The Subaru WRX is a legend, and life is too short not to drive legends. The “bug eye” version of this all wheel drive sporty car from 2002 and 2003 was a success worldwide but especially in the North American market where it was the first time we got this car. Later generations of the car delighted owners as well, yet the bugeye models delighted customers in a unique way that the newer cars do not duplicate for all their recent advantages.

What made the bugeye WRX so attractive then and to this day? There is an analog, mechanical honesty and tautness to the 2002-2003 models, and modern versions are not as “organic” feeling. Ken Mayer and Eric Penn join Tim Keirnan for a longitudinal review of Tim’s 2003 Subaru WRX. If it sounds like we recorded this episode sitting in the car, well, we did!

This episode covers the following items in the following order:
* The evolution of the all wheel drive niche in vehicle design and rally race history
* The nature of forced induction, its pros and its cons
* The superb steering wheel by Momo , the clean and usable instrument panel, the clean and usable controls, the amazingly good seats.
* The factory boost gauge and short shifter options.
* The design choices of 2003, with a value on providing the most feedback to the driver, versus modern car designs with their isolated and numb feeling for the driver. Ken’s dad’s 2015 WRX provides contrast to what Subaru did in 2003. How has the model evolved?
* The heavy weight and mechanical complexity of an all wheel drive and turbocharged vehicle.
* Tim’s few and limited modifications to an otherwise stock bugeye WRX.
* We almost forgot to talk about the qualities of a boxer engine and the excellent sound of the stock exhaust with unequal length headers.
* The oil and transmission fluid dipsticks were poorly designed and those fluids are kind of, you know, just maybe, important.

Skip ahead to 31 minutes if you want to bypass our discussion of the history of all wheel drive cars and comparisons to front wheel drive and rear wheel drive, and the principles of forced induction.

Eric promises us a longitudinal review of his FiestaST in 2017! Stay tuned. . .

Brian Shunamon from the USA sent us a message so on point that I asked him if I could record it and publish it. As an Information Technology professional with corporate clients, as well as a guy looked to for tech advice by friends and family, Brian addresses the concerns of our last several episodes on Microsoft’s customer experience mistakes with its Windows 10 upgrade policy and behaviors. He reminds us that enduring patterns of mistreatment is a bad precedent not only in our personal relationships, but also in our relationships as customers of products and services. You don’t have to take it! Nor should we.

Brian’s longer written article, “NIXING Windows“, about why Microsoft’s behavior is a threat to your personal and professional computing life, and how you might consider an personal computer operating system such as Linux, is on his LinkedIn profile at

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nixing-windows-brian-shunamon?trk=prof-post

Thank-you, Brian!

Microsoft hit a new low in their obnoxious campaign to upgrade customers’ PCs that were Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10. The user interface is almost impossible to say “no” to when the dreaded Win10 upgrade message appears.

Anecdotes about affected customers Tim knows and a critique of two freeware utilities that can keep a Windows machine under the user’s control are featured in this short episode. When will Microsoft learn to respect customer’s private property and offer an honest UI to upgrade to Windows 10? Never, probably. The brand is suffering as Microsoft demonstrates contempt for their paying customers and tricks customers into forced upgrades.

Hypnotically cool documentary of Lenny’s Shirts:
https://youtu.be/eAuNU8npRv0

Lenny’s Shirts store on Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LennyShirts?ref=unav_listing-r

Paul Thurott’s excellent article explains the whole mess:
https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/67367/upgradegate-microsofts-upgrade-deceptions-undermining-windows-10

Steve Gibson of GRC created Never10 to let owners regain control of their Windows PC:
https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

GWX Control Panel is not as easy to use as Never10, but offers more configuring options:
http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/

The Windows 10 upgrade has become infamous for its pushy, hard sell approach and its “phone home” data tracking “features”. Did you know the “hard sell” is known by such other fun names as “advance consent” and “inertia selling”? It’s all about disrespecing customers’ property rights, personal rights, and using people as objects for short term gain instead of offering them a decent value proposition.

As recounted in this episode, even the technical implementation has flaws that result in a customer experience that disappoints at best and enrages customers at worst. At least, this customer was not satisfied.

For those of you who share my concerns at Microsoft’s disresepctful, anti-customer approach, the GWX control panel may offer some relief from the Windows 10 upgrade annoyance. Check it out at
http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/

NOTE: This critique is of the Windows 10 upgrade process itself, not of Windows 10’s user experience as an operating system and user interface.

In service design and delivery, people are the user interface between an organization and its customers. This anecdotal episode recounts two excellent customer experiences with two seemingly well-run companies. Both employ people whose friendly personalities and professional skills, backed by efficient business processes, won them Tim’s business.
Story 1: WOW Internet makes switching from internet service provider AT&T Uverse painless and affordable.
Story 2: A Plus Auto Repair & Transmission shows how to win expensive repair jobs over Hodges Subaru, an official dealership.

A bonus critique of the ConnectSense CS-TH Wireless Temperature Sensor shows how crucial first time setup is and the consequences of it failing. Product setup is your brand’s ambassador! Don’t screw it up!

Merry Christmas, Yuletide Greetings, and Happy New Year. Please submit a review on the iTunes Store if you want to thank us for another year of episodes.

Wayne Neale, CEO of Kaydak, joins Tim Keirnan for an interview that ranges across several topics:
* Experience Design: From UI to User Experience to Customer Experience and beyond
* Design Thinking
* Service Design

You can find Wayne at
http://www.kydak.com/

The service design episodes of Design Critique Tim mentioned can be heard here:

http://designcritique.net/dc32b-interview-cafe-design-with-tom-diab

http://designcritique.net/dc47-interview-designing-the-ux-of-conferences-with-jared-spool

http://designcritique.net/10th-anniverary-episode-with-tom-brinck-on-starbucks-customer-experience

The Tim Cook interview that gives Tim a glimmer of hope that Apple isn’t completely a lost cause:
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/10/01/445026470/apple-ceo-tim-cook-privacy-is-a-fundamental-human-right

Listener Garrick Dee emailed to say he liked our Sustainable Shaving Tools episode and he’s written his own article on traditional wet shaving. Check it out!
http://www.groomingessentialsblog.com/how-to-wet-shave/