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comment by b_b
b_b  ·  610 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Physical buttons outperform touchscreens in new cars

I despise the giant display touchscreen trend. Having to click through menus to operate basic functions is maybe the dumbest idea ever. I get that cars can do more, and some of the lesser used functions don't need dedicated dash space, but changing the heat/air and operating the radio should always have direct controls. I am shocked to learn that you need click-throughs for wipers in some cars. That seems like it should be illegal. It's basic safety. Wipers, climate, and radio (at least volume control) are things you should be able to do without ever taking your eyes off the road for a moment.





katakowsj  ·  608 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Agreed. My family picked up a '21 Chrysler Pacifica last August. The touchscreen is s huge downgrade from theTown and Country we had before it. Climate control is a separate screen from media. The T&C screen was more basic, 1. Focused on entertainment only 2. Was small enough that a driver could place his/her thumb on thedash aside the screen and use their index finger to quickly, and accurately access any buttons an functions. Now, the screen is so large I feel as though I'm playing darts each time I need to poke accurately at a postage stamp -sized button to change a function. Fortunately, th e van has emergency brake assist. It has saved me from nearly rear-ending the car in front of me while I'd focusef all of my attention on navigating the ergonomically-impaired toch screen.

ButterflyEffect  ·  610 days ago  ·  link  ·  

iot iot IOT IOT IOT IOT IOT IOT get with the program jeez

b_b  ·  610 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I complain to my wife about it a lot, because she is a car designer. She does exteriors, not interiors, though. She just shrugs her shoulders and says, "If you hate it now, give it 5 more years." Supposedly the insider trend is that the entire dash will be a curved screen at some point in the self-driving future. Probably a good way for them to serve you ads while you're trying to get from point a to b.

mk  ·  610 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That is hell.

I dislike our Tesla's screen. It is dumb. A big map is nice, but changing anything while driving feels like texting but less safe because I can hold my phone up.

katakowsj  ·  607 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yep. having seen that monster interface on your dashboard, I'm surprised that we've not seen more headlines like " Tesla driver mows down Orlando family of 4 attempting to access his climate control. Says couldn't find fan speed adjust.

kleinbl00  ·  610 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's telling that BMW and Porsche are all about putting more information between your eyes and the road while Tesla has always been 100% about making you look away from where you're going.

mk  ·  610 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Tesla also updates the UI so you need to relearn the steps and find things that were moved.

We had the screen go totally unresponsive, which required a reset. No radio, map, fan, etc. My wife waited a couple of days before I came home from a trip because she was worried the reset might fail and then she'd have no transportation.

kleinbl00  ·  610 days ago  ·  link  ·  

"We never seem to have the time or money to do it right, but we can always find the time or money to do it twice."

- unnamed Tesla engineer, as quoted by Ed Niedermeyer

b_b  ·  609 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I have it on good authority that they can't even get the windshield wiper working properly on the Cyber Truck.

kleinbl00  ·  609 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm curious if your source thinks the Cybertruck will ever be built.

b_b  ·  609 days ago  ·  link  ·  

He only said there's no chance that Tesla's public timelines are accurate.

katakowsj  ·  607 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hey Tesla, The devil's in the details, right?

One can at least expect as the electric car segment has some reasonable competition, B.S. like this will vanish.

My iPhone has never done similar after an update. If it didiit did, I likely would not have an iPhone in my hand.