Readit NewsThe battery eventually died. Replacements are about $8 and the surgery is easy.
What makes a huge difference though is replacing the HDD with a board that holds an SD card. The board plus a 256GB card cost me around $75 total. The physical swap is relatively simple, and migrating your data is as simple as making a backup through iTunes and restoring it.
I mostly leave it plugged into my car, which has native support for controlling it. Unlike anything Bluetooth, it actually works!
Oh, and I buy music on Bandcamp. Fuck streaming.
I used to travel for work and would rent cars. I would spend 3+ mins after picking up each car trying to get my bluetooth to work with my phone until I realised I could just plug in an iPod (from 2005!!) into the USB port of a MY2018+ vehicle and have my entire music library accessible through the car's interface with artwork. Just plug it in, and it would just pick up where I left off, on the podcast/album I was listening to on the plane.
I now use a 16GB 6th gen Nano set to shuffle for all my music needs in my car. I got it cheap since the battery doesn't last that long but it's fine when plugged in all the time.
Otherwise, pre-pandemic the Switch has been a godsend on 20 hour flights.
There has been a general rise in battery electric drive train retrofitting in classic cars from 60s and 70s so perhaps we could see Toyota refit 3 or 5 year old gasoline/hybrids with electric powertrains as consumer preferences or emissions regulations change.
While Toyota have the car, they could also update a whole host of things to add value. Interiors and car technology seem to date horribly so getting the latest in car entertainment or driver assistance systems could be another potential revenue stream. Cars also undergo 'mid cycle refresh' so Toyota could do something as simple as bumper updates and swap out newer body parts. Generally the under body remains unchanged in a vehicle lifecycle so swapping out headlights and a bumper would be trivial.
The car industry has for a while been in a existential crisis regarding projections of falling sales and lower revenues. First it was the rise of ride sharing removing the need for personal vehicles, next it was the autonomous driving and now it is electric vehicles with longer service lives and improved reliability. For auto manufacturers, they have been looking for other revenue streams. Recently it has been the growth in services - namely subscription services promising vehicle feature updates and access to 'connected' features. The re-maufacture of vehicles with improved battery packs and the electric drive trains along with other vehicle updates is just another area they could create new revenue streams.
It's relatively easy to get started. Buy some skates and a helmet and find some smooth tarmac (asphalt) to practise. For me, it's something always wished I could do so I thought why not learn.
I practised for a half hour to an hour after work when the weather was nice and found it a good way to de-stress, usually while listening to music. It's a good form of exercise too since it doesn't strain your joints too much. Obviously, you may (and probably will) injure yourself when you fall though you should learn how to fall to minimise injury.
If you're new, the fear of falling takes some time to get over but after a few hours you'll get the confidence to overcome this. At first you'll probably even dread going to practise but getting over that fear is intensely satisfying. Above all, you'll probably have to be okay with making yourself feel like a fool (in public). For me, this was the biggest thing I had to get over. Getting over that is liberating in itself. You realise the world doesn't end if someone saw you fall. You just get up again.
After about 10 hours I was at an okay standard and I feel after about 20-30 hours most people would be very competent. There's a high skill ceiling too so there's always more to learn and areas to develop.
The thrill of the speed and the sensation of going really fast never gets old.
You can do the modification yourself on iPod with a broken hard drive or buy one on eBay already modified. (Tip: The 5th gens are easier to modify than the 7th gens since they come apart a lot easier.)
Personally, I use a 5th gen Classic with 32GB of flash and a new battery. I modified it myself with a compact flash card and a new battery. It's been in use for about 3 years and I've had no real issues.
Most vehicle sales in Europe are in the B or C car segment (relatively small vehicles by North American standards). Increasingly the sales of B and C cars are moving away from hatchback models to CUVs (crossover utility vehicle) models which offer a raised seating position and more interior space. Tesla offer nothing in these segments which the likes of Volkswagen, Hyundai and Renault do.
The Model Y should do well once it launches but I can imagine competitors who can offer a lower price albeit compromising the range doing better in this segment. Given that the distances driven in Europe are on average lower, the additional range Tesla can offer is not massively compelling unless they can undercut their rivals on price.
On a slight tangent, the other threat is the increasing hybridisation of powertrains in Europe. Due to EU rules on the EU fleet -wide average Co2 levels of 95 gCo2/km coming into effect from 2021, vehicle manufacturers are now offering hybrid options on many name plates to reach this target. These PHEV and FHEV hybrid powertrains come at a significantly lower price compared with full electric vehicles with the benefit of short range electric driving only mode. Previously PHEV and FHEV were separate name plates which had unique (read: polarising) designs. Now PHEV and FHEV are pretty much available in all C car and above class vehicles in body styles not dissimilar from their combustion powertrain counterparts. These hybrid powertrains offer the short range electric only range consumers want for everyday driving with the potential for long range driving using the combustion engine all with no threat of range anxiety.
[1]https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/research/...
It hasn't had a format change for at least as long as I've used it (since 2009). The gauges both reflect the industrial nature of the data as well as show the portion of the capacity being used.
The trend charts are great too, telling the story of the short, medium and long term generation sources.