Random thought, to which I don't give a lot of credence but can't rule out entirely, is that tech work and car fandom often grow out of childhood/teenage obsessions, and most kids would only have one such obsession.

Related, it's also possible that it's a class thing. Many kids who grew up working on computers did so in a white collar household, many who worked on cars did so on a blue collar family.

Both mostly off-the-cuff speculation based in no small part on clichés.

As a teenager I spent much time working on muscle cars. I was very disappointed at Caltech to find nobody interested in cars. None of my engineering coworkers since, either.

I've always missed working on cars with my friends.

Somewhat countering your >most kids would only have one such obsession

Train nuts and computer nerds seem to have higher overlap.

MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club being a prominent example.

Doesn't take many counter-examples to invalidate an idea. Good point.

Most of my friends in college worked on their jeeps for rock climbing all the time. It definitely was not a cheap hobby.

To throw my anecdote in the mix, growing up in the early 2000s, my blue collar extended family donated to me a bunch of old computers, which were much more accessable to me than a car. I imagine for kids today, the same is possible, old laptops, tablets, etc, hopefully decently hackable.

Now that I'm working in tech, my younger brother is interested in cars, so the trend/cycle is resetting itself :)

although cars and computer systems are both examples of "technology", the way we appreciate them is very different.

we consider computers mainly in quantitative terms: cpu speed, memory size and bandwidth, etc. if computer A compiles and runs my project just as fast as computer B, I don't really care what's "under the hood", or whether it was made by an artisan or in a factory. I don't care what it sounds like either, as long as it isn't loud enough to annoy me.

while you can certainly compare the stats of different cars, the story on paper doesn't come close to describing what a driving enthusiast really cares about: the qualitative experience of driving the car. when selecting a car I don't just buy the best 0-60 time in my price range; rather, I seek to optimize some holistic measure of drive quality.

to grossly generalize, I find that most tech people have a quantitative mindset. they feel most comfortable in decision spaces where things can be compared using objective metrics and an authoritative answer can be reached (at least theoretically). tech people spend a lot of time developing quantitative skills, so it is easy for them to get involved in these types of discussions.

I think this explains the bulk of why tech people just aren't that interested in cars; they don't really know how to get involved in the conversation and they don't see why they should.

I think you have taken the context out of the comparison.

In terms of CPU, GPU, thermal systems, PSU... yes computing people do whip out a lot of numbers. But when buying a laptop, assembling a gig, we consider of the overall experience, more abstracts and qualitative measurements: ease of maintenance, aesthetics even.

On the other hand, car guys do get nerdy on number crunching when they tune their turbo/ exhaust system, IE: optimizing a very specific component of the system.

I'm not trying to say it's black and white; enthusiasts certainly care about the design of a computer and stats for cars. however, I do feel that car enthusiasts have different priorities than computer geeks.

I personally am way more interested in computers than cars, but I do feel that cars are more "emotional" possessions than computers. some laptops are ugly and made out of plastic, while others can be quite attractive, but my selection strategy is always to filter out the downright ugly machines and then compare the others component by component. my process for cars is pretty much the reverse; I want one that exceeds some bar for performance and then I will pick the one that feels best to drive around.

my car is far from the fastest in its category or price segment, but imo it is definitely the most pleasant to drive. my desktop is a bunch of high end parts inside an ugly leet gamer case that I bought ten years ago.

Quantitative mindset sums it up quite well for not just the tech mindset, but most people. More in some metric equals better, for a lot of people.

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I have a very conspicuous car, that most people don't realize the manufacturer even built (they quietly sold it for one model year, with ~700 sold in the US and < 40 in Canada). I also live in a snow belt state, and always drive it roof removed and windows down as a rule... including last night for a 125 mile trip for Christmas with air temps of 34F (1C). So let's go over all the questions I get...

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* Why don't you have a Tesla?

This is the number one question, by a landslide. Random people ask me this at gas stations, FFS.

