scott wrote:
>> Sure, *new* cars probably do have a whole load of good stuff in them. 
>> But who can afford to buy cars new?
> 
> 7.5 million new cars were sold in the US in 2004, so presumably some 
> people can afford them.

Hmm. I wonder how many people there are in the US? Even so, that's A LOT 
of cars. You buys must be loaded! :-D

>> I hired a car once - I forget why - and it didn't have an ignition 
>> key. Go figure. (Was really horrible to drive though... I think it was 
>> an Astra? Might be wrong.)
> 
> I got a VW Passat like that once, also had a digital button instead of a 
> handbrake - never got used to it in the week or so I had to drive it.

I believe my dad had a curtisy car like that one time... Damn weird. It 
also had a dashboard that looked like the bridge of a starship...!

> I'm told that my new car automatically shuts off the engine whenever you 
> stop, and as soon as you put it in gear the engine starts automatically 
> again. Saves up to 8% fuel consumption in city driving apparently.  I 
> will wait until I actually drive it before commenting further, although 
> the fuel consumption figures are very impressive compared to my existing 
> car (especially given it's heavier and has 50% more power!).

I still can't figure out why they don't make a car that's electric, but 
has a small deisel generator in the boot...

(You'd only need to run it when the battery gets low. You wouldn't waste 
fuel sitting in traffic. Electric motors don't require a gearbox or a 
differential, so you'd get continuous acceleration without gear shifts...)

>> I very much doubt many people can afford to buy one of these things 
>> new though...
> 
> I see lots of new cars on the road - especially in England where you can 
> instantly tell the age by looking at the numbers on the licnese plate.  
> They look like ordinary people driving ordinary cars to me - nothing fancy.

Hmm. I guess I just come from a very poor family then. *shrugs*

>> Or rather, how many people are richer than me?
> 
> Based on your posts here, it seems you could be easily in a job earning 
> a good salary that would allow you to buy a new car.  You seem much 
> cleverer than a lot of people I know who aren't exactly poor.

Do I really give that impression? Interesting... Certainly when 
everybody tells me I'm an idiot for not knowing who Stallman or So 
Greats is, I don't *feel* particularly cleaver. :-S

Anyway, I'm hoping to get a better job soon. The problem is going to be 
that I have no experience as a commercial programmer, and I don't know 
any of the trendy languages except Java... [And I have to give 3 months' 
notice.]

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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