Slashdot Mirror
VW Goes USB
MadCow42 writes "According to this story on CNN, Volkswagen is going to offer in-dash USB connections on several models as of this December and others next year. This function is to let you connect your MP3 Player or USB drive to play your tunes on the car stereo! The bad news? I just got my Touran... sans USB."
...despite all of the techno-whizzy gadgets, they're still powered by refined petroleum products.
a car that brakes when you push on the brakes pedal.
:)
I'm all for devices that helps to drive the car, but only as long as, in last resort, you've got physical control on the car. In France we've seen several cars where the "cruise control" when berzerk and the car wouldn't decelerate anymore, people getting locked in their car (usually there's a manual procedure to open the windows/sunroof but not everybody is aware of this, etc.), etc. To summarize, lots of stupid, dumb "electronic failures" (really software failures 99% of the time).
Can you trust such a manufacturer to safely implement USB support?
Recently I had a Land Rover that wouldn't want to pass the 2nd gear and whose 1st gear was "hi" only when I was selecting "low 4wd" (got "fixed" by a reset of the device at the dealer). So this Land Rover has an nearly bullet-proof engine, but is f*scked up by stupid electronics. Sad. Really.
All I can say is "What The F*cking F*ck?" (I didn't coined that question).
I, for one, don't welcome our new "let's build cars full of gizmos that needs to be rebooted as often as certain mainstream OSes" overlords.
I may be part of a small minority, but there *are* people who wants a car that simply brakes when you hit the brakes pedal (I accept a device, like ABS, that helps, but only as long as if it fails the pedal still acts on the brake). Even if it's a niche market there are people, today, who buys, says, a Lotus Elise... A car that brakes when you push on the brakes pedal.
By the way, I'd like a car where all primary functions (moving, switching gears, braking, turning, etc.) were on an completely independant system than the gizmos. But it's not the way it is for the moment: "oh, you activated the wipers three seconds after switching to 3rd gear, that causes an IllegalStateException!".
So, well... consumer, have fun with your gizmo'ed VW TDIxtv-USB 2.0 "please reboot me", I'll stick with my late 80's 911 carrera (where the only piece of electronic controls the injection)...
And I hope you don't forget to ph34r 3133t h4x0rs for they'll be "own0r1ng y0ur piece-of-consumer-crap by Bluetooth" at the traffic light.
On a positive note: don't worry, that's just the beginning. Soon you'll get spam and "automatic updates" even if you didn't ask for it!
Everytime I run into someone with a late model VW, I ask them how they like it, and guess what's the first thing they say?
"Love it!"
Not trying to say that you haven't had problems, but not everyone has them. I haven't owned anything but VWs and they've never given me any real trouble, which is one reason I keep coming back.
My current Jetta, a 2003 GLI, has had two problems: a wiper relay died, and the brake light switch died. I guess I could complain, but on a system as complex as a car, failures are going to happen, and those seem rather minor to me. 40K miles.
My last car as a '98 Jetta Wolfsburg Edition. I can't remember ever having a problem with it. Sold it after someone ran into me; didn't total the car, but I wanted the new GLI. 120K miles at time of sale; who knows how many now, but I still see it on the road around town.
The car before that was an '88 Jetta GLI that I bought used while working at a VW shop. The owner's daughter didn't appreciate it and he didn't need it, so I got it cheap. I gave it a tuneup and replaced the steering rack, and between myself and friends who passed it around after I was done with it, put about 250K miles on it trouble-free.
Before that, an '84 Scirroco. A bit underpowered, I guess, but a nice car. It had some electrical problems and fifth gear broke due to lack of oil (common problem on these). I guess a new tranny is a major problem, but I believe that was caused by improper maintenance.
Those are just the water cooled cars. I've owned a few of the aircoolers, as well, and still own a '66 Bug.
robert