Consumer backlash against touchscreens in cars is winning; automakers concede, return to buttons.
Consumer backlash against touchscreens in cars is winning; automakers concede, return to buttons.
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Fucking THANK YOU. It’s like all the automotive interior designers just hotboxed themselves for a decade with all the unnecessary and less useful touch interfaces and are finally coming back down to earth.
I'm not sure it was the designers but the executives. Touchscreens are insanely cheap compared to buttons and all the wiring involved. Like the main reason that Tesla does everything on a touch screen is that software is soooo much cheaper than hardware.
It’s like everyone collectively forgot about precisely how much effort has been put into physical human interface design over the years. In models from less than a decade ago, Mercedes was calibrating dashboard push buttons to require precisely one Newton of force to actuate… and now we have this “slap the screen in the vicinity of what is maybe a button a few times to maybe get the thing you want to happen”. I know, it’s cheaper, but… come on.
Because execs gauge by the stock market and Tesla's stock valuation was more than Toyota's for some reason. Number must go up, always and cutting costs makes number go up.
The screen is necessary for the backup camera, which is a legal requirement in the US. Why make a usable dashboard when you can save money by adding all functions in the screen?
Please explain a non-touch design that allows all following functions: bluetooth pairing, equalizer adjustment, controlling volume of parking sensors, displaying oil levels, tire pressure, breaks wear, and other nice sensors your modern car is equipped with. How about adjusting the heat level of the seat heating? How about disabling mirror auto-adjustment when you shift into reverse?
A modern car needs a touch screen.
It also desperately needs hardware buttons for core features, e.g. volume, AC, lighting.
you... you can't think of how to interact with a computer without a touch screen?
I'm so old.
All these things can be performed with a turning knob, a touch screen is not mandatory in a car
I have a flashlight with like 120 functions and ONE button. You’re fully correct. We do not need touchscreens for everything.
Exactly and for something more complex like a car, a dial knob like BMW's iDrive is just perfect.
And how many knobs do you want in your car? 50?
I have one and a few buttons in my car, BMW has the iDrive knob. So, one is enough.
Most of the things you listed can - and have - been done with physical controls at one point or another. It was nice, because you could do it by feel and memory after you got used to your car.
The modern perception of “car” is so, so different from the one I grew up with, and I’m not that old - I learned to drive in the early naughties
I think what you're missing is that no touch screen does not mean no screen whatsoever.
My Honda from the transition years has a nice big screen that is touch-capable, but it also has a nice knob in the middle that can spin to scroll through lists, but also rocks up/down/left/right and pushes in for select. When I describe it in text it sounds complicated but it’s really quite intuitive and can be used without looking for all the basics.