New Tech you didn't know you needed or even wanted

[Jay Walk]

Or grandchildren's grandchildren will say "WHAT? humans actually drove the cars? That is pure insanity"

 

[Ruger Rich]

Because of good fortune I was able to buy, for my wife, a very low mileage
Genisis. It was a car that was in probate for awhile and would not go thru
DEQ. Replaced four years of bad gas and it purrs. But . . . . . I can barely
tolerate driving it. It was originally equipped with every single option
offered that model year. The sensor count must be in the hundreds, It would
take a page or two to list all the doodads on the thing. And my fear now is
that their is almost nothing I can do in the way of service on it. So she's
happy and I am as well just driving old 4X4 F150.

 

[Lilhigbee]

the "keep in your lane" feature

Now THAT'S a feature I'd like to have,... on politicians!!

 

[orygun]

NEW new cars don't have CD players. i figure you'll need to link from a bluetooth device to get music? Maybe if you pay closer to 30K?

I paid closer to $40K for my new car (3.5 years ago) and it doesn't have a CD player, either. It came with a Sirius trial, but I never activated it. While it can be hooked up to bluetooth or corded synching, but that's not me. The radio reception is pretty darn good, though.

 

[Alexx1401]

NEW new cars don't have CD players. i figure you'll need to link from a bluetooth device to get music? Maybe if you pay closer to 30K? I SWORE we'd never have a car with one of them damned huge TV screens in the middle of the dash. WTH were they thinking with something like that? People watching TV while they drive. Preposterous and dangerous! We love the damned thing! Didn't pony up for the larger screen, this one has been fine. Going to estate sales is what we do know that we gave up fishing. Using Wifey's "smart" phone linked to the screen has been great fun. All over rural and city roads with ease! And when she gets a call on her phone, it comes through the speakers in the car. Nothing to interfere with keeping eyes forward.

One thing I'll say about stoves/ovens. Those glass top stove suck the big one! Hard to keep clean. Miserable to keep something cooking at a steady temp without it over simmering, or not simmering. A fan constantly running on/off in "Bake" mode. Not convection/air fry mode.

They stopped putting disc players in quite a while back. Highly doubt even high end come with one as so few want them. Most vehicles have had Bluetooth for a good while along with USB feeds, along with direct connect by 3.5mm jack. With all those options few want the disc player any more. My 2017 and 2018 both have all these options. Direct connect with cable, Bluetooth and both have two USB. That way we both can have a stick plugged in with our choice of songs on them. Both of our cars with the screen will not allow you to play with most stuff while the car is in drive for just that reason. To keep people from playing on the screen while they should be looking out the window.

 

[Joe13]

Because of good fortune I was able to buy, for my wife, a very low mileage
Genisis. It was a car that was in probate for awhile and would not go thru
DEQ. Replaced four years of bad gas and it purrs. But . . . . . I can barely
tolerate driving it. It was originally equipped with every single option
offered that model year. The sensor count must be in the hundreds, It would
take a page or two to list all the doodads on the thing. And my fear now is
that their is almost nothing I can do in the way of service on it. So she's
happy and I am as well just driving old 4X4 F150.

I'm with you - all of my vehicles have been used and I shoot for as few options as possible - makes them easier to work on and cheaper to buy.

My daughter bought a fairly new SUV with the screen and stuff and I have driven a few for various reasons and while it's a nice luxury to have all the 'stuff', I have everything I need with a phone holder and a Bluetooth earbud.

Push button 4x4 is about the only luxury on our SUV if you don't count button locks and windows.

 

[Alexx1401]

I'm with you - all of my vehicles have been used and I shoot for as few options as possible - makes them easier to work on and cheaper to buy.

My daughter bought a fairly new SUV with the screen and stuff and I have driven a few for various reasons and while it's a nice luxury to have all the 'stuff', I have everything I need with a phone holder and a Bluetooth earbud.

Push button 4x4 is about the only luxury on our SUV if you don't count button locks and windows.

All the "bells and whistles" is why I bought a service contract on both of the newer cars. Wife kicked a little bit about it. I told her we may well go the 3 years and never use them. It was still WELL worth it to me. There is so many damn chips in cars now that is even one drops can be shocking what it costs to fix. I used to only care about AC. If vehicle did not have it I moved on. Other stuff I could do without or pay to add on. One thing that I did fall in love with is remote start. Jeep we bought original owner had one added on. Dealer did not even know so we had no idea. I accidentally had it start the damn thing one night at work and I thought someone was pranking me
After I googled what it was I loved it. When I bought Wife the hot rod I took it in to have it added to it too.