I have four friends with them. I have driven every Model S variant from a P75 through a P100D. I have heatsoaked all of them in under 10 minutes. A friend who wanted to tag along with his P90D on a 3 1/2 hour pre-dawn backroad bombing run turned it into a 10 hour trip... couldn't keep up, had to stop seven times for limp mode (once in as quick in 6 minutes), had to charge it twice, and had to reboot it once because the turn signal kept making the indicating noise ten minutes after the stalk was returned to the neutral position.

But the main reason is I wanted a mid-engine sports car with a ton of motorsport-proven engineering that never skips a beat, not an under-damped executive sedan that weighs over 2000 pounds more with the interior materials I'd expect in an Infiniti. Trick infotainment though. Be interesting to see what they'll be in 15 years.

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* Why don't have a car with all-wheel drive?

Because I know how to drive in the snow. Even if I'm caught out on summer tires and am on an 8.5 degree downhill grade.

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* Why don't you have Car X? Car X has more horsepower!

I mean, I could get a Dodge Demon, couldn't I? Refit the Hellcat Widebody suspension for street use. Have 840HP on race gas, and the best part of 800HP on 93 Octane. I've driven a few Hellcats. They're decent cruisers and you can light up the rears in 4th gear for grins on demand. But they're still 4400lbs, feel like it in the corners, and have awful visibility.

Oh wait, but there's the Corvette ZR-1 which is 800-900lbs lighter and handles. Right. However you cannot use anywhere near all that has on the road... so then it feels boring, unless you push into felony territory all the time so it feels interesting. The tires wearing down will scuff up the paint protection film like the wooden floor of a Catholic school when it's not hucking rocks at it. Last, if it's like every other Corvette I've driven I know there's more past eight tenths but the car keeps mum on how close to the limit I am, meaning I have to put my faith in experience and physics.

Or, you know, buy a more communicative car instead.

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* Why don't you have Car X? Car X has a faster 0-60 time!

Here's how often I do standard 0-60 starts: Never. 0 to 60 isn't exciting, and you look like a tool if there's other people around. You know what's more exciting than a very temporary trip to 1 longtudinal G? Maintaining an excess of 1 lateral G in a corner. Every corner. That's something you can do in a Miata with good tires and a dialed-in suspension. If you want to spend, there's quite a few supercars out there that approach peak 2 lateral Gs at speeds where the aero really does work.

Sure. A P100D trumps me to 60 and gets me by a hair over a second in the quarter mile. Though I'd about catch it in the 1/2-mile, and will leave it for dead after the mile mark.

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* Why don't you have Car X? Car X has this amazing infotainment system!

Which is the first thing to obsolesce. Don't get me wrong! Tesla, Audi and Porsche all have great systems right now. However 10 years from now, will you STILL want that same system? 20 years from now? No. To trade in a $100K+ car over a $5K infotainment system is absolute insanity. Moreover, treating a $100K+ car as disposable or a consumable is also insanity.

I own a car to be on desolate backroads at 3AM on a Saturday morning in which I might see three whole other cars in three hours. The driving is entertaining. Not music. Not gadgets and gewgaws. Not autonomous driving at normal speeds. Challenging myself is what I enjoy.

It also reminds me that people like the infotainment because driving/commuting is so dull. I think autonomous driving will be great, because that's what most people want. Maybe then people more people will buy fun cars to actually drive for fun, for when they don't have to autonomously commute about.

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* Aren't you cold?

You are only cold if you want to be. Prior to this car, I had a very desirable coupe by all measures for about 14 months. Very handsome, quick, fast, etc. It was very toasty and comfy in cold weather!

Prior to that I had a Miata for nearly a decade, in which I adopted the "top down, windows down, no hats, always" rule on delivery.

... and after a few months with this very nice coupe, I decided it would be better if it were worse. I made a very, very expensive mistake. I missed the Miata which is objectively worse in every measure, but subjectively better for what I wanted to use it for... and when I was cold, it actually enhanced the experience. So I bought a factory frankencar made for die-hards like me.

When I drove top-down in rain for 2 hours in 36F (2C) air temps, I knew I made the right decision. Bought driving gloves though!

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* Why doesn't you car have Feature X?

