The need for the impractical

The video is from the last episode of the 2009 season of BBC's Top Gear and it moves me.  It's not that I'm particularly taken with the Aston Martin V12 Vantage but rather about why it's important.

Although I don't reflect it much in these pages I am at heart an incurable gearhead.  I don't look at the automobile as a mere means of conveyance but rather an expression of the soul. 

We live in a world bent on the disposable.  Nothing we own is designed to be held, cherished or valued beyond its immediate purpose.  Our busy lives cluttered with the trappings of a rudimentary survival leave little room for the seemingly impractical.

I understand the need for the purely practical vehicle but it should hold no higher rank than one that evokes the emotions.  We seem to forget that life is a gift meant to be embraced not suffered.  The soul needs as much nourishment as the body but its frequently denied. 

And we suffer.  Our minds trapped in the narrow constraints of our profession.  Our relationships never fully realized, our dreams never known.  A sad construct reinforced by the demands of the mundane.   We tell ourselves that someday we will be able to live our dreams if we just deny ourselves a little longer.  The focus is on the destination but sadly we find ourselves unfulfilled when we get there.  All the time, all the effort for little more than a brutal survival near our inevitable end. 

Practicality has its place but we need to take advantage of all the journey has to offer.

For me, the sight of an early 70's pony car starts my mind racing.  Perhaps it's in sad shape.  Oxidized paint, a cracked taillight or mismatched wheels, it doesn't matter.   My heart doesn't see an impractical jalopy destined for the crusher,  I see a cry for rebirth.

And given the opportunity, I'd gladly play midwife...

Yes compared to a hybrid, it will probably swallow fuel like a drunkard swills cheap wine, it will require constant attention like a young child and will never meet the measure of practicality.  It doesn't matter.  I'll form a connection that feeds my soul and that's its purpose.  

Anything can get me from point A to point B. 

I want to be conscious of the journey and I want the opportunity to make it to continue on.  That can't happen in a Prius.

Much ado about a Tesla

Article first published as Much Ado About a Tesla on Technorati.

After 2 weeks it seems everyone has an opinion on why New York Times journalist John M Broder had such a disappointing experience with the Tesla Model S.  From his original article it appeared that the car of the future wasn't quite ready for primetime in spite of claims to the contrary and 13,000 pre-orders for the model.

Broder's extended test drive was meant to simulate a long distance road trip to measure the practicality of the car with a focus on "future" charging stations.  What he found was a vehicle and an infrastructure  unprepared for "the real world."  A reality underscored by woefully inadequate vehicle support and a mileage range that was overly optimistic at best.  Broder wasn't aware, for example, that the Model S batteries could lose most of their charge in cold temperatures.  An event Broder experienced during his  trip. 

Shortly after Broder published his misadventures with the car, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk shot back on the company's blog accusing  Broder of  improperly operating  the car.  Musk revealed that the cars detailed data logging showed that Broder appeared to be trying to run the car out of charge and deliberately ignored warning indicators. 

Musk appears to believe Broder has it in for the electric car and cited a previous article of his as proof.  In Musk's blog he quoted Broder,

"Yet the state of the electric car is dismal, the victim of hyped expectations, technological flops, high costs and a hostile political climate."

Musk again relying on the data logging of the car revealed that Broder had driven the car at the "excessive" speeds of anywhere between 65 and 81 MPH for the majority of the trip with the heater set to 72 F.  Which apparently is unreasonable for a long road trip in middle of a New England winter.

What's been lost in the dust-up is a very real truth.  The all electric vehicle may be part of our motoring future but it's not exclusive to it.  Should Broder have spent a few hours reading the owner's manual and mapped out his route more carefully?  Probably, but just as the superior music quality of the CD lost out to the convenience of the MP3, a successful all electric vehicle will need to be easy to operate.

The excuse of failure because "you didn't use it right" doesn't hold any water anymore.  The "real" world rarely offers up ideal conditions and consumer products need to be able to cope with that fact.  If you claim an average range of 265 miles on a charge but base it on ideal weather and traffic conditions at  50MPH speeds you're not reflecting the "real" world. 

After reading Musk's blog entry I can't help but draw similarities between him and Jimmy Fallon's patronizing Saturday Night Live character of Nick Burns, the computer guy.

                                             

Still "Not Advertiser Friendly" (update)

Denied yet again in another round of the YouTube monetization follies I gave the response below when challenged on my "commercial use rights" for the video above.  I won't get my 27 cents but at least my response makes me feel better.

"I am me, this is all you see on your little internet TV.  That said the only way you can disagree is if you find my content, "not advertiser friendly"

For an example of "Advertiser Friendly" Check the video out below.

Hmm, now this is interesting.  I just did that video as a test and you know what? It was monetized immediately!  That pretty much proves what it takes to get monetized on YouTube.  Either brown nose or have crap content.  Nice...