 

[Joe13]

All the "bells and whistles" is why I bought a service contract on both of the newer cars. Wife kicked a little bit about it. I told her we may well go the 3 years and never use them. It was still WELL worth it to me. There is so many damn chips in cars now that is even one drops can be shocking what it costs to fix. I used to only care about AC. If vehicle did not have it I moved on. Other stuff I could do without or pay to add on. One thing that I did fall in love with is remote start. Jeep we bought original owner had one added on. Dealer did not even know so we had no idea. I accidentally had it start the damn thing one night at work and I thought someone was pranking me
After I googled what it was I loved it. When I bought Wife the hot rod I took it in to have it added to it too.

All of my relatives in Texas have had that since they invented them more or less.

It isn't nice to get into a car when it's been sitting in the sun at 115f.


There are times I would like that option but not enough to prioritize buying it over other things in my "list" lol.

 

[Alexx1401]

All of my relatives in Texas have had that since they invented them more or less.

It isn't nice to get into a car when it's been sitting in the sun at 115f.


There are times I would like that option but not enough to prioritize buying it over other things in my "list" lol.

Believe me I NEVER could see the point until I had one. Now of course if money was tight I could find FAR better things to do with $300.00 other than this. Being blessed enough to basically buy anything I want these days? It was a no brainier. Winter time its SOOO nice to have engine running to warm up and no one can hop in and take off. Summer, what of it we have here, same. Those few days were it actually gets hot damn nice to start the car and have the AC run for a few before I get in. Its another of those things that once I got it I got spoiled real damn fast. Decades back the first time I bought a car that had the delay wipers control was the same. Never really thought of it until I had it. After that if I bought a car that did not have it? Had to go have it added on. Amazing the stuff we could care less about until we get a taste of it huh?

 

[Mikej]

Push button 4x4 is about the only luxury on our SUV if you don't count button locks and windows.

Our '97 Subaru Loyal had the button on the shifter the engaged all wheel drive. Without it was just front wheel drive. That was a GREAT system! Seems to me they should still provide that. They probably did a study and found that the "Dumbing" of the driving public made it impractical. I mean, dumbasses like having "AWD" letters on the tail gate.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

It doesn't count if you're using black powder in it or painting a flintlock black.

There is a quote from an English officer during the American Revolution ...
He was writing home to say that this might be his last letter because....
...Tomorrow we are facing those American widow makers and their damn black rifles...."
He is referring to the American Long rifle...the stock was often finished with nitric acid / aqua fortis and with use and age....often turned black.
Andy

 

[Ben B.]

I bought a NV scope with an integral laser range finder. Spot the nutria, range it, and the trajectory solution is calculated and the reticle jumps to the correct place. Very nice for a .22 lr with likely ranges from 60 yards to 260 yards.

 

[Nosferatu]

I bought a NV scope with an integral laser range finder. Spot the nutria, range it, and the trajectory solution is calculated and the reticle jumps to the correct place. Very nice for a .22 lr with likely ranges from 60 yards to 260 yards.

Which one? I was looking at some of the ATN offerings for my .22 bolt rifle.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Needed....
4 years ago I bought a cell phone....my first cell phone
Only needed for work...and because the use of a land line phone is limited in today's world.

With that said....
I use the phone at my need...it ain't always on...I ain't tethered to it...nor do I carry with me at all times.

I dislike seeing folks on their damn phone all the time...especially when they are with someone....
Pay attention to who you are with...and where you are at....those moments are important...the damn phone , text . whatever...can and should wait.
Andy

 

[gmerkt]

NEW new cars don't have CD players. i figure you'll need to link from a bluetooth device to get music?

My son told me not long ago that this was a fact. "It's all streaming now..." I thought I was in Fat City when I got my first vehicle with a CD player. Now I have several Priority Mail boxes of CD's and I still listen to them. Both in the car and in my work area. Then there is the car radio, I listen to classical music on the FM band. But I have to wonder, with most people streaming or using their Blue Tooth, what is the future of radio broadcasting? Probably in streaming their programming rather than direct through the air.

I used to only care about AC.

In the PNW, we never much needed it. Maybe a couple of days a year. I drove my base model 1966 Fairlane for two decades without AC. Then I drove my then-new Crown Victoria for many years without using it much except on long trips. Now, I seem to have it on all Summer. The other thing is, I've gotten used to having AC to reduce noise and road dust. Which I guess I never used to notice but I do now.

the use of a land line phone is limited in today's world.

Yes, and if you do any buying or banking online, you need a cell phone to validate access codes, etc.

 

[Flopsweat]

Raspberry Pi. It's a little computer the size of a deck of cards. Runs on 5 volts from a USB port. You can run Linux on it, so it doesn't need a lot of memory or a big processor. You can do about anything with them, like set up a web/network server in your truck to connect a bunch of wireless cameras mounted all around the truck. Set an old tablet to automatically connect to that network when it's available, and put a web page on the web server that displays all of the cameras. $49. Well, and hours of fiddling. Dash mount for the tablet, another about $50. I'm thinking about a magnetic mount camera that I can stick on any trailer I might be towing. If it won't reach the Raspberry Pi from back there, for another $49 I can make another one into a signal booster.

