Beep Boop: The Car Tech Wars of the 1980s

Comments · 669

• CA

  @carlseiler6441 · 2 months ago

  Came here for the "door is a jar" joke. Left satisfied.

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• KA

  @kashgari_saka · 2 months ago

  The door is a jar 🗣🧂🧂🧂

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• MA

  @marcusbexhill · 2 months ago

  I had a MG Maestro with voice alert, I remember, when I was driving down a steep hill, it announced "brakes require service" I almost had a heart attack

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• CR

  @crunchysuperman · 2 months ago (edited)

  I remember in our '85 New Yorker, you could slam the door really hard and the voice command would glitch out and repeat every single line of speech it had in memory, even with the car off & the keys out.

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• FO

  @Foxonian · 2 months ago

  The Chrysler voice alert system was developed by Texas Instruments. That's why it sounded a lot like the Ti child toy, "Speak and Spell".

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• AB

  @ablak3712 · 2 months ago

  We are going in circles. I hope analog cars will make a comeback

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• MA

  @maxpayne2574 · 2 months ago

  I had a car with a digital dash. It was imposable to see when the sun hit it.

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• JU

  @justas525 · 2 months ago

  It's a good day when Ed uploads !!. Keep them coming 🤝🤝

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• WO

  @wollaminfaetter · 2 months ago (edited)

  The 80s was all fun and games. Now we live in a permanent state of hangovers.

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• TY

  @tylaranderson8559 · 2 months ago

  Love the Old Highway footage,  where you can see and distinguish cars different makes and models,  unlike today where they all look the same.

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• MA

  @MarijnRoorda · 2 months ago

  Finally, it only took 98 episodes to get to the good part of the automotive industry! I can't wait for the episode with french curvy cars, or french bouncy cars, or french ducks. Keep 'm comin Ed!

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• DJ

  @djplong · 2 months ago (edited)

  This one is right up my alley. &nbsp;As a lifelong software engineer, when digital dashboards came out, I was *hooked*. &nbsp;My first one was on a 1985 Chrysler Laser XT Turbo (Think &quot;Dodge Daytona&quot;). &nbsp;It had everything digital in the dash. &nbsp;The main cluster, all digital with an LED &quot;ladder&quot; for a tach. &nbsp;At the top of the middle of the console was &quot;the computer&quot; and was much like the Cadillac one shown, but more advanced - lots of messages could be displayed. &nbsp;And, yes, it had the voice. &nbsp;After about 3 days, I hit the switch in the glove compartment to shut the damn thing up! &nbsp;To be honest, I loved the car - and 5-speeds plus a turbocharger made it a fun car to drive. &nbsp;The next one was my 1989 Olds Toronado Trofeo. &nbsp;Color touch screen - except you didn&apos;t HAVE to touch it because they were experimenting with some tech that was like the electric eyes that would open doors. &nbsp;This one, however, had several beams making a &quot;grid&quot; and, when your finger broke two of the &apos;beams&apos;, it figured out what you were trying to touch. &nbsp;They had a compass, the radio and climate control (adjusted via 6 buttons/rocker switches on the steering wheel - almost Speed Racer-like). &nbsp;If you left your turn signal on too long, the center screen would put up two arrows and &quot;Turn Signal On?&quot;<br><br>And the constant dinging when you were low on fuel. &nbsp;The &apos;geniuses&apos; at Oldsmobile forgot that gas sloshes in a tank. &nbsp;So, you would get a &quot;Low gas&quot; warning chime when you went around a corner. &nbsp;For the next 50-70 miles you would have constant chiming and the color screen flipping back and forth between the &quot;Low Gas&quot; screen and whatever you had it set to - over and over and over again - it was MADDENING!.<br><br>....and now I drive a Tesla... &nbsp;Like I said - lifelong software engineer going back to the mid 1970s..

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