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Salivanth comments on The cup-holder paradox - Less Wrong Discussion
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But this is a rather interesting example of rationality at work. It's useful for a couple of reasons.
1) There's a clear indication here of incorrect beliefs leading to unwanted consequences. In this case, a downplay of the importance of cup holders is leading to the loss of profit that could otherwise be gained.
2) It's fairly trivial and simple, which is actually a good thing in it's favor. It's not technical, meaning we can all understand what's going on, and it's extremely unlikely anyone is going to have an entrenched belief about cup holders already that makes rational discourse more difficult.
The simplicity of the example is a point in it's favor. We're not attempting to fix the cupholder problem here, we're looking at explanations of why it might exist in order to improve our model of things.
It is not that simple and trivial at all. Some pointed out that fact, the problems with safety, all the measures and so forth. We don't want a hot coffee spill over the driver, for example. I think, the auto industry is telling us - it's better to stop and refresh yourself. It will be another story in fully automated cars.