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And now for something completely different...
I've been invited by General Motors to attend the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit this weekend. I'll be there as of Saturday to cover the show and meet/ interview some GM designers. We don't normally talk about cars on MoCo Loco, but when I got the invite and started researching what GM's been doing with design, it became interesting. For example, how far can design go? Can it transform a 99 year old, 200 billion dollar company? Can it transform an industry? Can it transform us? The answer might be in the sequel.
Do I really want GM to transform me? Through design, no less?
FJ, I've been thinking about that. How would life be different without cars? Would it change me? It would probably impact my lifestyle.
I'm not terribly concerned whether or not GM is paying you to evaluate their new car design for this site (I think you should benefit from your hard work), but this post reads like a GM ad. And, as such, comes across as disingenuous.
Speaking as someone who hasn't owned a car since 2002, I can say the only thing that's changed in my life by NOT having a car is that I don't have to look for places to park all the time, and I'm a bit more forgiving in regards to punctuality.
Of course, I live in Chicago, a city with two train systems, buses, bike lanes, cabs, zipcars, and all that. I can't imagine truly needing a car on a daily or even weekly basis.
I'm waiting for the "fold-into-a-briefcase" Jetsons style car.
Harry, enjoy Motor City- home to a neighborhood with a funny-sounding but great name: Hamtramck.
Well, considering that the car is probably one of the largest pieces of design most of us will ever own, it is heartening that companies look beyond the automotive industry for 'whatever it takes'. Funny, more people see what we drive than the interiors of our carefully (in some cases - not mine!) put together abodes.
Jonathan, I confess, I like cars. A new Jag XK in the driveway? I'd go for that. Likelihood of happening? Nil. I sold my car five years ago. I'm going to Detroit to look at some nice cars, but mostly I'm going to discover the future of cars. I'm interested in the re-thinking of cars. It turns out GM has done a lot of work in that department and has a production fuel cell car in the works. Sure, I'll be showing pictures of the new cars, but I'm not going to Detroit just for that. If it was just about new cars, I wouldn't go to Detroit, I'd go to Autoblog and save GM their money and me, my time. For the record, GM isn't paying me to go, they're paying for the travel, meals and lodging.
While you're here, be sure to check out the art scene too (MOCAD, CPop, Detroit artists market, 555, etc). Contrary to what many believe, there's a good amount of culture in Detroit. Like Jw said, some of the nearby city centers are good too - ham town, royal oak, and even ferndale. (the more people believe good things about Detroit, the quicker it will revive itself). And you're right, GM is doing some exciting things to fight back against its rising Asian counterparts. Cheers.