You Can't Please Everyody

One of the sad, but simple truths in life is that you cannot please everybody. I think that a large part of this problem is that you can't ever please certain people. It is not so much a problem of: I chose to do 'A' and they wanted 'B', as I chose to do 'A', they wanted 'A', but because I chose it they suddenly want 'B' so that they still have something to complain about.

I suppose that is one of the problems of living in a wealthy society, people don't have really problems so they find other things to gripe about. In most places around the world they struggle to have enough food and live in something like a tin shed, while here we complain about crazy neighbors or how the internet was down for a whole five minutes. Ahhh the disasters of a wealthy nation...

What got me thinking about this today was the Chevrolet Volt. It is GM's Holy Grail. They are betting billions on its success and the future use of the technology they develop for it. It is a hybrid, but unlike any hybrid car currently on the market for two reasons. First, you can plug it in, charge it up, and drive on battery power for 40 miles, which is more than 80% of Americans need for their daily driving. Second, is that all other hybrids are set up as internal combustion engine, with an electric assist engine that helps when moving slow or for a burst of power, but the Volt is not. It is power solely by an electric motor and the internal combustion engine acts solely as a generator to charge the batteries and power the electric motor, achieving 40mpg or better for all driving conditions. This is a much better way to set things up, especially when thinking long term, since all new car will eventually by electric anyway.

Now their are ton of people complaining about the Volt these days, when they should be cheering. They complained that GM didn't make a hybrid and needed better vehicles, so GM makes an amazing one and they still complain. The issue, if you could call it that, is that they think it is ugly, especially compare to the concept version. Personally, I think both look good, but concede that the production version looks nothing like the concept, but since this happens with every single car ever made I don't understand the protest fest that it has inspired with the Volt. And so I reiterate, you can't please everybody, mostly because you can't please some people. It is still cool to bash on American cars and until that changes it will be cool to bash on the Volt, even though it is more eco-friendly, better technology, and better looking than the next gen Prius. Give me function and give me form, but only if my neighbor will be jealous.