This article produced a visceral response I don't fully understand. Throughout I was nodding and going "yeah yeah, that would be great" as each new feature was explained. By the end of the article I found myself craving a car with manual transmission, no power steering, analog dials, and about 400 horsepower. Weird?
Not at all. Some of us actually like driving, and the sensation of driving a car that's built for people like us. That's one of the reasons I shake my head when people in the hacker community deride those who spend their newfound wealth on cars: you'd think engineer types would appreciate beautiful machines more, but some people view a car as either a method of commuting or a status symbol, and they don't look too fondly on the latter.
Its not for liking of machines. I am in favour of gun control, but that does not stop me from admiring nice weapons, and watching people enjoy themselves shooting. But that does not mean I will buy a gun for myself.
I think cars have come to be seen as an ecological dead end, and that expensive cars are a pretty heavy burden for most people. That said, renting fast cars and driving them on a free loop is not such a bad idea! :-)
Why can't we have both? I hope to see commoditized commuting in my lifetime. My commute from work won't be on public transport (at least, not in the traditional sense), but rather in a car that is cheap to buy, cheap to use, and fully autonomous. This leaves me to spend money that would otherwise be spent on my commuter/family/fun all-in-one car on a car that does the fun bits of driving quite a lot better.
