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Yeah putting a GPS display in the middle of the dashboard is kinda stupid when it comes to safe driving practices.

I have my Garmin portable GPS on a windshield mount that I hang close to the left A-pillar - not much different than checking any other instruments, that way. Their GPS interface is pretty much 'set it and forget it'. The basic, 3D trip view includes a few useful, but simple, dynamic indicators - like your actual MPH and the local limit. There are plenty of other features if you wanna dig deep enough, but I don't personally find them to be all that essential.

I only updated the Garmin map info once, but that was five years ago. As familiar as I am with this model I'd like to keep it, but for the cost of an update, I could almost buy a new Garmin that includes FREE lifetime updates.

MrBumble, I think you're starting to see that a lot of these geegaws are little more than thinly-veiled attempts to get more $$$ out of your pocket - often, on a recurring basis. Apparently the monthly car/lease payment isn't enough for them.

I'm not at all averse to technology, provided it serves a useful and cost-effective purpose.

Progress may have been all right once, but it went on too long. Ogden Nash, 1959

Coming back to the 1929 accessories list...what was a Tiffany Visor?

Also, sitting on the table behind me is a packard logo pines flat radiator shutter. Since it has the logo, ny notion of when it wqas offered, an d for how much?

+1 on all the touch screen comments. What possessed Ford to try and work with Microschmuck, whose products seldom come close to their hype?

The Pines device is commonly called a "winterfront". In the days before radiator shutters and thermostats, in cold weather if you drove the car before the coolant was circulating, the cold air blast thru the radiator could freeze the coolant in the radiator so even if the engine coolant was hot, it couldn't pass thru the frozen radiator so the engine overheated. Winterfronts pretty much became obsolete with the introduction of thermostats and thermostat-controlled radiator shutters. I don't know of any firm dates but suspect they were pretty obsolete by the early 1920s. You see them on eBay not infrequently so that might help you get an idea of value.

The Tiffany visor isn't illustrated in the Accessory Catalog.

...What possessed Ford to try and work with Microschmuck, whose products seldom come close to their hype?

Most likely because they have a PR group that can spew hype and vaporware second to none -- promise the moon, flame out halfway there -- but they also have a huge carrot and stick dept.

One of my customers got caught up bigtime in the second dept. They wanted to upgrade and get a new framework to eventually transition to coming technology. Then it came down to "we gave you a favorable license on X and Y which you are currently using and you can also do Z with us. Our Z will do the same thing as that other product." That was the carrot.
The stick was if the other system was installed the X and Y prices went away and customer would pay full price plus make up the difference from the time X and Y was installed. Even though Z capability was vastly inferior to what they wanted to do and required an additional program to translate and buffer before Z, it was simply cost prohibitive for them to not go with Z.
That is one well proven way to get a customer to come aboard and make them keep using their products.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Ford was told that there was a huge R and D dept that would be placed at their disposal, they would station many engineers on site and anything Ford wanted could be done. Just like all the billion dollar computer systems Calif has spent money on that still can't do half of what was promised.

I am not interested in a car for anything except getting to a destination on time and without breakdowns.

The crap they hang on these cars today is ridiculous.

My modern car is 18 years old, starts with a key, doesn't have a network, doesn't have worthless ABS, doesn't have stupid ETC, and doesn't have anti-theft crap to break down passing a power plant. The LCD radio display went blank years ago which suits me fine because I only use it for one news station.

I will admit I had to get used to not having roll up windows, manual steering, and a stick shift. If I could I would delete all that junk as well. And would be happy without synchro to boot.