The beeper, instant camera and smartphone are just disposable devices that offered modern conveniences, but get tossed after a couple years. An invention that stood the test of time and changed the world is the cheap used car. They have changed how we live, work and play in impactful ways.
Personal freedom and the car are intrinsically linked. Cars get us where we want, when we want, without a schedule or ticket. Even an el-cheapo used car can be an escape after a dreadful week, or a way to escape a hopeless situation. The freedom of mobility the car provides taps into our desire for discovery beyond our own neighborhood.
The automobile doesn’t discriminate; it is the most egalitarian form of transportation. Whether a driver is young or old, enabled or disabled, and irrespective of race, colour or religion, the car can provide accessibility to any with a license. While many aspire for the latest and greatest car, even an old car can provide benefits.
Used vehicles don’t just impact the car market, they have major economic impact on the labour market. A rusty but reliable old car provides a worker access to jobs beyond their own small town. Customers can purchase goods and services from any business they choose, not just the only shop in town. Rural towns aren’t so isolated when amenities are accessible by a drive in a cheap used car.
As any suburban teenager knows, driving a car is part of growing up. No longer tethered to mom and pop for a lift, the clapped-out used car is an escape pod out of suburbia, allowing youths to meet people from the other side of the tracks, and explore the world around them, yet still be home by midnight on a school night. Car-culture is a platform for self-expression, and cars as diverse as low-riders and lifted trucks roam the roads. But even a rusted out ‘winter-beater’ can be driven with pride by its new owner.
Pity the smartphone generation, staring at social media as if real life existed in that 6.1″ screen. Years from now, nobody will ever cherish an iPhone 16 or Motorola Razr that their dad owned it. But a rusted out old car that mom drove is something to be cherished.
That faded point shows it stood the test of time. Every dent was an adventure, every scratch was an near-miss. Cheap, rusty, dusty old used cars are a connection to the past and a way forward for many of us.
Spoken like a tried and true car aficionado. Ps Am watching the fast and the furious rn.
I can only wonder how many people think the the iphone is a great invention. Just because an electronic gizmo is fun (or addictive) doesn’t make it great. Nuclear reactors and defibrillators are amazing inventions. Smartphones are toys.
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I think many of us reply on good, cheap, used cars for so much. I know my family couldn’t do their jobs without those.
while i think of my phone ad more of a tool than a toy, i take your point. the medical advances like staples instead of stitches, liquid bandage, medical equipment — those are widely beneficial to many people. just like everything, it depends on how we use it. a pacemaker is great but will keep you alive even in the case of a DNR, which isn’t so great. but our society’s attitude about extending life at all costs is another whole topic.
I just think that the current obsession with technology is a joke. People becoming millionaires be creating an App to remove background from a photo. Kids who’s life goal is to be a youtuber!
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Invention and creation has to be about more than just entertainment and silliness.
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In many ways I feel like the smartphone and the software on it (the popular stuff) is designed for low ideals. I don’t know how to say it. If a kid is supposed to do homework, they whip out the phone to check insta. A worker has a break between customers, open up tiktok for brain bubblegum. Truck driver is waiting for a delivery to be loaded, check out the bikini girls. Do you know what I mean?
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Kids used to want to be explorers, discoverers, adventurers. Now they want to be in a phone.
oh man, i get this. i’m also guilty. unless i set an intention, my nose is in my phone whenever i am waiting somewhere. definitely takes intention to stay connected to reality.
Yeah…Im not criticizing. Just saying that I think its funny that humams went to the moon, transplanted hearts and invented rock and roll all before the phone with candy crush on it. Yet that toy is now so irreplaceable in peoples lives taht we’re going to amend the bill of rights to guarantee wi-fi to all.
well said chris:
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CHRIS CHRIS CHRIS. i just finished the first film. Dom was driving a 1970 dodge charger. my *mom* had a 68 Dodge Charger. the very car i drove for my one and only road race. Now onto the second one!
Yes! Dom and the ghost charger. That car gets destroyed and reincarnated in so many of the other films in the series. Sometimes the ghost Charger’s soul ends up in the body of a new Charger. It’s like Silver… Lone Ranger’s horse.
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2nd movie is OK. Certainly made money. But before you watch the 3rd movie (which is kind of a stand alone flick) consider watching ‘Better Luck Tomorrow’ where some of the characters originate.
ok thanks for the input. i was all sad that the charger was destroyed and kind of chuckled that it comes back in multiple films. i am also dealing with the pre-emptive loss of paul walker. i’ll take your advice and watch BLT before i watch the third film.
Cool, cool, cool. I am certain you will hate some of the movies, when they just become too outrageous (and Dom becomes almost superhero like… a demi-god) but if you know this in advance you can just laugh at it and watch the movies for what they are; escapism.
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I wonder how the films will change your driving habits. When was the last time you got a speeding ticket? When will the next one be?