The genius of Jim Robinson is that he HASN’T larded up FR with new “features” that would have made it completely unusable. I like the familiar old 2000 landscape. Having not added a bunch of garbage, it would be hard to improve it via subtraction because there isn’t much to subtract!
The auto makers could learn about subtraction. I would subtract most of the impossible to use touchscreen virtual buttons and go back to old-fashioned knobs with serious tactile feedback. The old light switch on the dashboard and dimmer switch on the floor were the epitome of good design. Pull the switch out and lights are on. Rotate left or right to dim/brighten the dash lights. Mash the button on the floor to turn high beams on/off. Simple, intuitive, you could always do it no matter how much the car was bouncing and bumping, and you never forgot where those controls were. They were right where you expected them every time. Try that with a pin-head sized electronic fake button on any real road surface.
—”the impossible to use touchscreen virtual buttons and go back to old-fashioned knobs with serious tactile feedback. “
My beloved Suburban had the touchscreen controls, loved the car over 150k... Best car I ever owned; EXCEPT THE WORTHLESS CONTROLS!
I had to take my eyes off the road, focus on the display and check to see if the changes were made, to adjust the heater/AC.
If my wife was with I would ask for her to make the changes.
Our Australian shepherds are very smart but for some reason, they did not want to get involved? I think they also hated the controls.
“Perfection is attained, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
Antoine Du Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand & Stars