Square wheels and tech traction

Jon Bentley considers what the once-mocked square steering wheel can teach us about technological innovation

- Jon Bentley

Time can transform our view of a technology and its chances of success. Ideas and products that initially met with a frosty reception can, a generation later, be relaunched to blossom as must-have breakthroughs.

I was musing on this phenomenon the other day while driving the new Dacia Bigster. I couldn't help noticing that its steering wheel was square-ish rather than round. A quick google confirmed my suspicions that it isn't alone. Audi, Peugeot, Tesla and Chevrolet, with its eighth generation Corvette, all now have popular models with rectilinear-themed steering wheels.