Modern cars cram in more technology than at any point in the past, with the obvious assumption being that this results from changing consumer tastes that automakers met with ongoing upgrades. However, the endless banks of screens and integrated tech wizardry don’t actually come from driver demand.

A few other factors play into why we no longer see simple, affordable new cars at dealerships today. Hold tight, and we’ll give you the lowdown on what’s changed and whether it’s permanent.

It’s Economical, Stupid

While offloading all of a car’s functionality onto a display might seem like a move toward modernity, it’s also a choice made to cut costs. Including heaps of physical buttons and switches costs car companies money, both at the point of manufacture and in the long term when these break and need to be replaced under warranty. Handling this in software via a single touchscreen interface is an economically sound alternative.

So, even if drivers might prefer to have separate HVAC controls on old-school buttons and dials, that doesn’t make financial sense for automakers. It’s frugality masquerading as modernity.

Flexibility is King

Making cars that rely on screens and software over buttons and dials gives more control over how adaptable the user experience can be. And here, it benefits businesses and customers alike.

Let’s say a manufacturer wants to roll out a refresh of their in-car entertainment software to bring new life to an existing model. When everything’s software-based, that’s possible with a single over-the-air update.

Likewise, let’s say a customer wants to park up and stream a sports game to their vehicle’s main display, while using their smartphone to place bets on the action. Again, flexible in-car software enables this, and since sports betting within Canada and many US states is legal, having a vehicle that’s just as capable as an entertainment hub as the average living room makes sense.

Safety Regulations Have a Dual Impact

The prevalence of increasingly strict regulations governing safety systems that modern cars must have means that even the most affordable entry-level models offer a substantially higher level of automated driver assistance. Providing automated braking, lane departure assist, blind spot monitoring, and so forth involves cameras, radar, and a host of other clever gadgets, adding complexity, weight, and cost.

Whatever you feel about these regulations, they’re here, and the only way around them is to buy a second-hand car rather than a newer model. The confounding thing from a driver’s perspective is that, while they might be behind the wheel of a car that’s much better at protecting them from a crash, they’re also confronted with a sea of screens in the cabin, which are arguably so distracting that the chances of getting into a collision are ironically higher anyway.

In short, the death of the simple car hasn’t stemmed from driver demand and is only partly down to choices made by automakers. Thankfully, since older cars can still be bought and maintained affordably, you have alternative options and can avoid digital screens altogether if you wish.

The post The Simple Car Is Disappearing and It Isn’t Because Drivers Asked for More Screens appeared first on EPautos - Libertarian Car Talk.