From someone on the Internet (SOTI), talking about the increasing complexity of the modern world:
“In the future, a large portion of consumers will want low tech, bullet proof appliances, vehicles, homes, etc. I want my grandma’s fridge, my parent’s home, the 1988 Honda prelude I drove when I was 16, and to retire from my high tech job. All my friends think the same way. It’s too much hassle for the benefit and nobody is happier.“
Me too. Give me simplicity over complexity every day of the week.
Won’t happen. People may want it. Industry won’t provide it. Too much .gov bullshit, too much industry inertia, and why make a fridge that lasts 30 years when you can make the same one that dies in 10 and costs the same.
A Mauser rifle and a VW Thing? Be still my beating heart !!!
Make it an Israeli Mauser, and well, Kim, I don’t have to explain that one to you.
(pauses to check out VW Thing prices … HOLY BROTHER OF MOSES !!! )
I do have a minor quibble with the final pic .. there’s nothing simple about the fairer half of the human species. Not a damned thing.
– Brad
Well……… you did upgrade from your flintlock, musket, horse drawn cart and Clipper ship.
Begrudgingly.
My Ruger Model 77 Mk II in .30/06 wears a Leupold scope. The cartridge will do more than I need and the scope helps with my aging eyes. It’s a Mauser action so I’m happy with that.
That VW Thing sure is attractive for its simplicity.
I just wish the weather was about 10-15 degrees warmer right now.
I don’t understand this.
Cars are better today. They last longer, get better mileage, have more power, and require less maintenance. They’re also more luxurious and safer.
I don’t want to adjust points, lube the chassis, adjust carburetors, have drum brakes and bias ply tyres. Manual transmissions are easier to repair, but need service more often.
Guns are more accurate, need less lubricants, are made with better metals, have fewer parts to go wrong and are less expensive.
Cars are also six times more expensive than they used to be, and most “features” will soon be “subscription only”. There may be less maintenance, but the per-visit cost is likewise six times what it used to be.
“… cost is likewise six times what it used to be.”
For example:
On my POS Chrysler, there is so much Government Junk on the engine that in order to replace the alternator, you have to drop the engine out the bottom of the car, and being an over complicated front wheel drive, the whole front suspension has to come off first and requires a wheel alignment after reassembly.
A couple thousand dollars labor for a $350 alternator??!!!
My BMW has a fucking water-cooled alternator. I’m feeling stupid here, because what cooling goes on with 210F water? Is the fucking alternator running on a coal or oil fired boiler or being German, is it gas turbine powered? Anyhow, replacing that costs a bundle because the alternator is under the engine and the whole cooling system has to be drained and bled.
Aaaargghhhh!
On older cars, the alternator was right on top, visible, and replacement was an electrical plug or lug, two or three bolts and done in half an hour.