david-s.net - David Schlosnagle's Words, Photos, and Links

In case anyone out there is shopping for my quarter birthday coming up, I need Clocky, a wandering alarm clock robot! In case you haven’t noticed, I enjoy sleep, and I don’t like it when the alarm clock goes off. I’ve already had to resort to putting my alarm clock 8 feet from my bed so I have to get out of bed to hit the snooze button. I may even have to set the clock even farther forward (its already 16 minutes fast) so that I continually get up at the same time.

Clocky will wander around my room until I can find the evil sound and step on it to go back to bed. Remember, my quarter bday is coming!

I had seen this before, but it bears repeating. Honda’s amazing advertisement for the Euro Accord , which just happens to be part for part almost identical to the U.S. Acura TSX shows the attention to detail that goes into every car and obviously their advertising as well. (The Euro Accord comes with a standard body kit, clear corner headlights, right hand drive for the Brits, availability of a wagon, and a few other small details.) Also, check out a little explanation about the ad , and the making of…

This ad shows the ingenuity that I believe American automakers have lost. Every American car is usually the same old, same old, gas guzzling SUV. When in doubt, jack it up a few inches and you can escape the smog laws and fuel efficiency standards. Although it’s not just the American’s, Subaru is now classifying the Outback as a light truck for these same reasons. Chrysler makes some decent looking vehicles; however, they almost have a built-in obsolescence. This ensures the dealerships a high volume of repair revenue, shorter vehicle lifespan, and many upset customers. The Chrysler virus has already started to bring down Mercedes’ quality with their recent merger.

Smartmoney and Consumer Reports ask Would you buy that car again? This is something I touched on earlier, and I think this article backs up my argument that American car companies are losing the battle in engineering, quality, and loyalty. If you look at the lists, only 9% of the “Most Satisfying” list is from American companies (Chevy, and their brother Hummer). On the other hand, a whopping 55% of the “Least Satisfying” is from American companies.

I’m not saying Americans can’t build a quality automobile, especially if you consider that many of the Acuras, Hondas, and Toyotas are built here in the U.S and Canada. However, fewer and fewer of the American designed cars are as reliable and well engineered as their foreign counterparts are. Its time for America to stop regurgitating the same product over and over, and instead start to innovate in areas like fuel economy, hybrids, reliability, and safety.