Technology

The good news is that the cheapest, most environmentally friendly and most privacy respecting cars one can find are all the same category - used ones. You also have decent safety in a decade old car these days.

The bad news is of course that car manufacturers are countering this the only way they know how - by producing products that don't last for shit. But at least if you buy an old one you can make a more informed decision, as other people have years of experience already.

yeah like I could put hondahack in my car's head unit pretty easily but 1) I'm worried that it might change the tuning of my engine and 2) it would void any warranty I have on the car I have left - totally agreed with having the ability but not willing to take the risk

Ebikes are also on the same path

I know a lot of people define it as a necessity, but I feel that it's a life choice too.
I'd rather sacrifice a lot of other things (eg. rejecting one job vs another) if I can keep using alternatives to private cars.

I would love to have the privilege of living in a nice and relatively big family house in the suburbs, but I'd rather live in a small cramped apartment farther away from some of my siblings if that means having better transport options without needing to purchase and maintain a car.

I wonder, if everyone had similar preferences, whether the world would adapt to actually make public transport (or alternatively, home office / delivery) as widespread of a commodity as having roads for private vehicles.