Thanks, but I don’t want a PlayStation on wheels. I find all that stuff distracting and annoying. Just give the car enough electronics to keep it going. (Oh, and SatNav...:))
“I find all that stuff distracting and annoying”
AMEN to that. I can drive modern cars for years and a simple thing like raising or lowering the AC fan speed means I have to take my eyes off the road, scan and inspect the minuscule controls, decipher the cryptic pictograms, and then try to hit the right button with my fat fingers all the while the car is bouncing.
I think the pinnacle of auto user interface was our 1966 Pontiac Bonneville. All cars of that era had a few large knobs you could find by feel and you had tactile feedback telling you where the control was positioned. The Bonny had these HUGE air vents down by the floor on both the driver and passenger sides. You pulled a knob (that was attached to a wire cable) that opened and closed the air door. With it open, you had HUGE airflow through the cabin. There was nothing like it before or after.
“...(Oh, and SatNav...:))”
Because the interface is delivered by screens controlled by software what is displayed can be simplified to suit anyone’s tastes and mental abilities. Totally customizable and I am sure cars of the future will offer a ‘Jitterbug’ option without “all those confusing buttons and features.”
So I’m not a fan of the Tesla Model 3 where *everything* is done via an in-dash tablet. You have to look at it for simple things, like speed(!).
Honda went back to having a turn nob for audio volume - based on customer feedback, it’s just easier. While Tesla is trying to innovate there’s just certain things that you shouldn’t try to improve upon.
I’m an automotive software architect however. Any modern vehicle has multiple types of computer networks. CAN-FD, LIN, MOST, FlexRay, and now Ethernet is emerging - and that is only INSIDE the vehicle. Next we have communication to the outside, like V2X, 4G/5G, cloud services, high-def maps, etc... The amount of compute power going into them is exponential year over year.
Over the next decade I hope we can use such technology to reduce the deaths on the road. Cars that keep you in your lane, in any condition, that also can see in the dark (infra-red/radar) with no headlights, avoiding people or large animals - is a good thing imo. I really don’t care about fully automated driving, just make it so I can’t hit stuff.
It isn’t going to stop...some may not like it but I also like to DRIVE and want user options to turn things on/off at my discretion. Consider though that once things are computer controlled you can update the software over-the-air and improve the capability of the car over time. Tesla did this with updates to their anti-lock brake system, a software update improved the stopping distance.
As the article points out, the problem the industry is having is handling it all. The integration of today’s disparate systems can make it smarter, cheaper, lighter, etc.. A given car has thousands of vendors. Just make sure you don’t ask about the chain of trust across vendors regarding software and cyber-security!