When your car crashes without hitting anything.
A recent Wired News article really captured some of my feelings as a new car owner. It details the increasing frequency of computer glitches or malfunctions on today’s high-tech automobiles. With nearly every part of your driving experience being computer-controlled, what happens when there is a glitch? Something tells me this is a more severe problem than a BSOD.
I have had similar concerns in my new car. Not that anything has happened, but there is something very solid and reassuring about mechanical control versus electronic controls. With my old Toyota when something went wrong it was easily fixed on the side of the road with a can of spray lubricant to the carburetor float. In my new car, I’d probably just be stranded. I guess its the feeling of reliance that is tough to get used to.