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Jeep Introduces Pop-Up Ads That Appear Every Time You Stop
(tech.slashdot.org)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Mazda is supposedly one of the last major automakers that has mostly physical controls in their cars. Definitely at the top of my list for any future car purchases.
I highly recommend Mazda if this is something you care about. I had a 2016 Mazda 3, and now I have a 2022 Mazda 3. The infotainment is all controlled though a physical knob and buttons, the climate control is all physical buttons. I am not sure if the screen is even a touch screen... I don't think it is, but I have never attempted to touch it since I was so used to using the physical knob system in my old 2016. The physical buttons are why I picked my current 3 turbo up over the WRX I also tested. The WRX and the other Subaru's I checked out all annoyed me with forcing use of the touch screen snd buttons to change the climate settings. I hope Mazda never changes that aspect of their cars. Not sure if the other models also do this, but I don't see why they would.
Also, the climate control is all on smaller screen that just displays info with the climate system. The infotainment has nothing to do with the climate controls.
My 2018 Chev Trax may be the perfect level of tech for my tastes. Climate stuff is all physical, but it has a nice screen that you can hook a phone to through a USB or Bluetooth to pass maps/audio/calls through it with the audio and calls being controllable by buttons on the wheel.
The only actual car operation buttons on the screen are things you wouldn't do when driving anyhow like decide if it locks automatically or setting the default volume.
Most obnoxious thing it does is keep reminding me that the sat radio subscription is expired when I start it.
Mazda has been flying under the radar doing things right for a long time, in my experience.
I'm currently driving a 2012 Mazda3 that we bought new 13 years ago. It has been completely reliable while our 2013 Honda has needed some repairs. It is fuel efficient (40mg hwy), and it is still fun to drive. In the automatic transmission's manual-shift mode the shift lever goes in the correct direction for driving dynamics (pull back to upshift, forward to downshift). In the normal automatic drive mode it seems to use an accelerometer to downshift when braking downhill.
My very first car was a mazda MX-6 from the late 80s with a 5-speed manual transmission. I bought it with 180,000 miles as a cheap junk "first car" and drove it for another 40,000 miles over the next few years. It needed some repairs, of course, but it was fun to drive and did a great job getting me around the state while I was in the late college to early independent adult years.
Now I'm middle aged and my drive to work is just a few miles via quiet twisty country road. I think I'm gonna get an MX-5 Miata next. 6-speed and soft top. That sounds nice.
For years I thought a fast dual motor EV sport sedan would be my next vehicle (whatever the non-Tesla model 3 performance equivalent would be) but a roadster would probably make it more fun to get up and leave the house. Plus so much cheaper and, given the small amount of miles I drive, probably more environmentally friendly. It would definitely generate a lot less microplastic pollution form the weight difference alone.