Edmunds CarPool

Opening Statements:

Mark Takahashi for iPod integration: I remember eight tracks in cars. Those were dark days. We had one in our family van and it was just about impossible to find the song you were in the mood for and you couldn't rewind. Then there were cassette tapes, which were better because some tape decks would automatically stop at the gaps between songs. But after repeated play, the sound degraded and if you left them in a hot car too long it got even worse. CDs were a step in the right direction, with zero degradation after repeated plays. All of these formats, though, suffered from portability issues. I recall various cars in my past with a Case Logic case filled with cassettes or a volume of CDs filling my back seat.

I constantly found myself shuffling through my music collection, trying to find that song that was stuck in my head. Then there was the issue of sound quality. My tapes began sounding like my speakers were filled with cotton and my CDs would skip over rough roads or in tightly sprung cars.

No more. Thanks to iPods (or other personal music devices, if you actually use something else), I can have my entire music library in the palm of my hand. The worst roads in L.A. can't get it to skip and the sound quality is excellent. I never have to rummage through piles of plastic to find Pavarotti singing the Turandot or the Black Crowes screaming out Hard to Handle. For me, iPod integration is both safer for all on the road with little in the way of faults.

Kurt Niebuhr for heated/cooled seats: I'm going to start this off with a disclaimer. Mark and I agreed to not talk about big stuff like direct injection, anti-lock brakes or stability control systems. Instead, we agreed to focus on the little things. After all, it's the little things in life that make the most difference and often bring the most satisfaction. So, at the risk of sounded like a complete softy, I've chosen heated and cooled seats.

I know most of you just pushed my credibility down the well but hear me out. Remember, it's the little things. I've never had a problem with long road trips (I tend to iron man them, stopping only to refuel) nor have I had a problem with cold weather. I love to drive with the windows open, even on chilly nights and there is nothing better that having the seat heaters on high, keeping me warm, while the cold air rushes through the car.

And the cooled seats? I know you're laughing pretty hard at that one, but those are probably the biggest and most pleasant surprise I've encountered in a long time. I drive over 20 thousand miles a year, and a lot of those miles are in traffic. I survived just fine for over 30 years without them, but once I tried them the just helped to take the edge off. And when you're stuck in snarling traffic for hours every day, I can honestly say that cooled seats have made traffic jams less stressful.

Rebuttals:

Takahashi: Heated and cooled seats? Really? Well, perhaps you'd like the Honda Odyssey that I'm currently testing. It's got heated seats and a hook on the side of the center console for your purse. Oops, I mean European travel tote.

Ok, fine, I see the merits of heated and cooled seats, but they can't beat iPod integration for usefulness. Faced with the choice, I'd rather be able to connect my iWhatever to the car and enjoy all of my favorite tunes versus having my posterior climate controlled whilst suffering through the endless commercial breaks and banal contemporary pop that passes for music these days.

Niebuhr: You know what's frustrating? When technology doesn't work. Good technology is supposed to be seamless but what happens when your iPod doesn't just 'work' when you plug it in... assuming you can plug it in at all? If you're lucky, you'll need to buy some expensive cables, from the factory of course, only to find that the iPod interface lacks common sense. The one agreement among the editors is that a bad iPod interface can ruin the time you spend in a car and cause you to revert back to the radio because you've given up on cd's. Good luck finding the perfect car with the perfect iPod interface.

By contrast, heated and cooled seats work the same in every car. They are not the cause of frustration, they just help alleviate it. While you're cursing your technology, I'm relaxing in mine. It doesn't get me to work any quicker, but remember, it's all about the little things.

So who gets your vote?