Is this style supposed to be funny? maybe I'm just jaded and cranky.
Also, I've been meaning to write an article wondering why the front-ends (particularly headlights) of all cars look like an angry face.
The irony of presenting all this drivel on a page with a dull, pastel greenish-yellow [0] background, almost identical to the (quote) "putty-lookin' a** whips" on the pictured Volvo was surely lost on the author. The article's language serves to replace the missing intellectual value.
Take a look at the previous generations of Mazda Miata's compared with the current.
Design changes so much because people expect a new look to motivate a new purchase. Making designs that will look obsolete as soon as the new one comes out is a huge part of selling the new model even if the technology under the hood (literally and figuratively) may not have changed much.
Ironic request given the lack of any evidence in your previous very definitive statement that it's:
> part of a trend in car design to cater to those awash with masculine insecurities or being told by the media they need to be more "manly"
But if you now tell me (below) that it's just "your opinion" and not a matter of fact then it's perfectly fair to call it "projection" (taking your personal feelings and generalizing them to others).
This isn't a PhD thesis. But fine, every other aspect of product design has been proven beyond doubt to be subject to planned obsolescence. It's not only reasonable to assume that aesthetics won't be an exception, it's also the best area to do it as it cannot be regulated in any way. It appeals to people's inherently subjective tastes.
You can probably find even better resources than these a short internet search away:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence#Perceived...
https://uxdesign.cc/planned-obsolescence-in-aesthetics-ad73c...
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/car-companies-use-planned-obsol...
Then there are the smaller things like storage spaces, being able to pull open the door handle without breaking longer nails, or to get in and out of the car even when wearing a tight dress. Things along these lines.
Ask any woman who was driving 20+ years ago, they probably have a more exhaustive list.
Seats and often steering wheel positions are adjustable.
While things became more and more adjustable recently, this has not always been the case. Even on bicycles I know plenty of women who had to look for non-standard sized parts because they can't comfortably reach the brake lever while holding the grips safely.
Just ask a few women who know about older cars. They can spot these issues because they had them themselves, just like you could spot why men want aggressive looking cars ;).
[0] https://dqydj.com/height-percentile-calculator-for-men-and-w...
example: Toyota Roomy, Toyota Esquire, Suzuki Spacia Custom
You’re coming across as more of an ideologue than the sorts of people you’re so comfortable lumping together. You’re extremely comfortable making sweeping assumptions of people on the grounds that you don’t relate to them. This comment of mine is significantly more negative than what I like to see on Hacker News, but I think it’s important to question needless callousness and divineness.
I also don't find your comment to be negative at all. As for creating divisiveness, I want that. The status quo is unacceptable.
I do hate most pickup truck owners because
1. They creates a dangerous dependancy on oil that can causes economic issues since oil is needed for many but also used for fun.
2. They also pollute more and waste gas even though the vast majority don't use their truck for it's abilities as compared to a car.
3. Lifted trucks are less stable therefore more likely to be involved in an accident
If their reasoning is that they like it or think it's cool that's not good enough for me considering the down sides.
An awesome car. A MG Midget / Triumph but with great engineering.
They look pretty neat in person, it's a very nicely designed car.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/mazda-mx5-miata-history/
still, those were super-cool. You could flip them up without turning on the lights, and one Miata driver would greet another one in the oncoming lane by doing that.
In the winter they could freeze shut due to ice, then unsuspecting people would attempt to operate them sometimes damaging the motor.
Another key thing to note is, unlike other luxury features if this breaks you absolutely have to get it repaired.
Yeah, what's up with that? Is it just a cultural reflection? Is it because the automakers think we want to appear angry to other drivers? I miss the happier cars of decades past: the MG Midgets, VW Bugs, original Miatas, etc.
- The color most closely tied to this trend is Nardo Grey, to that point that cars that don't come from the brand that brought it out (Audi) still get referred to by that name: https://touchupdirect.com/blog/what-is-nardo-grey/
- It already has a more suitable disparaging name than "wet putty look", it's the "primer look": Because the cars look like someone covered them in primer, then clear coat, and skipped the paint to save a few bucks. Of course that's not actually how or why it's done, but if you're going to write an article with half empty angst about it, at least use the one insult that actually kind of checks out.
- Murdered-out doesn't mean "matte black" at all, it just means most of the car's parts were made black (by tinting/plastidip/wrap/paint, etc), regardless of if it's a metallic black, flat black, or matte black. They kept on using such a simple to look-up term wrong and it just really grated my nerves each time.
There's a bunch of smaller things that just scream "I googled a bunch of random words, didn't quite get the meaning, but I'm still going to act like I know a lot about this".
I've never been in a city where isn't a "murdered out M5" (except maybe if someone wants to gatekeep because they didn't black out the actual M5 badge): https://i.ytimg.com/vi/15PsYVXhMgE/maxresdefault.jpg
Absolutely... I'm also surprised no one seems to be commenting about how he's just kind of wrong in the technical explanation.
He says "flake" is "the tiny metallic flecks that car manufacturers have been mixing into paint for decades" and that new cars have less "flake". But that's kind of wrong... the type of cars he's complaining about generally have mica/pearl flecks, which are ceramic/silicate, not metallic. Mica/pearl paints are a little less flashy to the eye than metallics, and manufacturers have dialled down the amount of mica just a little in addition to that.
I also didn't really get it at first. And I think it's mainly about fashion, which I'm not really interested in.
But I subscribed just to get follow along and get some diversity of ideas. The writing reminded me of A Clockwork Orange.
> […] the newsletter’s intense voice, which may read like a parody of a neurotically online men’s style writer
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/style/inventing-a-new-lan...
But yeah, this article reads like a stop-liking-what-I-don't-like! rant.
EDIT: And if i'm not mistaken, I've found the source for the image and it is indeed a wrap job
When the subject matter is style, an opinionated tone of voice seems appropriate to me.
Personally, I find the whole thing condescending and dismissive, taking swipes at "Gen-X-ers and Millennials"
> What did they do to earn the right to say "I don't like this color"?
Everyone has this right. The author just claimed it.
>What's with all these pussy-ass lookin whips
No, I don't think those two are the same. Agree with OP, it's cringe.
>Also, if you see "polite" writing how would you know it's fake?
You develop your own detector after being "trained" on the dataset of prior comments.
To the larger point, this isn't about absolute certainty - which is a red-herring and an unattainable ideal.