BY MAX TAYLOR

DEALS AND DISCOUNTS FOR GORV READERS !

TRAVELS WITH KINGDEANO New South Wales ’ Southern Highlands

I was reading about Ford ’ s Pro Trailer Backup Assist recently . It ’ s now available as an option on the Ranger and Everest and , essentially , it takes the pain out of backing up a trailer . The driver can tell the car which direction to reverse the caravan by turning a dash-mounted knob , and continue to make adjustments to the direction of travel as they reverse . Sounds great , right ?

If I ’ m honest , it makes me a little … uncomfortable . Look , anything that helps a fellow traveller explore the country is a good thing , and if modern technology makes life easier , fantastic .

But whatever happened to an actual human learning a skill ? And yes , reversing a 20ft caravan is a skill . The continued outsourcing to artificial intelligence of things that can be learned with practise seems an ‘ interesting ’ direction for society to take ; however , in the case of caravanning , wouldn ’ t it be better to learn to reverse your van yourself , before becoming dependent on a computer and some sensors ?

A generation of people have lost the ability to read a paper map , thanks to GPS . It now seems we ’ re on the cusp of loosing a generation of people who can reverse a trailer !

MANAGING EDITOR / DIRECTOR : Max Taylor PRODUCTION : Simone Ranasinghe SALES DIRECTOR : Grant Manson 0417 052 819 SALES : Ashley Manson 0438 051 354 • Fiona Vermeeren 0401 594 331 DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION : James Manson VIDEOGRAPHERS : Darcy McDonald • Patrick Manson DESIGNER : Will Blazejewski SOCIAL MEDIA : Lili Cooper

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