that humans haven't been able to keep up with it on a basic level.
Un-Utilitarian-izing has been happening over the years as manufacturers have realized that there is even more money in servicing cars after their sales has justified creating difficult to repair designs. Although I hate wrenching on Audi's more than anything, it's not just the Germans who have perfected this art.
Brands, like Jeep and Land rover have improved sales, prices have gone up, and repair difficulty increased and complexity of integrated systems have skyrocketed. Really there's no blame as people see cars as objects of transportation and have less and less time to take care of their vehicles as they are off at their jobs servicing furnaces, refrigerators, installing siding, painting houses and other jobs that could be done by the owners themselves....?
It's an odd cycle, the system of complexity, as people want to work less on maintaining their own stuff, they need to work harder to afford the services of experts who are trained in repairing the complex systems in their un-utilitarian-ized daily items. I'm often told people are selfish, but oddly enough this is the opposite effect?
However, even that I question. As with an easy to do it yourself repair, people rely on friends and neighbors when they need a hand. The ability to avoid them and have anonymous exchanges and interactions with and/or as hired help allow them to easily avoid social interaction beyond social networking sites.
Odd how the world changes, people making small chunks of money from ever increasing small financial transactions. I'm glad I don't like pie, as I'll stick to my vintage rust buckets held together by love, wrenching and zipties. Seeing the world is much more important than paying for it.
Thanks Robin for helping with the post! Yaaay!
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“Seeing the world is much more important than paying for it”…I like that. solid post.
i like the beetle its very cute