Several years ago, my mom gave me a “breakfast sandwich maker” for Christmas or my birthday. I have no idea why. I cook for a living, and can make a breakfast sandwich myself with just a frying pan, in half the time and with a quarter of the mess, and have a much less messy end product.
I thought the suggestion to include a key was as a back-up for when the remote isn’t working, and that the car in question did not include a mechanical key and lock.
Plastic ice cubes, that is hollow cubes of plastic filled with water. You freeze them, then you can use them to chill your drink without the ice melting and diluting it. Sounded great, didn’t work in reality. The plastic was too good an insulator. After freezing they felt barely cold to the touch. They didn’t noticeably chill my drink.
I’ve never seen a car that doesn’t have a mechanical door lock, even if the keyhole is normally hidden, because it is indeed a back up that lets you get into the car even when something is broken.
You referred to a couple of specific situations which made it seem to me like you were implying that using a normal key was easier/quicker, but maybe I misunderstood what you meant.
We like to shop at thrift stores. In the last few months, every one we have been in has had 3-5 sandwich makers/presses. I wonder how long it will be until we see all the egg gadgets.
Translation: I have never owned a BMW e10 or e30.
I’m amused by all these people who feel the need to warm up their cars in winter.
Heated seats are far more effective and they’re standard on all new cars.
Also, I’ve been reminded of the most useless thing I’ve ever received: a hot dog toaster. Two slots for buns, two holes for the meat.
Never in my life have I ever wanted a toasted hot dog so much that I needed a specialized appliance for it.
I’ve got heated seats too. They warm up your butt a bit. Takes a good 5 minutes for them to heat up. I still have feet of snow in my yard on April 22. Still need 4x4 to get home.
Heated seats are absolutely no substitute for a warmed cabin when you are dealing with real winter.
Neither are a substitute to moving south, though. 
I’ve never owned a car with heated seats (my current 2016 Jeep Wrangler doesn’t have them). Having my ass heated is not something I find pleasurable in any way.
My only heated seat experience to date was negative. I was driving my gf’s car for some reason and the seat began to get very warm. I’d never heard of heated seats. I thought the car was on fire. I pulled over, shut the car off, and got out. I called my gf and she explained to me how to turn off this “feature” (which she loves).
They are not at all standard. My mother-in-law bought a 2018 Subaru Forrester and it did not come with heated seats. Looking at the website, it seems it doesn’t even come with the premium trim level. You have to buy it as part of an “All-Weather Package.” I just looked at the Mazda website for 2019 models, and the Mazda 3 does not come standard with heated seats. You have to go two trims up from the standard to get heated seats (or one trim level up with the hatchback model.)
I don’t care about remote start; car warms up faster when you’re driving it, and I don’t like leaving my car running with no occupants. That said, I live in Chicago, not Duluth or Winnepeg. My views may change there. The heated seats do an okay job. (My wife’s car has them.) It’s not something that I’d consider a “must-have” on a car, but they do okay. Still takes them a few minutes to ramp up.
The only experience I’ve had with heated seats was one time in a co-worker’s car. It was cold, and I was having cramps. It was wonderful.
I have not felt any real need for them, especially since I don’t get cramps anymore. But it would be nice for the occasional times I have back aches.
Mind you, I live in Texas. I never need extra heat to stay warm
I live in Florida but even when I go to cold climates I feel no need for a warmer seat. Seat warmers make it feel uncomfortably like someone has just sat in the seat.
Now, steering wheels on the other hand, if they ever come up with a device that can keep the wheel warm and cold depending on the outside temp, that would be useful, although if it is too hot you can simply rub the wheel with a rag or paper before you touch it to remove a lot of the heat.
Seems like a stupid idea for ketchup, but something similar is surprisingly useful for things that come in pump bottles where the tube never quite gets to the bottom, like hand lotion.
My wife uses a fair amount of lotion, and there’s always between about 2 tablespoons and a quarter-cup that’s un-pumpable at the bottom of the bottle, and these things let you drain it into another bottle.
I love having keyless entry to my vehicle. So much more convenient to not have to fiddle with keys and turning a lock, particularly when dealing with a full grocery cart or while corralling a couple of kids.
I also love being able to start my vehicle with a push of the button on the dash or by pressing a couple buttons on my key fob (or better yet, though an app on my iPhone!).
My dealership replaces batteries for free. Mine key fobs are now two years old and I got a low battery alert on Friday. Swung into the dealership since I was in the area and they changed the battery in 1 minute and at no fee.
Hold on. I bought a 2018 Mazda 3 (one of the premium models). My fob can’t start the car, or are you saying it can?
Hey, we live in Alabama and use the remote start on cold mornings.
(It helps extend the battery range on our Chevy Volt because it warms up the car without using power from the battery.)
No. But I can start the car without taking the keys out of my pocket by pressing the button on the dash. I do not have remote start. My point was I can carry the kids and move them all about and get groceries in and out without worrying where my keys are or fumbling with them. This is the first car I’ve had that I can do this with, and it really does make a difference to me in terms of convenience. It took me a few days to get used to the whole starting the car without turning the key thing–and it was weird for about three or four days–but now I don’t think I can look back.
Someone out there must have thought Google Glass was a good idea. 
Yeah, really. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.