The Low-Tech Times

In a development The Low-Tech Times sees as bad news, Chrysler will offer wireless Internet access in its 2009 models. Ken Bensinger’s Los Angeles Times article reports on serious safety concerns:

“Surfing the Web is something people really don’t have any business doing while they drive,” said Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Assn. “It’s definitely a distraction.”

His and other safety groups say the only way to drive safely is without using any electronic devices, headset or no.

Chrysler says that when the car is in motion, the service is intended to be used only by passengers. The privately held company acknowledges, however, that there is no way to prevent a driver from steering with one hand and Web surfing with the other.

I do not understand the obsessive demand for always-on, always-connected Internet access. Do people realize that there is more to life than the Internet?

Last Thursday, I went out of my way to stop at the Birchmere on the way home from work to purchase tickets for an upcoming bluegrass show featuring Chatham County Line and Crooked Still.

While buying the tickets in person took a little of my time and some gas to get there, I refuse to pay the $8 service charge per ticket that I would have had to pay if I ordered through Ticketmaster.com. It was a principled decision.

I drove to Tennessee last weekend on I-81 and was annoyed at times by drivers operating with cruise control. They set their cruise control and stay in the left lane, often riding alongside 18-wheelers blocking everyone behind them.

Do we really need to add complexity and cost to automobiles in the form of hi-tech automated cruise control? Are people so lazy that they cannot operate a gas pedal?

Aside from my philosophical objections to cruise control, the unnecessary automotive feature wastes gas. With gas prices at $4 per gallon, The Low-Tech Times recommends not using cruise control. When climbing hills, cruise control does the equivalent of mashing down on the accelerator to maintain speed. Drivers would be better off letting their cars slow down on upgrades by not giving it more gas, so long as the engine does not begin to lug. If you have an automatic transmission, practice the art of cresting a hill without the car needing to downshift. This advice applies in situations when there is a passing lane or no one is behind you; otherwise, please do not obstruct the highway with low speeds.

As an aside, I caught myself saying in Tennessee, “Wow, gas for only $3.87!” These are interesting times indeed. I remember fueling up in 1997 for just $0.79 per gallon in Georgia.