Originally Posted by
idssteve Is re-inventing the wheel every two years indefinitely sustainable? I'm old enough to remember when MANY U.S. auto consumers considered annual trade-ins "normal routine". Reliability, resale, supporting the company and the union, "keeping up with the Jones family" etc, etc played a role in perpetuating the routine... Each model year frequently enjoyed skin deep sheet metal "upgrades" that proved embarrassingly identifiable as last year's model, in six months. Lol. Neighbors would gaze with that "did you lose your job?" expression... Lol.
Sorta similar expressions resulting from pulling out a "hand"set that actually fits a HAND, these days... Lol.
"Size envy" didn't start with handsets...lol. I recall dear old gramps tying the doors open on his garage because they couldn't close on his protruding, 223" long, 66 Bonneville. A detached garage originally built in the 20s to house 124" long T's. I ponder early memories of him chipping ice from that stupidly oversized "modern" Bonneville's exposed back glass, every time I attempt to close my shirt pocket over a stupidly oversized "modern" "hand"set. Lol.
The fuel crunch, half dozen years later, led to more reasonably sized "more modern" vehicles that he could finally close those garage doors on. Lol. Will I EVER close my shirt pocket flap on a "more modern" handset after this Bold expires? Lol.
Guess my formative years were largely influenced with an appreciation of technology demanded for micro sizing. Oversized dinosaurs were regarded as "old school", back in MY day... Lol
As with other evolving industries, sooner or later, design teams might eventually occupy themselves with satisfying niches, between "5 year plan" product generations? ?? Amazing what can be learned thru niche pursuits. Imo fwiw.
Bonneville wasn't Pontiac's ONLY form factor. Tempest, GTO, FireBird, etc also pursued "educational" niches. But frequently shared deeper component designs.