Into The Blue

I don't know about you, but as each day goes buy, I see things that make me stop and think about them. This might be something as seemingly unimportant as a doorknob, or something with global impact,like a political decision by the leaders of our society. So in this new category, "just wondering..", I'll try to share the little glimpses of wisdom or clarity with you. For the first episode I've collected several examples. Here's the shortlist followed by their in-depth treatment.:

I was just wondering..-

• how energy efficient would cars in north America be if they were built to travel only 100 km/h ?
• how come they put the controls for the stove BEHIND the burners,where you have to reach across the heat source?
• why are most burners hard to clean,open coil types, when closed surface burners have been standard in Europe for 50 years?
• why do they build houses from wood frames and plywood? What part of "The three little pigs" didn't they understand?
• why do people bother with DIET Coke after devouring 3 Big Macs and 2 large fries?

1. Cars in North America
   So, could somebody please tell me why the North American car manufacturers keep building and selling vehicles with 200 or more horsepower, when half that is more than enough to accelerate 4 adults to Autobahn-speeds of over 160 km/h. Now obviously I'm not talking about load-hauling trucks here, of course, but the average used family sedan for 4-5 people. Does it really take a 3.5 litre, 230hp six cylinder engine to drive your 3 kids to school? I can remember my little 1976 Renault 5-it had 64hp and with 4 (or more) passengers, it easily reached 160km/h while using less than 8 Litres/100km! OK, it didn't have AC,GPS,ABS,ESP,MP3,DVD,Power windows or a huge trunk, but in 95% of the cases it did the trick just fine. Even that one time we had to fit 13 (!) in there going to a party...
   
   
2. Oven design
   OK, so why the hell would you put the controls to a stove in a place where you have to reach across the burning fat to turn it off? And what is it with these heating coils ? They're hard to clean, they're never level and they're a general pain. Now I know for a fact that solid-surface burners solve these issues and they've been the standard on consumer grade ranges since the 1950's in most European countries. And currently it's the energy efficient ceramic or inductive ranges taking over. So why is North America still using pre-1950's technology ?
   
   
3. Three little pigs
   Now this is the one that gets me every time I see news clips of houses damaged by storms. I see them build 3 story buildings with wood framing and plywood walls covered with aluminum siding or fake brick facades..
   
   
   And then they act surprised when a storm blows it to bits? C'mon, everyone knows the tale of the three little pigs? What part of "..I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" didn't they understand?
   Or is it so much cheaper to build houses out of wood instead of bricks,that you'd rather rebuild every couple of years than do it right the first time?
   
   
4. supersize light
   I don't think I need to add much to this. We've all seen the big lady in the line at McDonalds ordering 3 Big Macs, two large fries, an apple pie and, just as we're expecting her to pick some toys for her kids, she gives herself away by ordering one XL-sized DIET Coke. After destroying all that food, she leaves the restaurant and gets on her little scooter to ride the half a block home. I don't get it. Everyone knows that marketing aims squarely at the guilt of those of us that have  bad eating habits. If adding something to our daily diet makes us think we're going to loose weight, we're gonna buy it because it means results without giving up anything.. To the best of my knowledge most medical professionals agree that, to achieve sustained weight loss, a change in eating and exercising habits is required and much more effective than diet products or weight loss supplements. But this knowledge isn't backed up by a multi-million dollar marketing machine, so no one takes notice. You want to know what scares me? Stuff like the new "MARS Slim" campaign. - -First, the product packaging side of it. To take the exact same products, cut it into 2 smaller pieces and label it "Slim"...brilliant! -using the image of singing people on the move to convey a sense of dynamics and motion... -that horribly annoying song that says that this 'new' product CAN do everything for you that you need to be one of these 'shiny happy people'-all you need to do is consume. -And finally, the absolutely silly comedic style in which the whole thing was shot. A great way to appeal even to the dim-whitted. Now the fact that I know this commercial will be successful, due to the frequency at which  I find myself exposed to it, scares the shit out of me. The awareness how easy it is to manipulate the masses, how common sense is lost when individuals turn into a herd of lemmings. Hey, it worked for the Nazis...