Keeping Up With (All The) Traffic (Can Bear)

If it sells, we'll sell it. We'll make it; we'll market it; and we'll sell it.

Good, bad? They're irrelevant issues. How do they affect society? Who cares. And R and D are moving faster than the law, so we can do it, and no one can stop us. In fact they (the IRS and the lawyers) may like what we're doing. Or, a least, the public may. They're gobbling up (Thanksgiving is coming soon ((as I mentioned in the past, I write these long before they're published)) and I like to keep up with the season) all the electronic devices that are produced – especially the ones with the most idiotic gadgets and applications.

Electronics, actually, are (is?) a good case in point for what I'm saying.

Most of the population has some kind of hand-held device. It started with cell(ular) (tele)phones. That was several decades ago. (Portable communications units date back to World War I, but the phones we now use weren't very widely used until they were miniaturized and improved near the end of the last century.) Cameras, wi-fi, streaming video, and other applications were added, making use as telephones a less significant function. And they've swept the world. It doesn't matter where you are. Look around you and there will be someone – probably a lot of people – using their tablets, phones, or other devices to work, communicate, or amuse themselves. It's hard to know how the world got along without them. (Actually, some of us still do, believe it or not.)

The “social media” developed rapidly, relentlessly, and universally, and cell phones became even more the carriers of communications than they had been. But it wasn't as telephones – their main use was for “texting” (and “sexting”). And with that, eye to iPhone contact increased logarithmically. Leading to a problem with a far greater impact: texting while driving – “distracted driving.” And resulting from such driving there were numerous accidents with injuries and deaths. Safety was a major issue.

Of course there are numerous other causes of distraction – the radio, conversation with passengers, thinking, eating, looking at maps (for those who don't have GPS), putting on makeup, etc. – but none entered the popular imagination, and the centers of fear (the amygdala and places like that), as did texting. Something had to be done.

At this time it should be remembered that the automobile has faced safety issues before, but its reaction has been different. When air-bags were first discussed for example, car makers fought the concept claiming that they would raise the cost of cars. Economics was more important to them than safety. When the government forced their adoption, prices did go up (they always go up even without change) but the manufacturers then ballyhooed the safety of their products and made the air-bags into a selling point. Economics remained their primary concern.

Reaction to electronics, however, has been very different. Manufacturers have welcomed the revolution, and incorporated it into their vehicles. They're vying for dominance in the number of digital gadgets they can add. They sell. Blue Tooth has become a major component of the modern automobile. (Not even Pepsodent can stop it – it can only deal with yellow. Buy a vehicle. You won't have to wonder where the Blue Tooth went. It's right there.) And now they're putting wi-fi sources in the cars. That may increase the amount of distracted driving, but it's good for the industry's bottom line. And economics remains the driving (sorry) force. The most logical response to the safety problem would seem to be the removal of these capabilities from cars, or at least their blocking in the front seat (if they can provide bags to keep EZ Pass from triggering, they can block texting and other signals), but quite the opposite has occurred. They've increased the capability to ignore the world. And it's helped their profits. (Coincidence? I think not.)

Don't think the car makers are insensitive to safety concerns though. They just have another way of dealing with them – better and more complex self-driving cars. It may require an increase in the number of gadgets, but people can text all they want, and they can watch movies to while away the driving time. They certainly won't have to watch the road. Perhaps that will cause a further increase in car prices, but sales and profits are likely to go up as well. Everyone gains. It's win-win. It's even good for the banks that make car loans. And electronics manufacturers, insurance companies, and auto repair shops. It's the American Way.

If we hawk it, they will buy. And there's an app for it.