But Wired can seem a little hysterical about its world view. It is, after all, simply a magazine about a box with some buttons on it, but it is so anxious to convince us that digitalia will change Life As We Know It that it sometimes winds up looking like a cheerleader for the industry.

This year’s Perspective Canada symposium, punning on the sex theme, is called "Digitalia: Using Technology Before It Uses You".

During the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of subtle hints that this car was coming — the carefully tuned growl of V8 exhaust, suspensions tuned away from the wallow and float of yesteryear, Touring trim packages devoid of glitz and digitalia.