A few days ago, I was speaking to a friend’s elderly father when he suddenly asked me if I could source him a car compact disc changer. While I am used to rather strange automotive requests, this one really stumped me. I tried to explain to him that he could stream songs from his iPhone or transfer music from his extensive CD collection to USB drives. But he said that he did not have the patience to do all that. A CD changer was a nice, simple piece of technology, according to him, so what if you could stream virtually any song from a smartphone? Recently, I also read about Mercedes-Benz integrating Angry Birds and TikTok into its 2024 E-Class models in the United States. That did make me think, isn’t it all a bit much now?
Make no mistake, I am the opposite of a Luddite. I love technology, and for as long as I have reviewed cars, I have actually spent time playing around with technology, especially the operating system. When I first experienced BMW’s iDrive system on the 7 Series E68 back in the mid-2000s, I was blown away. And kudos to BMW for maintaining a level of consistency with its iDrive system, which, in my opinion, remains one of the best user interfaces (UI) even today.
Not just in luxury models, now you have fairly advanced software systems in most cars by mass-market brands, and honestly, the reason I go through the systems is simply that it is an integral part of reviewing a car. Unlike, say, YouTube videos that just read out the dimensions. The software system, its various options, UI, and other aspects are, for better or worse, as important as the ride nowadays.
And such feedback on the technology — even reviews of the menu structure — is taken seriously. A recent example is the otherwise excellent Hyundai Tucson. To access the menu for the Advanced Driver Warning System (ADAS), you had to go quite deep into the system. A recent over-the-air software update has enabled drivers to get to the ADAS menu with a single click by using a central console button. And believe me, if you are driving on really crowded streets, switching the forward collision avoidance system off or downgrading it to a warning really helps.
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Deeper tech-auto integration
Did you notice that phrase in the last paragraph? I ‘updated’ a car with ‘over-the-air’ software, just like I update a smartphone. These updates could dramatically change a car, even from a performance point of view. As I have written in these columns, it is a matter of great pride that a lot of software code for cars today is written in India. But as cars get increasingly computerised, carmakers face an existential challenge. For instance, I prefer to use Apple CarPlay and Google Maps rather than the car’s in-built software. While manufacturers such as Skoda Volkswagen have added their own music apps to their systems, the cars are also compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Tech companies want deeper integration with cars. Perhaps I could ask Siri to adjust features on my car in the future. Some cars also have the option of adding Amazon’s Alexa and voice recognition as a layer.
Long story short, cars are increasingly becoming extremely technology-driven. While car reviews are not like smartphone reviews talking about megapixels and processor speed, I have a bad feeling that some of those things will be coming. That said, India is an extremely tech-savvy country where mobile data is among the cheapest in the world. And we want more. Think about it, for all intents and purposes, YouTube is the biggest broadcaster in India today. Yet, as in many parts of the world, the older generation rich — whose children might want wireless smartphone connectivity — complain about modern cars and even dislike the push-button starts that have replaced key barrels. Incidentally, push buttons were introduced because key barrels are usually made of hard steel, and in the case of a frontal impact, they could smash the driver’s knees. Safety, not convenience, was the idea behind it, in contrast to what car companies tell you.
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A fundamental change
The existence of an old and slightly out-of-touch generation is par for the course in human society. That said, maybe modern cars are really alienating older people — perhaps even middle-aged ones — with their intensive technology. It is not about preferring CD changers over streaming music through smartphones. Again, optical (CD/DVD) drives have been phased out in most computers today. The point is that the driving experience is fundamentally changing — you just can’t do certain things on cars anymore. A handbrake turn, for example. It is something you cannot do with an electronic handbrake, which is being adopted even in smaller cars.
Technology is evolving at a ferocious rate, and it is changing every aspect of life, including the driving experience. I’m sure if and when I turn 75, I will be complaining to my friends’ children about cars driving themselves and remind them of the ‘good old days’. Either that or I might remain a tech nerd and talk about how ‘mobility’ rather than driving is changing the world. Technology might be a force for the overall good, but it is taking something away from the human experience. Including the things I do for a living.
And, by the way, if any of you know where I can find a car CD changer in Delhi-NCR, please @ me on social media.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)