Re: As I posted elsewhere, but relevant here, too:

[www.theglobeandmail.com]

Absolutely. Why we drive a Porsche.

Great article shows where the enjoyment of driving has gone.

Great article, Roger.

Although, wouldn't the writer's hands get tired using the manual brakes?

In my young, single days I'd often find myself on the freeway at 2 am in my 1971 911T Targa. It demanded my full attention and kept me awake and safe on the long road home.

Reminds me of the transition from vinyl records to CD in the early '80s. Audiophiles couldn't wait for the CD: pure, clean, no noise, wow, or flutter, minimal distortion, perfect duplication. I owned a Sony CDP-101, the first commercial player - my friends (college students) marvelled. Fast forward thirty years and people crave the noise and warmth of vinyl, the glow of tubes, the hue of Kodachromes - was digital 'too perfect'? It seems the human condition demands a little 'sand in the vaseline' every so often...keeps it interesting.

"Perfect Sound Forever" but somehow it kept getting improved. Analog reproduction hasn't been sitting still either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2013 02:44PM by Laz. (view changes)

Quote
jlegelis
Reminds me of the transition from vinyl records to CD in the early '80s. Audiophiles couldn't wait for the CD: pure, clean, no noise, wow, or flutter, minimal distortion, perfect duplication. I owned a Sony CDP-101, the first commercial player - my friends (college students) marvelled. Fast forward thirty years and people crave the noise and warmth of vinyl, the glow of tubes, the hue of Kodachromes - was digital 'too perfect'? It seems the human condition demands a little 'sand in the vaseline' every so often...keeps it interesting.

I'll defer from commenting on 'sand in the vaseline' but I read the Globe and Mail article earlier this weekend, and I kind of concur. Digital takes out a lot of the character of music and images, and cars. While I'm not sure that I long for the quirkiness of a 43 year old car, there was, at least for me, a sweet spot where cars had feel, but technology kind of kept you at bay. I drove a BMW 2002 tii, which my father's friend wouldn't sell me when he was ready to pass it on, as he was concerned that my relative youth would be far too impetuous for the quirky handling of the car. I've driven a bunch of 'vintage' cars, I remember a late 70s 911 that I had thought about buying for about an hour or so, until my girlfriend at the time convinced me otherwise, and it was, at the time, a ten year old car for a lot of money, and I probably couldn't pay to keep it on the road. It had strange handling, the treacherous understeer to oversteer, and the weird hinged on the floor pedals.

In addition to my 986, I have a brand new '13 Audi A6, which while it is incredibly luxurious, cosseting, comfortable and competent it is utterly characterless. Modern automotive design is interesting as character is distilled out of most cars as a result of the fact that most components come from the same sub-assembly suppliers. Car companies, Porsche included, as primarily assemblers, as opposed to car companies, and cars have become highly digital and characterless. Performance is astounding from power delivery, transmissions, steering and braking.

I'm hoping for something interesting to show up in the next five to ten years, as I wear out my 986....

Instead of a "Sound Symposer" give me a "Hypoy Oil Scent Emitter."

The new MB S-class will emit a number of scents through the dash vents. Make mine 'Late-60's Alfa Duetto, with leaking head gasket'!

Oh, and the new BMW M5 automagically / digitally recreates engine sounds through the audio system. kinda... sad... really: [www.autoblog.com]