@futurebird@sauropods.win I've thought about this a lot since I got here.

Everyone is going around in private rooms that turn the people around you into obstacles in your way and reduce most daily interactions to a beep meaning "out of my way!", as opposed to "good morning, excuse me, may I?" in public transport.

Of course people feel isolated and lonely.

@mzedp@plasmatrap.comhttps://youtu.be/e_oWmY_mkCA
amazingly the people at this car company were so car-brained that they filmed this whole ad without realising that they were saying exactly that.
@futurebird

Are these people really so fragile they need to be packed in a padded box like brittle bone China just to drive to the store? Would a summer breeze knock you over? Would the shouts of children at the playground shatter your ears? Is the sunlight on a bright summer day too bright for your eyes?

Is life too much for you?

@futurebird

Many of those oversized cars have a camera to see what's in front of the driver.

But soon or later the screen will start to show ads instead of the road, until the driver will pay for a subscription to the service…

Are these people really so fragile they need to be packed in a padded box like brittle bone China just to drive to the store? Would a summer breeze knock you over? Would the shouts of children at the playground shatter your ears? Is the sunlight on a bright summer day too bright for your eyes?

Is life too much for you?

@GustavinoBevilacqua

People talk about "screen time" but looking at a screen to see something that you ought to be able to see by, well, looking right at it with your eyes is a new level of unreality.

Will people allow themselves to be sealed off from the world so completely that *nothing* is experienced directly?

(That said, rear-view cameras are kind of awesome, but this tech has only really been developed so much because of the poor sight-lines of what passes for car design.)

@futurebird

FYI, here's a Mercedes Benz video ad from 1990 that might answer some of your questions.

Designed to be openly racist, too, down to its very core (note the attitudes shown in every mini-event; the sound design; how the locals get pictured). It's title is "Willkommen zu Hause" (Welcome Home), and it is set in – Tunesia.

Invidious

YouTube

@futurebird

People WANT to live in Matrix pods.

@katzenberger

I understand from the way it's put together I'm supposed to sympathize with the guy but I just watched thinking "wow what a huge asshole" the whole time.

And the ad is racist, but in that way where if you discuss it eventually someone will ask "but how is it racist? he just wants quiet?" and you will feel so exhausted by the question you just let the whole thing go.

@futurebird @katzenberger at least now you could directly compare it to some of those god-awful Loop earplugs ads which at least are just, like, random children you don't see making a noise in a supermarket. "Other cultures disgust me" is a TAKE.

@katzenberger

I understand from the way it's put together I'm supposed to sympathize with the guy but I just watched thinking "wow what a huge asshole" the whole time.

And the ad is racist, but in that way where if you discuss it eventually someone will ask "but how is it racist? he just wants quiet?" and you will feel so exhausted by the question you just let the whole thing go.

@futurebird

Most of the German comments under the video are along the lines of "this is like every average Western European city today", etc.

The car enables you to say "get off my land" wherever you choose to. Even abroad. Utter denial and distortion of reality, but on wheels.

Are these people really so fragile they need to be packed in a padded box like brittle bone China just to drive to the store? Would a summer breeze knock you over? Would the shouts of children at the playground shatter your ears? Is the sunlight on a bright summer day too bright for your eyes?

Is life too much for you?

@katzenberger

"this is like every average Western European city today"

This is what real cities have always been since the dawn of time and if you don't like it? You don't really like cities ... or civilization.

@futurebird I really like to shield myself from other humans, so I get that part, but I don't like to kill them. For shopping a cargo bike, sunglasses and hearing protection are fine. But for the transport of tools and family I like something bigger.

The funky thing is that it's virtually impossible to buy a vehicle that's doing what I want that isn't also designed to murder humans.

Why do even electric vehicles have the 'FU just die' fronts??

I blame the ads of the evil oligarchs for this.

@futurebird @katzenberger at least now you could directly compare it to some of those god-awful Loop earplugs ads which at least are just, like, random children you don't see making a noise in a supermarket. "Other cultures disgust me" is a TAKE.

The windows are tinted, or at least shaded, the car is so tall and high you can hardly see. The car is sound insulated and there is even noise canceling so nothing from the outside world can reach you in there.

And maybe the computer will drive for you sometimes too. It's like you never left your house. The world cannot touch you. You are alone.

Do we ever talk about how cars make people lonely?

@Flisty@mstdn.social @futurebird@sauropods.win @katzenberger@tldr.nettime.org I bought a pair of those a million years ago for live music shows, but the amount of ads is making me regret my choice.

Are these people really so fragile they need to be packed in a padded box like brittle bone China just to drive to the store? Would a summer breeze knock you over? Would the shouts of children at the playground shatter your ears? Is the sunlight on a bright summer day too bright for your eyes?

Is life too much for you?

@iwein

Too many of the people who might want more reasonable vehicles have just opted out of having one at all. Carmakers don't care what someone like me thinks about their cars as I will never buy one.

If I had to I expect it would be a very annoying process.