LANDROVER MONTHLY 31AS you gr ow olderyou’re supposed to
grow wiser, although somewould ques-
tion the age/wisdomratio in my case.
Many morewould say that growing older
has little torecommend it, but I’m glad
that I’m old enough to clearlyremember
two key events: England winning the
World Cup andNeil Armstrong setting
foot on theMoon. Both happenedover
50 years ago, but Iremember them as though itwas yesterda y.
It’s remembering what happenedyesterday that’s the problem:
like most folk old enough toremember theMoon landing, my
short-term memory isn’t what it used to be.
Now wherewas I? Ohyes, the Moon landing. That itever
happened in the pre-digital age is noth-
ing short ofremarkable.Apparently the
mobile phone in my pocket contains
more computing power than theApollo
11 mission, and the feeble computer
that was present in the landing craft
on July 21, 1969 sufferedoverloada
minute or so before astronautsNeil
Armstrong andBuzz Aldrinwere due to
touch down.Happily, instead of abort-
ing the actual landing, Armstrong took
over and manually guided it down to
the Moon’s surface.
When Armstrongstepped out
onto theMoon surface, itwas
arguably the greatest achievement
of the humanrace. It was also the
triumph ofMan’s ingenuityover a
malfunctioning computer.
The fact that a computer so nearly messed up the biggest
event in historywas no doubt lost in the euphoria of the occa-
sion, but it shouldn’t have been. While computers have changed
our lives in many positiveways, they haven’t alw ays been for
the better. Getting software to do the jobs of human beings isn’t
always a good idea, especially when it just isn’t necessary.
The Boeing 737 is theworld’s best-selling aircraft. Design
work started in 1965 and it entered service in 1968. Over 10,000
were sold by the time itwas supersededby the updated 737Max
model, which entered service in 2017.It was grounded inMarch
this year after two fatal crashes in five months, which killed 346
people andwas causedby malfunctioning computer software.
All 737Max aircraft have beenrecalledby Boeing and aren’t
expected to fly again until the end of thisyear, according toavia-
tion experts.At its launch, Boeingwere boasting about the sophistication
of the 737Max. But the debacle isexpected to cost themover
£4 million and, it isreported, changing the name of the ill-fated
aircraft. The 737Max, it appears, is a tainted brand. All because
Boeing decided to get a computer to do a job that a human pilot
could do better.
But LandRover knows all about that. The second-generation
RangeRover was bedevilledby software glitches because its en-
gineerswere trying to get computers to do too much, too soon.
Even Neil Armstrongwould have st ruggled to get a malfunction-
ing P38 to its intended destination.
Despite this, LandRover hasn’t learned the lesson and insists
upon foisting computer technology upon us whetherwe want
it or not.Yes, I realise that there are a lot of gullible customers
out there who will part with tens of
thousands of pounds just to have every
electronic gadget in theirvehicle, but
there’s no accounting forstupidity.
There have always been people around
with a lot more money than sense.
Do you ha ve electric windows in
your house? Doyou lo wer your door-
step beforeyou enteryour house?To
get comfortable whenwatching the
telly, doyou ha ve an electronic control
to configureyour armchair? Or have
heated cushions tokeep your bum
warm? I thought not.
It is a bizarre fact that in the UK
many, many more people have air con
in their cars than they do in
their homes.
When it comes to selling usstuff we don’t need, all motor
manufacturers are spivs. LandRover isn ’t the worst culprit, but
to me it is the most unfortunate, because it achieved its reputa-
tion for toughnessby building no-nonsense, simplevehicles.
Thatwas LandRover’s unique selling point, but sadly it isn’t
any more.
The Moon landing is now history.But there is no point in his-
tory unlessyou learn from it. The lessonwe should have learned
is that computers have their limitations and that when it comes
to the crunch, humans skills are better.Perhaps that’s something
worth consideringby those trying to foist driverless cars ona
public that doesn’t want them.“EvenNeilArmstrongwouldha vestruggledtogetamalfunctioningRangeRoverP38 toitsintendeddest inati on”TheVocalYokel
Human vs machineDAVEPHILLIPSnEx-LRM EditorDave has driven LandRovers in most corners of
the world, but loves the British countryside best