Concept Cars with No Engine
This next post for my blog is on two rather pointless things; concept cars with no engine and 4 x 4s that can't perform well off-road. The other day I was reading a Clarkson book, and he mentioned that somebody had made a concept car with no engine. For once I agree with Clarkson on this - what is the point of a car with no engine? Who, in their right mind, would make such a thing? If anything, this concept "car" is not a car because it does not have an engine and as Wikipedia kindly points out, a car is - "An automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor" This shows that a car without an engine is an utterly pointless idea. Even if the car looked beautiful, at the very least, it is a merely the bodywork of a car, to call it a car is an insult. That said, I still like concept cars as some of them are actually good ideas and are well designed (including an engine!). There are new and fresh ideas by major car companies like the new Honda 3R-C which is a battery powered three wheeled, single passenger "car". It looks brilliant and I love the idea, but it is still being liberal to call it a car, nevertheless, there are some concept cars which ARE practical and look good - Take the Alfa Pandion for example, and if you can tell me that it doesn't look beautiful then you have some strange taste...
iPad? More like iThing...
A slightly late, but absolutely neccessary, post on the new Apple iPad. If you've been tied up and gagged in a cellar for the last few months or are a technophobic (see previous article) then you won't have heard of the new piece of Apple tech - the iPad. Basically a larger version of the iPhone and meant to bridge the gap between smart phones and netbooks, realistically it's another piece of Apple tech to join the ranks of expensive gimmicks for touch screen obsessed Apple fans.
First, the technical run down, those of us who are less technically adept may wish to skip this section as it is stuffed, almost entirely of technical jargon.
- Buy a Netbook - if you're often on the move and don't have the funds to buy a laptop,
or
- Buy a Laptop (not a mac) - if you have enough funds to buy one and aren't always on the move.
or
- Buy a Smart Phone - if you don't need to do anything more than simple tasks but like a powerful mobile,
or
- Buy a Desktop PC (not a Mac) - if you have the funds and want a high performance PC
But do not, under any circumstances, buy an iPad...
First, the technical run down, those of us who are less technically adept may wish to skip this section as it is stuffed, almost entirely of technical jargon.
The iPad has a larger 9.7-inch (25 cm) LED Backlit Multi-Touch display with a pixel resolution of 1024x768, 16 to 64 gigabytes (GB) of flash memory, a 1-gigahertz (GHz) Apple A4 processor, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 30-pin dock connector to sync with iTunes and connect wired accessories.
It is similar in functionality to the iPod Touch, running the same operating system (iPhone OS) and almost all of the same applications.
It is similar in functionality to the iPod Touch, running the same operating system (iPhone OS) and almost all of the same applications.
Two models have been announced: one with 802.11n (available in March 2010 in the United States) and one with Wi-Fi; 3G, which can connect to HSDPA cellular networks; and Assisted GPS(available in April in the U.S. and several other countries). The price on the Apple website for this piece of tech is $499 or £316.
Apple's first device to use its iBookstore service and companion iBooks eBook reading application, the iPad has been compared to Amazons's Kindle
Shown below are some images of front, back and side views of the iPad.
That's all well and good and if you check out the Apple page on it, even the technical specs show little flaw in this latest gadget, so what's wrong with it? Surely this article wouldn't have been put on my blog if their wasn't something wrong with it? Fear not, their are many problems with the iPad. The first of which is the fact of what it is, a tablet PC. The problem with this is that it doesn't have a disk drive or a keyboard (except an on-screen keyboard which would be difficult to type with) and the second problem is the problem with all Apple Gadgets - compatibility. The iPad is no exception to Apple's compatibility problems - it has no support for Flash and the only software that can be loaded is software off the Apple AppStore - which is fine if your technologically illiterate or are Apple obsessed, but the majority of people interested in new and innovative technology aren't and are probably working for Google.
Needless to say, the iPad will probably be a success as it will be fuelled by the thousands of Apple fans and touch-screen obsessed people that know nothing or next to nothing about technology and are generally blinded by Apple hype. Nevertheless, I shall still attempt to enlighten the masses as to what they should do if blinded by Apple hype and are thinking of buying an iPad. Either:- Buy a Netbook - if you're often on the move and don't have the funds to buy a laptop,
or
- Buy a Laptop (not a mac) - if you have enough funds to buy one and aren't always on the move.
or
- Buy a Smart Phone - if you don't need to do anything more than simple tasks but like a powerful mobile,
or
- Buy a Desktop PC (not a Mac) - if you have the funds and want a high performance PC
But do not, under any circumstances, buy an iPad...
