I don't want to buy a car because I want the new iPhone........ Really???

This week, we will take a look at an article that blames the internet, social networks and high tech gadget as one of the reason for auto sales declines for the past few years. But is this really true? or is the car industry looking to find an new victim to blame because they are not meeting their goals?

In my opinion I do not see  the internet or social media networks as main factor of the car sales decline. The economy in the past years is a big factor. Times has changed and people has changed as well. It really all depend on your own particular situation. For some it is not so easy nowadays to get a car due to economic issues. The current economic situation is not the best for many in this country and it is not same as years before that parents were able to get cars for their teenager children as graduation gifts or maybe they were able to give you their old cars because they were getting a new one. Not anymore, some parents might be struggling to pay their own car installments or maybe they cannot afford to keep their old car. They need to sell it to cover the costs of buying a new one. Also for many teenagers the cost of having a car nowadays is not meeting their budget. Gas prices are going up every month, tolls are everywhere and insurance cost is on the roof and for under 25 driver is even more expensive. So how they expect that generation Y get the same need of buying a car as years ago? Because of all this economy issues, car buyers are opting for either buy a fuel efficient car which it will save money for them and they are also way less expensive or they also keep their cars for more years before taking the decision  of buying my new one (My case, I have a few more months to pay off my car and I am honestly on the debate of keeping it and enjoy not having to make car payments or getting a new one).


I think the internet and social media sites such as Facebook is really connecting people with businesses in another way. If I decide to buy a new car, I can always go online and check the models I am interested on. Also car dealerships now have great online deals that I can take "advantage" on. (That's is really the catch for you to go to their dealers lots) Anyway I can have a better idea of the prices in the market and get a better perception of what I am looking for and then take my final decision. Also if you you need a used car, you can easily go to autotrader.com and get exactly what you need in just one site. Also car lovers can get the latest updates on their favorite brands on facebook.com/lexus or facebook.com/toyota. It all depends on how companies can use the internet for their advantage.

Too Busy for those long lines!!!

In this current online era, where some people do everything online it is not unusual that government agencies are also expanding their services to the online world. Most of us use the internet everyday, for some we spend hours everyday behind a computer whether it is at home, work or school, for many of us computers and the world wide web make our life easier.  There is no needs to spend half a day going the driver licence office to get another card just because we moved and we need to change our address. It took me less than five minutes last time I did it. I had to renew my vehicle registration last month. I went online for five minutes pay the fees and in less than 5 days I had my new registration on the mail. Thank god I avoided that tedious line at the registration office. However, we can always say that all these new online methods have their pros and cons and few of those cons were addressed at Mr. Miyasaki post early this week. Some can say that they are concerned about their privacy of the content exposed on the web or also they might be concerned about the way this information about us is stored electronically or may be that we are losing that human touch with online transactions.

For me the key point here is the benefit to provide options for consumers. It is a fact that nowadays online services is not for everybody. Let's say there is still old school people out there that prefer to do their stuff face to face. But there is also people that they are too busy for those long lines at government agencies. So the government has seen this need and is providing options for different types of people and they can choose which one accommodates better their needs and way of life. There is always risks when we talk about keeping record of our personal information. As there is concerns about our information been exposed on the web, there is also concerns if our info is process on paper. There is alway that risk that our info will be exposed. Its can be misplaced and ended in the wrong hands. Also many companies anyway store your information in an computer database when you go to their offices. That person behind the window is inputting all your information in a computer right?? So what's the difference? Your information is still been processed and stored electronically. Luckily for everybody, as technology evolves many improvements are made to protect our privacy and the way this information is stored. Also we have the concern about the lack of human interaction, and to a certain point is true, no offense to government workers but some of them when they are behind those windows assisting you don't have the best attitude. I have been in many situation where they lack of patience probably because they do what they do every day and hundreds of times, but every person is different and for that I rather deal with a computer at home.

I don't think we can have a 100% automated government (at least for now) because not everything can be taken care of on a web site at the moment. There are always certain procedures that require additional work or verification that requires that face to face interaction. But why not in the future instead of going to the office, we can go online and video conference with a representative at the agency without the need of doing those long lines??? why not ?? It is not a bad idea huh?