"Skeuomorph" means "an ornament or design on an object copied from a form of the object when made from another material or by other techniques, as an imitation metal rivet mark found on handles of prehistoric pottery." In my book I described this: "with ingenuity and extra effort, the limitations of the old are imposed on the new."
Nowhere in modern technology do you find skeuomorphs more often than in automobiles. There are many amusing examples. Years ago when continuously variable transmissions were introduced, some were engineered to produce fake "jolts" as they went from one pretend gear to the next. The Prius starts to move the moment you take your foot off the brake, before you press the gas pedal. There is no need for that, but that is how conventional automatic transmissions work, and the car is designed to imitate them. Here is a recent example of a ridiculous automotive skeuomorph. This is from a description a luxury plug-in hybrid automobile that costs $136,000. Hybrid cars are inherently quiet, both inside and out. Apparently the designers thought this one is too quiet on the inside, because they added a feature to make it noisy: http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-autos-bmw-i8-review-20140502-story.html "2014 BMW i8 plug-in hybrid: High performance but with a conscience" . . . the best way to play is with the i8 in its Sport setting. That's also where the car does its most efficient recharging. Sport mode tightens up the steering and adaptive suspension, quickens the transmission shifts, makes the throttle more eager and lets the electric motor kick in earlier. It also pipes the engine's divine whir into the cabin — in a way the company calls 'augmented.' BMW prerecorded the i8's best engine noises. When driven in Sport mode, the car plays this sonic mixture through its speaker systems. Of course, this is ridiculous and fake, and represents everything that's wrong with the future of motoring. But it sounds so good that you feel dirty and cheap for loving it. . . ." (Note that being too quiet on the outside is a genuine problem for hybrid cars and electric cars. Pedestrians sometimes cannot hear the cars coming. In Japan they are thinking of adding a noise about as loud as a cell phone ring which will sound at very low speeds.) - Jed
