My wife asked the mechanic if we should think about trading in our 10-year-old Nissan for a Prius hybrid.

“No!” he said.

What mechanic in his right mind would urge customers to ditch a 10-year-old car? It’s a mechanic’s annuity if there ever was one. But in his warning, the Prius sounded almost like an iPod. Very expensive to repair. Only the dealer can do it. And if the battery goes dead, you’re facing an outrageous bill. It occurred to me that the car, like so much else in the world, is shifting into the realm of consumer electronics. This is confirmed now that I see on TechCrunch that Mercedes has a new deal with Apple…

As long as they don’t encase the cars in that molded fingernail-devouring plastic that’s impossible to open.