2010-04-05
post/497842757
The dumbing down of the American automobile has provided for people with passion and understanding for computers but disinterest toward driving to make a lazy analogy about the positive march of progress. It’s wrong. A specific aspect of the car analogy (the engine) is somewhat appropriate, but to say ‘the iPad is a car’ is to suggest that computing is going to become a dull, tedious, more dangerous experience, and I’m pretty sure that isn’t what anyone means. (Although, I am interested to see if the comfort that comes from a seamless, risk-free computer makes users even more vulnerable to phishing scams…)
I’ve used an iPad, and it was an illuminating and inspiring experience. I’ve driven an automatic car, it was shit. An iPad is not a car.
”Ben Ward: The iPad is not a car
The quote sums up the (probably overlong) post pretty well, but if you don’t know about cars, it might be worth a read. Personally, as someone who doesn’t drive, I wish people would stop using the lazy (and, as Ben points out, often troublesome) car analogies. Is there really no other technology of the last century you can compare computing to?
