A fun read from The Oregonian (Portland, ORs daily newspaper)...
TECHNOLOGY
Some Americans are finding refuge on analog islands amid digital seas
THE SINGULARITY OF A STICK SHIFT
Before technology futurist Ray Kurzweil came up with a concept that he dubbed the “Singularity” to describe his vision of computers melding with humanity, the roads were crammed with stick-shift cars working in concert with people.
But automobiles with manual transmission appear to be on a road to oblivion as technology transforms cars into computers on wheels. Fewer than 1% of the new vehicles sold in the U.S. have manual transmission, down from 35% in 1980, according to an analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
(Yet) there remain stick-shift diehards like Prabh and Divjeev Sohi, brothers who drive cars with manual transmissions to their classes at San Jose State University along Silicon Valley roads clogged with Teslas. They became enamored with stick shifts while virtually driving cars in video games as kids and riding in manual transmission vehicles operated by their father and grandfather.
When they were old enough to drive, Prabh, 22, and Divjeev, 19, were determined to learn a skill few people their age even bother to attempt: mastering the nuances of a clutch on a manual transmission, a process that resulted in their 1994 Jeep Wrangler coming to a complete stop while frustrated drivers got stuck behind them.
“He stalled like five times his first time on the road,” Prabh recalls.
Even though the experience still causes Divjeev to shudder, he feels it led him to a better place.
“You are more in the moment when you are driving a car with a stick. Basically you are just there to drive and you aren’t doing anything else,” Divjeev says. “You understand the car, and if you don’t handle it correctly, that car isn’t going to move.”
TECHNOLOGY
Some Americans are finding refuge on analog islands amid digital seas
THE SINGULARITY OF A STICK SHIFT
Before technology futurist Ray Kurzweil came up with a concept that he dubbed the “Singularity” to describe his vision of computers melding with humanity, the roads were crammed with stick-shift cars working in concert with people.
But automobiles with manual transmission appear to be on a road to oblivion as technology transforms cars into computers on wheels. Fewer than 1% of the new vehicles sold in the U.S. have manual transmission, down from 35% in 1980, according to an analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
(Yet) there remain stick-shift diehards like Prabh and Divjeev Sohi, brothers who drive cars with manual transmissions to their classes at San Jose State University along Silicon Valley roads clogged with Teslas. They became enamored with stick shifts while virtually driving cars in video games as kids and riding in manual transmission vehicles operated by their father and grandfather.
When they were old enough to drive, Prabh, 22, and Divjeev, 19, were determined to learn a skill few people their age even bother to attempt: mastering the nuances of a clutch on a manual transmission, a process that resulted in their 1994 Jeep Wrangler coming to a complete stop while frustrated drivers got stuck behind them.
“He stalled like five times his first time on the road,” Prabh recalls.
Even though the experience still causes Divjeev to shudder, he feels it led him to a better place.
“You are more in the moment when you are driving a car with a stick. Basically you are just there to drive and you aren’t doing anything else,” Divjeev says. “You understand the car, and if you don’t handle it correctly, that car isn’t going to move.”
