26 MAY 2022 WorldWide Drilling Resource® technology, and the 5G technology is not backward compatible with 3G. The Drive goes on to list a number of cars which could be impacted by this connectivity “upgrade”. The industry calls this action “sunsetting.” Features that rely on the 3G signal - like traffic navigation and location data, Wi-Fi hotspots, emergency call services, remote lock/unlock functions, smartphone app connectivity, voice assistants, and more - will stop working. Car manufacturers are doing a number of things to deal with this change. Some are offering retrofits to 5G or something 5G compatible - for a price, of course. Some are performing retrofits at no cost - often with conditions. Some are choosing not to retrofit at all. If you own one of the affected cars, this is likely to reduce your car’s value considerably because part of it has become unusable. I’m a certifiable, dyed-in-the-wool techie. Computers are my life and I’ve been building “my brand” of computer for over 20 years. I think computers which are properly designed and applied are one of the greatest benefits to mankind the world has ever known, for a lot of reasons. What about me and the cars I own? I don’t have computers in my vehicles. By this, I mean I have minimal computer control in both of my vehicles. I own a 1993 car with computer controlled ignition and fuel injection, and a 1976 pickup truck that only has electronic ignition and nothing else electronic. The computers don’t run the car; I run the car. The computers just make the car run better and more reliably. I don’t need or want all of the bells and whistles most new cars have as unnecessary electronic devices only serve to increase costs and decrease reliability. It’s great for the car builder, but not so great for the car owner. Electronic ignition provides a much more accurate and hotter spark to increase engine performance and reduce exhaust emissions. After the initial research and development (R&D), that type of ignition system is also cheaper to make, as well as being considerably more reliable and resistant to moisture and dirt found in the real world. Electronic fuel injection uses a computer to provide the correct fuel/air mixture to the engine under a wide variety of conditions (idle speed, full speed, cold weather, hot weather, etc.). This results in greater power and better fuel economy, as well as lower exhaust emissions. And, like electronic ignition, after the initial R&D, it is actually cheaper to build than a conventional carburetor, and they perform better and more reliably. Now that’s how to use computers. These are used in stand-alone applications that will not only result in a better product, but often the product is also cheaper to make. No connectivity complexity either. If something fails, it’s fairly easy to identify and replace, as well as relatively inexpensive. It’s great for the car/computer owner. Anything other than this paradigm should be rejected as unsuitable and impractical. Britt Britt Storkson may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Storkson continued from page 25.
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