Tread

From a USA Today article last November 11th (I guess they did not realize at the time the memory seat issues, or did they?).

Erik Berkman, an executive engineer at Honda (HMC), acknowledges that some of the new features in the Acura TL — such as locks that can be programmed to each driver's specifications — are an example of the market pushing new technology rather than responding to consumer demand.

"Some people see it as just one more thing that can go wrong," Berkman says. "When you're adding complexity, you are adding risks."

BMW's Keil suggests that even though some of the early adopters have suffered as the kinks are worked out, customers will win in the long run.

"The good news is that if it's working right after four years, it will continue to work for a long time after that," Keil says. "Electronics have a much longer life than mechanical parts."





Link to article about electronic glitches in cars:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...rrepairs_x.htm

UminChu

Today's gizmos are tomorrow's standard equipment.

Hybrid

A statistic from Consumer Reports surveys that's been posted here before:

An 8 year old Lexus LS400 has the same (better?) reliability than a 1993 BMW 7-series. Electrical problems are a big part of the difference.

Some makers are plagued by electrical problems, compared to others. Honda and Toyota products are at the top of the list (the good list). They can do things with the eletrical system that others can't get away with. I don't know exactly why. Better components, better wiring and connectors, better design, etc. probably.

Modeler

Of all the things in the TL that they could've picked as an example, this must be the dumbest choice! It *is* something that consumers want and it is *not* at all complex to use. In fact, many people would never even read the manual to find out that TL has such a feature...

denmoses

Nice article.

the fact of the matter is that its personal choice. I would much rather have the cutting edge gadgets/bells and whistles as soon as the get to a respectable degree of reliability. Technophiles usually get carried away when given a free hand in putting features...."feature-itis". And i do agree there is something called "too much", but if we dont venture out little with every new design, we would be stuck in the stone ages.

That being said...If there is a feature....it should work. As long as this criteria is met, i can live with any electronics. By "should work", i mean it should do what i/users expect it to do. electronics/software should be smart enough to do what i want not tell me what i want. Guess u can call it feature-ergonomics. IMO if u dont want to use a feature, then dont, but its good to know its there.

Example: lets see Msoft word for eg, that is filled with "features" most ppl dont even know about let alone use. But it is there for the day u need it and have to submit a 200 page document. But when the darn thing doesnt work, man does it have a PO ed customer base.

I am sorry get a lil carried away on this but this is one of the common problem/debates we face in a tech-savy industry.

denmoses

Every 04 TL owner who has walked in to the car with a bluetooth cell phone and gone .... "ooo that is cool" or anyone who talks to the car to change temp rather than press a button or anyone who looks up "nearest Italian Restaurant" on the GPS, just because u can....should agree that though electronics is error prone...the "wow" factor is worth it.

Zeuser

I'm still waiting for the day we get an LCD dash instead of analogue guages. Then us "techno-geeks", I'm a Software Engineer, could have some fun reprogramming the dash.

I can't wait to get my '04 Navi so I have a go at reverse engineering the navi DVD.