Or with a little extra hardware, you could make one into a custom weather station for the house.

Or a file server to stream all of your movies from.

Or a VPN server.

Or a TV that mirrors what's on the main TV, but in the bathroom, that comes on automatically when you enter and doesn't turn back off while you sit on the pot.

Or a Digital Sound Processor that doesn't use expensive proprietary software.

Or all kinds of robot stuff.

Basically anything you can do with Linux, which is as ridiculously broad as it sounds. It has several USB ports and HDMI. You can literally plug a mouse, keyboard and monitor in it and you have a little Linux computer. Or not plug anything in and remotely connect to it over your Wi-Fi instead. Plus you can add a hardware controller board to remotely or automatically control all kinds of hardware.

I've got three of them laying around halfway configured for various projects right now.

And then there are Arduino controllers, which I haven't even started with yet...

 

[Alexx1401]

In the PNW, we never much needed it. Maybe a couple of days a year. I drove my base model 1966 Fairlane for two decades without AC. Then I drove my then-new Crown Victoria for many years without using it much except on long trips. Now, I seem to have it on all Summer. The other thing is, I've gotten used to having AC to reduce noise and road dust. Which I guess I never used to notice but I do now.

Even up here when I shop for a car that is a deal breaker. I can't stand having the noise of the windows down. AC can of course be added on but, the couple times I tried doing that the cost was high enough to keep me only buying that had factory.

 

[Nosferatu]

Raspberry Pi. It's a little computer the size of a deck of cards. Runs on 5 volts from a USB port. You can run Linux on it, so it doesn't need a lot of memory or a big processor. You can do about anything with them, like set up a web/network server in your truck to connect a bunch of wireless cameras mounted all around the truck. Set an old tablet to automatically connect to that network when it's available, and put a web page on the web server that displays all of the cameras. $49. Well, and hours of fiddling. Dash mount for the tablet, another about $50. I'm thinking about a magnetic mount camera that I can stick on any trailer I might be towing. If it won't reach the Raspberry Pi from back there, for another $49 I can make another one into a signal booster.

Or with a little extra hardware, you could make one into a custom weather station for the house.

Or a file server to stream all of your movies from.

Or a VPN server.

Or a TV that mirrors what's on the main TV, but in the bathroom, that comes on automatically when you enter and doesn't turn back off while you sit on the pot.

Or a Digital Sound Processor that doesn't use expensive proprietary software.

Or all kinds of robot stuff.

Basically anything you can do with Linux, which is as ridiculously broad as it sounds. It has several USB ports and HDMI. You can literally plug a mouse, keyboard and monitor in it and you have a little Linux computer. Or not plug anything in and remotely connect to it over your Wi-Fi instead. Plus you can add a hardware controller board to remotely or automatically control all kinds of hardware.

I've got three of them laying around halfway configured for various projects right now.

And then there are Arduino controllers, which I haven't even started with yet...

That reminds me...I have one of those little buggers around here somewhere I meant to setup Home Assistant on....

Tell me more about the weather station. I'm still getting a grasp on what these little things can do. I know, I'm behind the times.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

When I think of "tech" I think of electronic stuff. The last tech thing that made any real difference to me was the invention of the iPhone in 2006. Prior to that it would be whenever they made the significant leap to more reliable cars. Which I guess would be late 80's/early 90's or so. Laptop instead of desktop is another one.

In terms of firearms it's red dots. But that woudl be back to the 80's when we first had those on our firearms but in smaller numbers. Now that great motion activated 2 moa red dots can be had for under $40 they are ubiquitous. Nowadays you can equip 10-20 firearms with reliable red dots for what used to be the price of one red dot (still is for one go-to-war-quality red dot).

 

[Tony617]

New car brakes and swerves automatically for me while I am busy smashing icons on the big screen

My new Subaru Crosstrek has the eye sight feature and if I activate cruise control and press the steering wheel but it turns the steering wheel automatically and follows the road. It also automatically slows down for traffic as well. When cruise control is off, It also has the ability to take control if you start drifting outside your lane but I do not have that feature on.

It does tell me that traffic is moving and I am still stopped. It also does auto braking if I am following the car too closely. I had it auto brake just once even though I did think I was following too close. I have paddle shifters so I downshift when I am going down the hills. It also has a sports mode on the steering wheel which I sometimes use when I am getting on the freeway.

I have an iPhone and the car has Apple CarPlay so it uses my phones Maps app to display where I am at. It also use the microphone and car speakers to make phone calls which very nice. When I get an SMS it reads them out loud with Siri's voice.