I was born in the mid-60s and my father bought a new car when I was a baby. I ended up with that car as my first teenager beater. I had a few other used cars and then bought a new 1992 Buick which I'm still driving. My SO and I were talking the other night about how much things have changed in the time I have had my Buick compared to the change from my 1960s Chevy to my Buick.
There are definite differences between the 60s Chevy and the 92 Buick, but they essentially are the same core technology. The stock radio was nicer, fuel economy was better because of onboard computers, and the Buick had an early version of the remote common for most cars today. However, the engine was the same small block V-8, even the keys were the same shape (rounded one for the doors and trunk and square one for the ignition).
If I had been a 60s driver and came across a 1992 car that fell through a crack in time, I could have figured out the car pretty easily. However, if I had been presented with a Tesla Model S in 1992, I would have sat there a while trying to figure the thing out. My SO thought she would have figured it out (she's a car lover and good at figuring out new technology), but I pointed out knowing what she knew in 1992, how would she start the Tesla?
I had used some early touch screens on some HP lab equipment by 1992, so I would have eventually figured out the console, but it would take me a while. The console is far beyond what was available then. I would then probably be tearing the car apart trying to find the 10 cu ft of RAM needed to run that console! My home computer then had a whopping 640 KB of RAM and a 20 MB hard drive. An average memory stick has 1000X that drive capacity today.
So over the life of the car I'm driving now, car technology has advanced much, much further than it did between the time I was born and 1992 which was about the same time frame.
Just and observation on how far the Model S has pushed automotive technology.
There are definite differences between the 60s Chevy and the 92 Buick, but they essentially are the same core technology. The stock radio was nicer, fuel economy was better because of onboard computers, and the Buick had an early version of the remote common for most cars today. However, the engine was the same small block V-8, even the keys were the same shape (rounded one for the doors and trunk and square one for the ignition).
If I had been a 60s driver and came across a 1992 car that fell through a crack in time, I could have figured out the car pretty easily. However, if I had been presented with a Tesla Model S in 1992, I would have sat there a while trying to figure the thing out. My SO thought she would have figured it out (she's a car lover and good at figuring out new technology), but I pointed out knowing what she knew in 1992, how would she start the Tesla?
I had used some early touch screens on some HP lab equipment by 1992, so I would have eventually figured out the console, but it would take me a while. The console is far beyond what was available then. I would then probably be tearing the car apart trying to find the 10 cu ft of RAM needed to run that console! My home computer then had a whopping 640 KB of RAM and a 20 MB hard drive. An average memory stick has 1000X that drive capacity today.
So over the life of the car I'm driving now, car technology has advanced much, much further than it did between the time I was born and 1992 which was about the same time frame.
Just and observation on how far the Model S has pushed automotive technology.