Soon These Won’t Be in Cars Anymore

Say goodbye to several items that won't be in your cars of the future. Now, you have voice-commands, GPS systems that keep you on track and Google plans to have driverless cars!  According to "Fortune" magazine, these items are headed for the junk pile.

KEYS

Debra and I experienced this in December when we rented a car that had no keys.  You could use one to open and close the door but the ignition key was no existent. I gotta tell you I didn;t get used to that in the week we had it. Plans are in the works to do away with keys altogether. Voice commands and computers will operate on behalf of your safety.

CRANK WINDOWS

These I won't miss. What a pain. And, hardly safe!  This is taken from the WBKR Red Van, so I know from personal experience these will be good riddance. Can you think of anything positive about a crank window?

LONG ANTENNAS

These days with cell phones, iPads, GPS systems and the like, you need more than just an antenna. Really, for several years, cars have had the radio antenna embedded in the windshields. But, soon no car with have one of these whippers anymore.  What will we hang our flags on?

STICK SHIFT TRANSMISSION

There was a time when you bought one of these you could save money. Automatic transmissions were more expensive. The first car I owned (really my dad owned it) had an option for stick or automatic.

EMERGENCY BRAKES

There is a new electronic feature called "hill hold," coming. This puppy will automatically set your bakes when you're stopped on a hill. To release it, just touch the gas.

Ah, progress. For the most part I like these new creations. How 'bout you?