My car does not have... power seats (option, went for manual fixed-back carbon buckets instead), heated seats, ventilated seats, massaging seats, seat position memory, adjustable seats (save for height and fore/aft), rear seats, good cupholders, pointless carbon fiber trim, heated steering wheel, multi-function steering wheel, paddle shifters, soft-closing doors, self-closing trunk, heated mirrors, dimming mirrors, power-folding mirrors, fancy door handles, keyless entry, keyless ignition, fancy lighting packages, voice control, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, lane assist, self-parking, auto-braking, super-premium audio, apps, metallic paint, a power top, forced induction, all-wheel drive, a dual clutch automatic transmission, adaptive suspension, carbon ceramic brakes, center-lock wheels, a front-axle lift system, or aggressive aero. It was ordered with air conditioning, and I had it removed after delivery (can easily put it back in if I change my mind).

Though it weighs under 2900lbs (weighed 2888 lbs when corner balanced), has one of the best-feeling manual transmissions ever put in a car, has a normally aspirated engine a foot behind your head that runs up to 8000rpm all day every day and sounds like motorsport, steering as crisp as a frosty morning, delicate handling, the industry standard by which braking performance has always been measured, and looks that get way too much attention at gas stations and stoplights. All the stuff it doesn't have is nice, but it would only compromise what I actually care about.

Let me guess: a 981 Boxster Spyder?

Counterpoint: watches could be described in the same way as cars in your example, and lots of tech folk get into watches.

The cultural gap is real. The car world traditionally appeals to a very different demographic. Remember all those crappy flash intros every geek would hate? Car businesses loved them.

Working on cars is a very social experience: you pick up the interest from relatives or friends, and space requirements for the hobby are such that, in urban surroundings, you usually cannot hide it from people, so they will see what you’re doing and stop to have a chat; you will often need help to push this or that relic around; you will have to talk to garage owners for many reasons, etc etc. Whereas IT is traditionally a loner’s world, and more so since the internet became central to it.

Then consider that the world of car enthusiasts is shrinking. The big expos have consolidated for lack of visitors, and car evolution itself is shutting out enthusiasts by producing more and more products that cannot be tweaked or even repaired without professional assistance. When I was a teenager my dad was often going on about the fact that me and my friends simply did not do any of the motoring-related activities he did as a kid.

I’ve known exactly two geeks in my life who were also car enthusiasts. One was a very atypical programmer, fundamentally a businessman who loved PHP. The other came from a deep UK working-class background, and cars were basically a way to stay in touch with that, a mean to maintain an emotional link with his friends and family. Everyone else only cared about cars enough to use them to from A to B and to hold a non-geek conversation (“did you see Top Gear last night? Ludicrous display! The thing with Jaguar is they always try to walk it in...”).

My experience is that you will find many cs and math people among car enthusiasts (At my university almost everyone involved in motorsport is math/science/eng.) From the other side, you will find a smaller proportion due to the wide variety of people who work in tech nowadays.

I don’t think the majority of students who study cs have an obsession any more. It has become such a public and large field that you can hardly expect that to be the case. cs pays more, so it will be more “diluted” (of car enthusiasts) but also an enthusiast of both is more likely to be in cs than eng for the same reason.

In my case, I have always been obsessed with cars and then taught myself cs afterwards.

I suspect that is they way Unis have been plugging CS ie pure math over EE. I suspect that for those from a "Proper" engineering back ground the over lap is much higher.

Certainly working at a world leading RnD place at Cranfield (which had an airfield) in the 80s there was a lot of overlap some engineers had air band radios so they could listen out for anything interesting Bearcats, Spitfire going out for a test (they used to rebuild spitfires on site) run etc and loads would go out and watch

Weird. They are one in the same to me. I started tinkering with cars and computers at a young age. I got a job fixing computers, then I got trained in cars and went to fix cars for a few years. Now I’m back to computers. I take things apart and figure out how they work and put things together. If that’s cars, or software, or computers, toasters, houses, furnaces, it’s all the same process for me. The overlap between these things is 100% in my mind. :)