First you have the advocates that want technology to make things "safer", then you have the people who want to use the technologies as luxuries thus being able to charge more. Now you have the people who want to use the technologies to monitor you and use that to sell your driving data to whomever is willing to pay. Everyone wants this except drivers.

It was a slow progression. The screen was put there for sat-nav. That was a big seller. Then you wanted backup cameras. That was a big seller. And then you wanted hands-free Bluetooth. That was important, too. And then you wanted voice navigation (which never worked) to accompany the hands-free Bluetooth. And then you wanted CarPlay to listen to audiobooks. And then you wanted bigger screens to show all of this. Finally, you're complaining that all this technology is too much? Why did you ask for it?

I have listened to audio books since car radios with cassette slots exist, predating CarPlay in decades.

Still no CarPlay here.

I was alright with the backup cameras and an AUX cable (Bluetooth sucked for at least a decade and not owning your media will forever suck)

Now I can stream video from my phone to my car's screen, but can't have the phone ask the car to warm-up, that'll be 30 bucks a month. Things took a drastic corporate turn.

Because the primary beneficiary of “smart” devices is the company, not the users

The goal is to proliferate DRM to all consumer products and to all economic exchanges. Just like Content-Centric Networking (CCN) will replace TCP/IP the digitalization of our lives will make it easy for banks to forecast liquidity.

BMW had a heated seat subscription. This example is enough to explain why we have “smart cars”

Most people in my country buy used cars and they drive them for 10 years. Gotta wonder if they will still be getting software updates or if it will be like the infamous smart TV.

The machine has to expand.

maybe if we keep buying them, they'll change their mind and roll it back

I'd also toss in that it feels like the consumer demand for smart cars is just as manufactured as the demand for "smart" components (not limited to but including AI features) in everything. It makes products less reliable over time, and pushes upgrades / replacement faster (and opens the door to subscriptions being added on already-overpriced products).

Not everything needs a touchscreen.

this is what happens when corpos pander to shareholders.

The politicians are the people being asked, and secondarily a convenient scapegoat for the blowback. As long as they're the ones being blamed, nothing will change despite the politicians being replaced over the years.

It's definitely not because it's a conspiracy. Like, we use that word to shut down any criticism and thought that is unliked and against the social norms/times. It's not a conspiracy that this monitoring and surveillance has been said to be not because we don't want them, because the unaccountable leaders at the top want them.

Number goes up. Business is self interest. Opposite of government. Its almost pure narcissism if not sociopathy.