Follow-on to the Ridgeline thread: Attention designers.

[demlion]

To me the Ridgeline suffers from a strategic design flaw which I think haunts a lot of modern design: I call it "El Camino-ism" or "Swiss Army Knife disease."

With the El Camino, you have a car and a truck blended together. It is a small, cramped car with no back seat, with a weak bed and no suspension help to keep the bumper from dragging with a serious load. To me, it always seemed to fail at both Car-ness and Truck-ness, so as to become even more worthless than either of the things it sought to replace. It is not a serviceable car and a serviceable truck, it sucks as both.

In a related way, the SAK has the problem of trying to be too many things. If you need to gut a deer, there are much better knives to use. If you want to loosen a Phillips head screw, there are much better tools. I get that it helps to have the exact right tool, and you are maybe hiking or camping and cannot tote all that gear, but that does not change the difficulty of using what is advertised as this highly versatile tool.

Ok, so design pros: In the world of design, including the academic study of it, is there a term for what I call "El Caminoism"? If so, what is it?

 

[demlion]

BTW, the name "Swiss Army Knife," indeed, "Swiss Army" anything, cracks me up. Were the Swiss not neutral in WWII? So, it's the "don't fight because you will lose" tool? Or the "we cannot decide whether the Nazis are bad" tool?

 

[psuro]

Do not denigrate the El Camino. It is one bad a$$ M*ther f*cker.

 

[demlion]

Do not denigrate the El Camino. It is one bad a$$ M*ther f*cker.

LOL. It is the most impressive failed design in the history of American automobiles.

 

[searay26]

To me the Ridgeline suffers from a strategic design flaw which I think haunts a lot of modern design: I call it "El Camino-ism" or "Swiss Army Knife disease."

With the El Camino, you have a car and a truck blended together. It is a small, cramped car with no back seat, with a weak bed and no suspension help to keep the bumper from dragging with a serious load. To me, it always seemed to fail at both Car-ness and Truck-ness, so as to become even more worthless than either of the things it sought to replace. It is not a serviceable car and a serviceable truck, it sucks as both.

In a related way, the SAK has the problem of trying to be too many things. If you need to gut a deer, there are much better knives to use. If you want to loosen a Phillips head screw, there are much better tools. I get that it helps to have the exact right tool, and you are maybe hiking or camping and cannot tote all that gear, but that does not change the difficulty of using what is advertised as this highly versatile tool.

Ok, so design pros: In the world of design, including the academic study of it, is there a term for what I call "El Caminoism"? If so, what is it?

Have you driven a new Ridgeline?

 

[demlion]

Have you driven a new Ridgeline?

Yes. Not a '19, an '18. It is fine, but it is not what I call a pickup truck. They guy who said it is a Pilot with the hatch removed is pretty close.

 

[searay26]

Yes. Not a '19, an '18. It is fine, but it is not what I call a pickup truck. They guy who said it is a Pilot with the hatch removed is pretty close.

Well, I've driven a 2019 Ridgeline every day for a year and a half, and have owned 8 pickups over the past 45 years, so I might have a little better perspective than a test ride.

 

[demlion]

Well, I've driven a 2019 Ridgeline every day for a year and a half, and have owned 8 pickups over the past 45 years, so I might have a little better perspective than a test ride.

I actually drove it about 75 miles.

 

[searay26]

I actually drove it about 75 miles.

19,250 miles here. Been in lots of snow, rain, mud. Hauled gravel, mulch, ton of wood pellets, 3700 pound boat, pontoon boat, jet skis, utility trailers. Believe me, I was skeptical too, and never considered the first generation because of it's looks...and thought it wasn't a real truck. And never had a Honda before. But I'm convinced this truck will work, and work better, for the majority of people that have a bigger truck on the road today, and give better mileage too. Like it does for me. And most people don't really do anything that heavy with their trucks anyway.

 

[MJG-90]

They guy who said it is a Pilot with the hatch removed is pretty close.

My sister has a pilot. And it’s nice. I think it’s fair to consider the Ridgeline to be a SUV, with a different purpose for the “utility”. It’s much more of a car and a truck than the El Camino.

 

[PearlSUJam]

To me the Ridgeline suffers from a strategic design flaw which I think haunts a lot of modern design: I call it "El Camino-ism" or "Swiss Army Knife disease."

With the El Camino, you have a car and a truck blended together. It is a small, cramped car with no back seat, with a weak bed and no suspension help to keep the bumper from dragging with a serious load. To me, it always seemed to fail at both Car-ness and Truck-ness, so as to become even more worthless than either of the things it sought to replace. It is not a serviceable car and a serviceable truck, it sucks as both.

In a related way, the SAK has the problem of trying to be too many things. If you need to gut a deer, there are much better knives to use. If you want to loosen a Phillips head screw, there are much better tools. I get that it helps to have the exact right tool, and you are maybe hiking or camping and cannot tote all that gear, but that does not change the difficulty of using what is advertised as this highly versatile tool.

Ok, so design pros: In the world of design, including the academic study of it, is there a term for what I call "El Caminoism"? If so, what is it?

It's the new Subaru Brat minus the rear facing seats in the bed because the fun police won't allow that anymore.

 

[massimoManca II]

It's the new Subaru Brat minus the rear facing seats in the bed because the fun police won't allow that anymore.

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There’s actually an amusing story behind those rear-facing “jump seats” in the venerable Brat... and it has everything to do with $$$$ and being classified as a passenger vehicle as opposed to a light-duty truck - which would have subjected Subaru to the Chicken Tax

 

[PearlSUJam]

There’s actually an amusing story behind those rear-facing “jump seats” in the venerable Brat... and it has everything to do with $$$$ and being classified as a passenger vehicle as opposed to a light-duty truck - which would have subjected Subaru to the Chicken Tax

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