In Swisher’s New York Times article titled “Owning a Car Will Soon Be as Quaint as Owning a Horse”, Kara Swisher talks about how the development of technology influences people’s ideas on owning vehicles. There are common car-sharing like Uber and Lyft and also new innovations like Scooters, Vertical-take-off-and-landing vehicles. Swisher states that “private car ownership declined globally last year, and it is a trend that I believe is going to accelerate faster than people think”. She also describes people’s bonds with their cars, ‘they present so many major life moments (prom!) and individual tropes (freedom!) that it is difficult to imagine giving them up”. She also talks about the reasons why people don’t need to have their own vehicles. Car-sharing services are easier and cheaper than owning a vehicle and also helps with carbon-free life.
Kara Swisher’s purpose in writing this article is to point out the development of new innovations and other transportations are taking over the need of owning vehicles. Swisher states that she would support the idea of advocating car-sharing services and other transportations than owning vehicles. However, she worries about what would change in her life when she really doesn’t have her own car. Swisher uses personal anecdotes and comparisons to state her point that people have special bonds with their cars but people generally adapt to new things really quick. When she talks about people’s bonds with their cars, Swisher mentions that she has named her cars since she first started driving, “Cecil the Honda Civic, Jeanette the mighty blue Volkswagen Bug, Roger the Volkswagen Rabbit…Why wouldn’t I name them, since they were an integral part of my life from my teens to my single days to motherhood?” By telling the story of she naming her cars, Swisher shows the special connection that she has with her cars when her car accompanies her and points out that owning vehicles are important sometimes. She also talks about that she “live near a major metropolitian area, where the alternatives – cars and then carpools and then bikes and now scooters – are myriad”. When there are more public transportation options, it makes people’s life easier without driving on their own. She goes on talking about people change their minds easily and adopt new ideas, technologies fast by using examples. She mentions that “people moved from physical maps to map apps, from snail mail to email, from prime time TV to watching on demand”. Even though people may have special connections with their cars, people tend to adopt new ideas that are better for them. By using personal anecdotes and examples, Swisher accomplishes her point that people like to adopt new ideas, technologies that would make their lives easier and more efficient which can be accomplished by not owning a car, even though they have connections with their vehicles.
I agree with Swisher’s idea that owning a car is not as necessary as before. Car-sharing, public transportations, and new innovations are replacing the place of personal vehicles. In China, subways, buses, car-sharing, bike-sharing, railroads, and taxies are common public transportations. More than half of the populations choose public transportations instead of driving themselves because of the heavy traffic. People think it’s way easier to get on the public transportations even though they own personal vehicles. Public transportations are faster, easier and cheaper. The price of gasoline is expensive in China, therefore, many people save their money from driving. And also, parking is another big issue in China. Many places do not have enough parking spots. When people drive there but can’t find a parking spot, they get frustrated and may decide to go home instead. However, by taking public transportations, people don’t need to worry about where to park. Therefore, I agree that owning a car is unnecessary when there are so many other options of public transportations that would save your time, money and energy.
Sophia AP LANG 