To visit a friend no longer requires a long day's journey. It also enables people to live farther away from their place of work, often opening up our employment opportunities. However, the creation of the car also created an expanded labor pool in certain areas. Thus, modern life is constructed in such a way that traveling long distances are required to get to work or to get basic goods. Some neighborhoods are designed so walking even to the corner store is impossible. This has generated a poorer state of physical health amongst the populace. People walk less. They are dependent on technology, simply to move -- even to drive to the gym.
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As the result of the creation of the automobile, people have fewer face-to-face social connections. They do not know our neighbors and often talk to loved ones over the phone, on a long commute. The automobile has created less of a need for personal relationships amongst strangers, as a car creates a barrier, a distance between the driver and the world, unlike walking or public transport. For people with long commutes, they may...
Compare this with a city like New York, a major city which has a large population of public transport users. One of the exciting aspects of many cities is simply the ability to come into contact with many strangers, very rapidly -- although the birth of the modern metropolis, its diversity of goods and cultures, would not have been made possible without the ability to transport goods and people quickly through mechanized means.
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Other technologies that have resulted from the automobile include the gas pump (of course), the drive through (faster food), travel DVD players (constant exposure to media), to-go Styrofoam cups, protective car seats for children, roadside motels, diners, and Nascar. All of these diverse innovations in our modern culture, from the ridiculous to the sublime underline the impact of the automobile upon what we consider pleasure, how many strangers we see in a day, our ability to see other places, as well as the mechanics of the device.
