Doug_Tipple wrote:djm wrote:
You're sounding pretty old and cranky, there, Doug.
I remember those days vaguely, but they were already disappearing when I was a child. I remember when the first three characters of my old home phone number (the NXX) were called Parkway 8 = PA8 = 728. I don't remember why we had those names. I don't know too many people who remember them at all.
Three-, four-, and five-digit dialling still remain today for Centrex and PBX (business) lines. Things evolve for convenience, but with that convenience comes more responsibility for the user to learn/know how to operate the machinery. I suppose from that perspective, it would be easier on us to have someone else do all the knowing/understanding for us. But then we pay a price for that lack of knowing, for that giving up of our freedom along with the responsibility ......djm
I don't feel that I am being unnecessarily cranky for looking back on some of the good things of the past with nostalgia. For example, I liked it when cars were simple enough that I understood how to work on them. I could repair the carbuerator, set the timing, adjust the points, gap the plugs, etc. Modern cars have computers that do much of what I just mentioned. But onboard computers require special test equipment that the private individual usually doesn't have. Even professional mechanics often don't understand how to go about fixing a certain problem.
I agree with the last paragraph (above), but it is a double-edge sword that wacks at our freedom. If we fail to learn and rely on others to do things for us, we give up a measure of personal freedom. However, the complexity of modern systems often force us into this position whether we choose it or not.
To play the devils advocate here, I know and am very familiar with both "old" and "new" cars; there is a certain point that one reaches as a mechanic where, when you understand the basics of what is neccesary for internal combustion, you really do know all you need to know and the rest is just, for lack of a better term, learning how to do those basic things more efficiently (ya right, whatever
).
An end consumer plug in tool to read the computer codes in any modern vehicle is under $100, and quite frankly, for people that I help who know sod all about cars, that's exactly what I reccomend to them. ( Many brands of these "code readers" offer software wherein you can change the functional ranges of things like fuel/air, timing, O2 tolerances etc)
80-90% (IMHO) of all repairs on a car, even a modern one, can be done by a shade tree weekender mechanic with nothing more than a basic set of tools from Harbor Frieght.
I taught myself how to work on cars as a wee lad and have maintained that as both a hobby and an oft times cash cow.
I prefer working on cars like my 67 Mustang or my dad's bel air becaise of the simplicity of the designs used back then, but when all's said and done, working on my Mustang is really no more or less simple than working on, say, my wife's 2000 Mazda. In all reality, the ammount of material to understand in order to work on newer cars is basically the same (simply put, it requires thinking about the traditional automotive problems from different angles; as I've said, the basic functions of all automobiles are the same, they simply differ in component content), they just look different with their Borg implants and sensors and bulbous wiring harnesses.
anyways, YMMV [/devil's advocate mode]
“First lesson: money is not wealth; Second lesson: experiences are more valuable than possessions; Third lesson: by the time you arrive at your goal it’s never what you imagined it would be so learn to enjoy the process” - unknown
