While looking at a video of the changes in the F-1 racing car, it occurred to me that everything has become high-tech—so much so that you have to wonder when they will let robots take over and drive the cars. Everything is controlled by computers, and there are more buttons on the steering wheel than on the most extreme game controller.

This is not a car you can jump into and actually drive.

Watching F1 cars whiz around the track reminds me more and more of the odd, late-1960s slot car fad. I'm not talking about the little home track, but the massive commercial tracks. John Ford, editor of Scale Auto Racing News, outlines a good history of this phenomenon.

Here are a couple of tidbits to consider:

"Slot car racing was so popular in the 1960s that special racing events were televised live nationally on shows hosted by Mike Douglas, Steve Allen, and Johnny Carson. Even Ed Sullivan hosted a nationally televised high-stakes race with slot cars that featured the top racing drivers of the day, including Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, and Dan Gurney. Recommended by Our Editors Wikipedia Editors Could Strike Following Layoffs Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Explodes Spectacularly During Ground Test Google Engineer Charged for Using Insider Info to Win $1.2M on Polymarket Bets According to an independent survey taken for AMF in 1968, there were more slot racing facilities than bowling alleys. AMF proceeded to buy the American Model Raceways company. They renamed the tracks AMF but never promoted slot racing in the U.S. and eventually closed the doors on an American legend. Before closing, they shipped all remaining tracks to Europe, where several are still in operation today. Conversely, here in the U.S. there is not one AMF track left to prove they ever existed. It has been a long-held theory that AMF closed slot-racing manufacturing down in order to place more emphasis on their 'new' sport of bowling."

While I love a conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, I happened to be a kid in school during the slot car fad; I know what killed it because my friends and I lost interest around the same time, and I can assure you it had nothing to do with AMF bailing out. What happened was that the older kids and adults with money to invest in the cars developed ridiculous and expensive motors, wheels, and chassis for their cars, making them laughable to race with. I remember some older kid telling me about his "balanced" motor that had been professionally rewired—and blah, blah, blah.

The fact was, you looked like an idiot if you put your lame car on the same track with these bozos. They basically ruined the game by throwing a lot of money and technology at what was originally a simple and fun activity for kids. Soon it was no longer any fun.

Obviously, this wasn't the fault of computers. But was an early example of how technology can take the fun out of things.

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