Car advertising du jour......
 

TECHNO.

At least that's this season's big approach - witness the new Acura RDX ads - one is titled "techno commute".

In addition to pimped and ugly designs (have you seen the new Acura MDX and Honda CRV?), we're heading into the land of gadget-ville.

It's going to get worse before it gets better, as an aside, Acura and Lexus are seeing electronics problems once associated with the Germans - the Acura RL has been especially troublesome.

Hmmmmmm.....maybe cars are for driving, not playing around with bluetooth, nav systems, ipods, idrive etc?

Ed

just caters to another subset of rich people.

clearly the old guard would still prefer the more established brands, but technonerds newly into their money and highly attached to their blackberry thingys are attracted to the Lexus, especially the v8 hybrid with the 8speeds and whatnot.

:dunno:

all of these cars are too white collar for me. :D

Personally, I'm not interested in the techno crap at all, which is probably odd considering my age and profession. This makes finding an ideal car that much more difficult.
The lack of fancy gadgetry is one of the things that I liked sooo much about the S2000. And that lack of gadgetry is what helps to make the car so much fun to drive. It's just you, the steering wheel, and the road. I do miss the ol' girl.

You guys can bemoan techno gadgetry all you want, but having used Bluetooth in both my BMW and Audi, I have to say it is a fantastic piece of kit to have in a car. I don't generally make phone calls while driving, but to the extent a call comes in being able to answer the call without taking my hands off the wheel is a big safety plus.

If we make the important distinction between technology that interferes in the actual act of driving (DSC, active steering, etc) and "gadgets" (like Bluetooth, MP3 players, NAV), then I have to admit that I have no objection to them and even really like Bluetooth.

An even bigger safety plus is not answering the phone at all. ;)

But like I've agreed before, bluetooth is a big improvement in safety/responsibility, and if I had to endorse talking on the phone while driving, this would be the one situation that's closest to acceptable.

:+1

Though I've not tried bluetooth, but I'd like to have it.

innovation is murky at best, but it's clear that some things are attempts to pioneer areas so that it improves the driving experience.

if you read this month's Roundel and the article about the 335ci launch, it's encapsulated in a paragraph where the BMWphile writer says something like, "engineers are shouting lighter, faster while M-arketing people say more gadgets! more weight!".

the difference is execution. i don't, for example, think that LS460 or LS600 owners get so turned off by the all of the gizmos and tech and run to the S-class dealers. but if you asked MB dealers where a lot of their recent conquest sales have come from: it's from people who are turned off by both the styling and the tech-laded 7er. i think Lexus executes it better than BMW and it's not a product differentiator, but it is something that comes with the product. big difference, i think, when the consumer is looking at the cars in the showroom.

Personally, I agree with ff, the less techno crap the better, but given the fact that some people cant go without taking calls during driving, Bluetooth is fantastic. But then again, I probably would be shunned by most, working in the financial services industry without a cell phone.

That's a personal choice. Some people *think* that they can't go without taking calls during driving. What did these people do before cell phones were introduced?