[TenTec] How We Buy Things

Bob Henderson bob at cytanet.com.cy
Thu Jan 1 00:34:07 EST 2004


Looks like just another shut up and glory in the perfection message, to 
me.  Though maybe the celebratory alchohol has made me unusually cynical.

Grant Youngman wrote:

>Last time I purchased a car, I visited a lot of dealers, did a lot of on-
>line research, test drove everything I though I might be interested in.
>
>Found one that met my most important requirements in a price 
>range that would leave me enough to eat .... the way most of us 
>choose what to acquire in the first place ... and then I bought it.
>
>What I did not do afterward, was begin a long discussion with the 
>manufacturer of my car, complaining about features that were not 
>available, about the location of controls and gauges on the 
>dashboard, about the performance of the engine, about the tire 
>pressure monitor that never seemed to work right, etc.  After all, 
>engine performance, braking, door locks, headlights, temperature, 
>seat position, radio, GPS,  and many other things are controlled by 
>several on-board computers that can always have their code and 
>parameters modified. So in a sense we all drive "software defined" 
>cars .. and more than one very high end automobile the last year or 
>two has suffered mightily from software bugs.  How about the 
>equivalent of "stops transmitting and requires a reset" on a tight 
>curve at 80 mph on the Interstate .. :-)
>
>If something breaks I ask the dealer to fix it.  I have not asked my 
>dealer to redesign my car because even though I bought it, I wasn't 
>happy with its features.  Not that they would have done anything 
>anyway but smile and show me the door, or try to sell me next 
>year's model. 
>
>So I drive the car I purchased, and it gets me comfortably where I 
>want to go, even though it is not perfect in every possible way. 
>
>Then there are radios ..... :-)
>
>Grant/NQ5T
>
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