Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by pawosty 5374 days ago
I completely agree with this sentiment. Look where automobiles were 100 years ago - nothing like the vehicles we use today; vehicles that are designed to squeeze every last MPG out of a gallon of gas, or can keep us from dying in a major car accident.

Computing will improve. Computing will always improve. I think rants like this are helpful to point out where we definitely can improve, today, to bring on the future - such as making the iPhone dev and release process easier ;-)
1 comments
megablast 5374 days ago
You are kidding, right? Cars have hardly changed at all, still the same petrol powered devices with are a hard shell. Sure the car companies were forced to add in some extra safety mechanisms, but this does not mean much.
link
roel_v 5374 days ago
What? That's so wrong it's not even funny any more. If you look at the advances in efficiency (on all fronts - energy consumption, manufacturing, maintenance, ...), comfort, safety and basically all facets of personal transportation, it's nothing short of amazing. Today you can buy a new car for 4 months middle class wages and it'll be miles beyond anything you could buy just 25 years ago. (ok maybe not counting some things like leather seats, but apart from a few exceptions like that).
link
keeperofdakeys 5374 days ago
How often do cars break down now compared to 30, 50 or 80 years ago? I am pretty sure most of the early drivers were quite good mechanics, these days? Not so much. I'm sure Mr. Ford would find modern cars very foreign.

A chair, clothing and even houses haven't changed much over the years either. Most designs only change bits at a time, slowly morphing into unrecognisable things.

link
0x12 5373 days ago
True, but a minor head overhaul would have been about 1/2 an hour with 'roadside tools' (say to replace a valve spring) possibly during your trip to grandma.

Today that same repair would be a couple of days in the shop, requiring tens of thousands of dollars of specialty tools. Of course those springs don't fail as often as they did back then (a combination of improved materials science and engineering) but when they do the fix is out of reach, even for a trained mechanic without access to a shop with all the required specialty tools.

link
oldcigarette 5373 days ago
I don't think anybody carries a valve spring compressor in their toolbox. Plus you'd run the risk of dropping the valve unless you was really careful and good luck getting the keepers back in on the side of the road without a way to hold the valve up. Even then who has the parts with them to make this a 1/2 hour job? Cars are just as hard/easy to fix now as back then. Fuel injection is arguably easier to troubleshoot then a carb given the computers help.
link
0x12 5373 days ago
This used to be s.o.p. in the early 20's.

Have a read:

http://www.motorera.com/history/hist03.htm

The good old days of grease and spittle and they didn't even have duct tape yet!

That link is about replacing the entire valve (valves were a wear part, much like tires today, only with much shorter service life).

link
jodrellblank 5373 days ago
How often do cars break down now compared to 30, 50 or 80 years ago?

Major car failures in cars first 5 years fell by 1/3rd between 2005 and 2010.

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/06/more-reliable-cars.htm...

So, I'd expect a lot less than 30 years ago.

link