"Teens desire smartphones over cars."
 

What's the matter with kids these days?

Get a summer job and you can have a smart phone AND a car.

I paid about as much for my iPhone 4 as I did for my first car: a 1973 Porsche (of course) 914. The absolute worst Porsche ever conceived. Decades later, here I am with yet another mid-engine Porsche. :)

I think that's parents fault. Parents buy cars for their kids too easily nowadays because kids need them, smartphone on the other hand is not really needed

As parent of two teenagers (both of whom got their drivers licenses at 16), this has nothing to do with driving or parents - its all about prestige. Thus, kids will take an iPhone over a car primarily becuase the iPhone will give them the most prestige with their friends and peers. The iPhone is the top of the line, the equivalent of a Porsche in the phone world and most kids know that the car they are likely to get is no where near as prestigious. Thus, the majority of teens will take an iPhone over their parents crappy 1996 Civic or Camry every time.

For us older folks, having a car, any car, was the most prestigous thing we could own. And it meant freedom from mom and dad. Kids today don't share that yearning for freedom that a car brings because they get chauffered everywhere at anytime by doting parents and now you have to have the "right" car or its just not worth it. iPhone beats Camry everytime.

+1

Getting your license and having a hot car was the #1 priority when I was a teen. My kid had no interest in getting his license and he's 17. My co-worker's kid is 19 and still no license. He's happy to ride his bike or take the bus. Too many other distractions now days. My teen daughter who passed driver's ed this summer is in no hurry to get her license.....mom and dad drive her and her friends wherever they want to go (that's our fault).

Helicopter parents who'll chauffeur their kids everywhere is partly to blame. Even the plot from the first Transformer movie sounds a bit far fetched nowadays.

I like the old days where people drives around in their convertibles taking a girl on a date to drive-in theaters.

When is Mad Men coming back on TV again?

George Carlin, we miss you.

http://youtu.be/7KPEJNGAlqw

I too am astounded at the number of kids 17 plus without driver's licenses nor the desire to acquire one. My children have received cell phones for their 8th grade graduation, and believe me, they are usually the last if not nearly so to have such things vs. their classmates. And yes, my fears have usually been confirmed when they get them, they become socially stunted once they have them (staring at them while I'm trying to converse with them, text notifications during dinner, an ongoing inability to exist without them, etc. etc.). Thank God they do still value the freedom associated with driving.

smart phones?

Doesn't surprise me, really.

Thankfully, my dad got me hooked on cars at an early age, and I never could shake the bug. ;)

I try to ignore everything teenagers do. It is my right as a parent of a former teen.

They do grow up, eventually.

You know those telephones that you never make or receive a phone call on? That's a smart phone.

I hate smartphones. I am still using my old Basic Nokia block phone. Reliable, sturdy, works even after you drop it in water-Just let it sit and dry for a day. Very long battery life. I charge it once every couple of days.

Our first car symbolized freedom, independence, movement, status, coolness to most of us "geezers". Today's 17-19 year olds interact with their friends and the world via Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, Google - all achieved through their smart phones.

But they are deprived of the physical sensations of a "brisk" drive - the g forces, the wind noise, exhaust growl, slip angles - all of which are missing from the X-Box and Playstation experiences.

I think this kind of thing is even worse in Europe - cars are very expensive to run over here. Moreover, performance cars and fast driving are increasingly viewed as anti-social. Most people think you're a dick is you drive something they view as fast and flashy.

Fine by me - used Porsches are cheaper than ever in the UK and I don't care what anybody else thinks. Yee haw.

George Carlin, we miss you.

Amen to that... comedy at its best.

Ald but great line:

F*cking meow, f*cking meow. That's what the cat says once he gets behind the couch.

I had my first car before I bad my license... A 1986 merkur xr4ti in all o it's 5 speed 2.3 German ford goodness! I was in line at the license branch the morning that I could legally get my license. I don't even consider myself old at 32, my whole family was gearheads I grew up with muscle cars parked out front of my house, motor swaps taking place in our barn, etc

Actually...I'm glad there are less teens on the road...there are already enough bad drivers out there.

I would let my daughter have a smartphone than a car. Phones are now necessity and not luxury.


James Martin
Dextr| easy as ABC

My first son had no interest in driving at 17 - weird. But I insisted he get his license because many jobs need driving sometimes. And then there is the safety factor - what if the driver breaks his leg? How would you get him to the hospital?

A customer told me that his son refuses to learn to drive and asked how I got my son to do so when he didn't want to. Simple, I told him to.

Second son got his learner's permit the first day legally possible.