We no longer simply can travel from A to B – we demand constant entertainment and we connect to our social lives as well .

So the Car of this Generation are more like rolling entertainment and information hubs, plastered with screens and multi media players.

The Car offers Bluetooth, a Cell Phone Charger and an iPod Connection as well. And the Car itself speaks to Satellites for Navigation and it’s Manufacturer about it’s health.

Modern Cars are the first machines we willingly accept instructions from. We blindly trust their commands …

The 1970’s were so horny they supplied emergency rations with every car. Why is life so boring today?!

A recent strike in London forced many people to commute the old fashioned way: by foot or by bike. Substitute buses picked up the moving masses and many people remembered the fabulous idea of car sharing.

It gave us a glimpse into the future of mass transport: we eventually have to use our own bodies again or "share" more.

While oil prices going up again using a car will be unaffordable for many and even public transport will become more expensive as well.

Unless we change from a oil based transport system to a renewable energy transportation will become very expensive. But also urban planning has to be improved in the US and Europe to many cities have sprawled to far apart, making daily live more like a long commute / drive from home to work and back.

Cities and communities used to be more integrated: living, shopping, learning, entertainment and work much closer together.

Business Week: The Great Ethanol Scam

Turn food and greenery into fuel seems to be a loosing idea. Food prices have risen thanks to biofuels and too much other important resources are used to produce it (water and fertilizer – also made from oil):

Not only is ethanol proving to be a dud as a fuel substitute but there is increasing evidence that it is destroying engines in large numbers.

Ouch!

Cars used to be much smaller and used a lot less petrol. Compared to SUVs these old Autos look like toys, but they were much less thirsty.

Today’s cars spend most fuel on moving themselves forward – the passengers weight make hardly a difference.

The 1967 VW Beetle weight a mere 840 kg and a Toyota Prius NHW20 Hybrid 1,317 kg. Just for fun: the Hummer H2 weighs an amazing 2903 kg.

Each kg saved makes a difference and especially today we have so many tough , but amazingly light materials. So lighter cars should be no problem at all.

The Recession hasn’t started this trend – but it certainly will push it ahead. More and more consumer products don’t include more and more features – but less. They go for a new minimalism that is just enough to finish the task at hand.

I think it’s an excellent trend. We need smaller, smarter und simpler products – in addition to over-engineered thingies like the iPhone and the Hummer.

Small is beautiful was always a design mantra, but “This will do” should be another one. Products that will do the job without any bells and whistles – which save cost, material and energy.

I love Top Gear – although I hate cars and never owned one in my miserable life.

Here Jeremy demonstrates the real use for cars anyway – as targets for utter destruction with various "toys".

Enjoy!

Richness breeds complacency and egoism. In rich nations most cars just transport a single person from A to B.

Only a few people in industrialized nations are willing to use their own bicycle or any other less fuel guzzling means to transport themselves. Sure there are many people who use public transport – but those who use cars usually ride alone.

It’s such an irony, since most cars simply transport themselves, because that single person hardly makes a difference moving a ton of metal and plastic.

The best car in the world can’t protect from your own or other people’s stupid driving.

They never show such roads in car adverts – do they?

All that horsepower and metal just to stand still and breathe all that miserable air.

Just because your group does have more members, doesn’t mean that the size of your flock will protect the individual member nor the group itself.

Group mentality and herd behavior is often the certain road to doom.

Just in case you wonder – "G" stands for Ghetto.

*Thanks to Edosan for sending that one*

Just because more roads are built doesn’t mean the traffic will run smoother.

Just because you own an expensive vehicle doesn’t mean all the hot chicks want to play with your stick as well.

I don’t like cars. Don’t like racing. But I do like Jet Fighters and I like the mad crew of the BBC series Top Gear. This one of their coolest ideas ever …

Most cars waste most of their fuel to move themselves – the passengers are just an add on. Europeans have been for decades great consumers of small cars. Nice to see that India and hopefully China follow that trend.

You don’t need a bigass SUV or Hummer to get around. A small Tata Nano – or any other small car like the Smart – will do the job nicely.

Save precious oil and drive a small car – if you need to drive anyway.

Apart from computers everywhere and portable communication devices the future ain’t how it was sold to me as a kid. But maybe I am simply stuck in that 1950’s – 60’s space age mentality?

But who wanted to have global climate change and the return of religious fundamentalism in the future?

I want that vision of a happy, clean, secular, social, healthy and progressive future back! Damn it!

Would you buy a car from this guy – of course you would if the price was right. Car Salesman just want to rip you off like everybody else – and if you could, you would also like to save as much money as you can. We are all Car Salesman.

Who killed the electric car? Please go and visit the website of this upcoming documentation. What an amazing site and what a chilling insight into the workings of car manufacturers and oil magnates. The go and buy a big gun and shot the bastards!

Make also sure to watch the trailer first to get into the story.

Addicted to Oil? Use smaller cars to reduce consumption and traffic jams. You don’t need a huge Hummer or Minivan to drive around the blog. Little cars are very popular in Europe and Japan – let’s hope Americans learn that lesson as well – plus let’s hope that India and China never develops a hunger for MegaCars.

More? Isetta @ Wikipedia