I learned to drive a car in the 80s when stick shifts were still common (and preferable for poor people like me because they got better gas mileage and cost less to repair, something you might need to do a bunch of yourself) so I learned on a manual transmission because that was the smart game to maximize my options.
I'm glad that today most kids will never have to deal with the fear of sitting at a red light on a steep incline just knowing you're gonna spin the tires, stall the car, or roll back into the car behind you (while your girlfriend eyes you from the passenger seat.) A not just once, but dozens of times over the better part of a year, just to get to school or a friends house or my summer job while I got used to that transmission.
Today, my car's engine compartment is hermetically sealed and it practically drives itself. Would a kid today be able to answer my questions about or demonstrate how to drive a stick, or pull a tranny, open it up and swap in some junkyard gears? Probably not, but I don't think there's anything wrong with her not having any of those skills. IN fact, I think it's wonderful she should never need them.
Computers, the things I grew up with -- boxes you could build or easily modify to make neat things happen, are lost, just like my then new to me but 10 years used 1980 honda accord 5 speed. Sure, a few enthusiasts may still buy hot hatches with a stick today, but even those vehicles will be gone in a just a couple more years.
The computer, with it's user serviceable hardware and software is dead; long live the iPad.
I'm glad that today most kids will never have to deal with the fear of sitting at a red light on a steep incline just knowing you're gonna spin the tires, stall the car, or roll back into the car behind you (while your girlfriend eyes you from the passenger seat.) A not just once, but dozens of times over the better part of a year, just to get to school or a friends house or my summer job while I got used to that transmission.
Today, my car's engine compartment is hermetically sealed and it practically drives itself. Would a kid today be able to answer my questions about or demonstrate how to drive a stick, or pull a tranny, open it up and swap in some junkyard gears? Probably not, but I don't think there's anything wrong with her not having any of those skills. IN fact, I think it's wonderful she should never need them.
Computers, the things I grew up with -- boxes you could build or easily modify to make neat things happen, are lost, just like my then new to me but 10 years used 1980 honda accord 5 speed. Sure, a few enthusiasts may still buy hot hatches with a stick today, but even those vehicles will be gone in a just a couple more years.
The computer, with it's user serviceable hardware and software is dead; long live the iPad.