Cheap Cars and Bodykits
Why Oh Why would anyone buy a rubbish car? What is a rubbish car? How could anyone create a rubbish car without realising how awful it is? These are all questions I will be answering in this blog post, with of course, a sprinkling of cheese...
Firstly, What is a rubbish car? Now this is probably the most controversial point as it relies mostly on opinion but the point I will make, before you burst out in outrage, is that there are some cars that are blatently awful. Take the old Nissan Micra, the Ford KA and any Daihatsu in general. Their are certain cars that most people would simply be embarrassed to drive, many of them too cheap to be believeable. I ask of you only this, if you consider a car in the future and aren't very well off in the financial department, then wait, please, because I don't want to have to be woken up at one in the morning because an old Nissan Micra is revving its badly turbocharged engine outside my house.
Secondly, Why would anyone buy a rubbish car? Well, there are various reasons. They can't afford a decent car, they don't care, or they don't know anything about good cars. These are only a few in a myriad of reasons. The first then, if you can't afford a decent car then okay buy a cheap one, but do not, I repeat, do not, customise it in such a way as to ruin the car that was already in bad shape (probably). DO NOT give a Ford KA/Nissan Micra/ Whatever a bodykit/overly large stereo/turbocharged exhaust there is no point whatsoever. All these "accessories do is draw attention to your car, and if your car is a good, expensive, flashy sports car then sure, do what you like with it, nobody will care, but if your car is a piece of rubbish that you bought for £500 then you shouldn't be proud of it, least of all should you be committing the deadly sin of modifying your car without good reason or proper knowledge. People who customise bad or cheap cars without good reason (eg tuning up a cheap car for the purpose of racing it is acceptable) should be ashamed of themselves - cars are designed like they are for a reason, unless you have good knowledge of how you are affecting the car, don't change what's already there, chances are it looks good already and changing it will only make it worse, or the car is too rubbish for your customization to have any noticeable effect anyway.
I will continue this blog post when I have more examples to give for the third and final point - why would anyone make a rubbish car without realising. See you next month (end of february 2010).
Firstly, What is a rubbish car? Now this is probably the most controversial point as it relies mostly on opinion but the point I will make, before you burst out in outrage, is that there are some cars that are blatently awful. Take the old Nissan Micra, the Ford KA and any Daihatsu in general. Their are certain cars that most people would simply be embarrassed to drive, many of them too cheap to be believeable. I ask of you only this, if you consider a car in the future and aren't very well off in the financial department, then wait, please, because I don't want to have to be woken up at one in the morning because an old Nissan Micra is revving its badly turbocharged engine outside my house.
Secondly, Why would anyone buy a rubbish car? Well, there are various reasons. They can't afford a decent car, they don't care, or they don't know anything about good cars. These are only a few in a myriad of reasons. The first then, if you can't afford a decent car then okay buy a cheap one, but do not, I repeat, do not, customise it in such a way as to ruin the car that was already in bad shape (probably). DO NOT give a Ford KA/Nissan Micra/ Whatever a bodykit/overly large stereo/turbocharged exhaust there is no point whatsoever. All these "accessories do is draw attention to your car, and if your car is a good, expensive, flashy sports car then sure, do what you like with it, nobody will care, but if your car is a piece of rubbish that you bought for £500 then you shouldn't be proud of it, least of all should you be committing the deadly sin of modifying your car without good reason or proper knowledge. People who customise bad or cheap cars without good reason (eg tuning up a cheap car for the purpose of racing it is acceptable) should be ashamed of themselves - cars are designed like they are for a reason, unless you have good knowledge of how you are affecting the car, don't change what's already there, chances are it looks good already and changing it will only make it worse, or the car is too rubbish for your customization to have any noticeable effect anyway.
I will continue this blog post when I have more examples to give for the third and final point - why would anyone make a rubbish car without realising. See you next month (end of february 2010).
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