On 4/25/2008 2:12 PM Steve spake these words of knowledge:

> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>> In article <gdednfP4CvgnIo3VnZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@texas.net>,
>> Steve <no@spam.thanks> wrote:
>>
>>>> but now you're admitting that a warning light is as much use.
>>> Not at all. Gauges do warn you before things get critical,
>>
>> You are assuming one HELL of a lot here. You assume that people know
>> how the machinery works in the first place. That's a strong presumption.
>
> A minority, but fairly large, percentage of car buyers are enthusiasts
> that understand how things work.
>
>>
>> Without the operator knowing how the machine works in the first place, a
>> gauge is absolutely useless.
>
> My wife doesn't have a clue how things work. She still told me, "the
> temperature gauge on my car is going about a half-division higher than
> it used to when I'm at a light, do you think something might be wrong?"
> That's when I found the dead fan motor. That would have never...
> NEVER... happened with a light or an "idiot" gauge that snaps to its
> normal range or to 'overheat'. The gauge in her car is entirely modern-
> its digitally driven by the body control module based on a feed from the
> powertrain control module, which gets the information from the analog
> sensor... HOWEVER, it moves linearly and accurately with temperature
> inside the normal operating range and a bit to either side, so you can
> very clearly see small changes. Its the best of both worlds.
>
>
>>
>> See, your mind is in a very, very narrow place.
>
> Not as narrow as yours, apparently. You're the one that wants to force
> every driver to the lowest common denominator of instrumentation.
>
>> YOU wanted to know how
>> the thing works, so YOU found out. Others don't know, don't want to
>> know, and in many cases can't understand it even if they try. A gauge
>> is useless to those people.
>
> Its also harmless to them. Better yet, after watching a gauge a while,
> they'll learn what it means just like my wife did.

Steve,

the people responding to you are not amenable to logic. Just so you
know, there are people who understand that in this case, more
information is either useful or, if discarded/ignored, harmless.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
Age doesn't always bring wisdom. Sometimes age comes alone.