Posted on 09/21/2024 3:06:23 PM PDT by grundle
COMPLETELY agree!!
I want my knobs and buttons!
“Physical buttons outperform touchscreens in new cars, test finds”
No Shiite, Ackmad.
Absolutely, positively no effing touch screens in any of my upcoming cars. At least my two vehicles have radio and A/C controls have knobs that control some functions - not all.
Not surprised. A 1998 Toyota Camry would have beaten even the Volvo.
I hated the lincolns when they had touch sensitive crap. They went back to knobs and buttons and it’s so much better.
Is there a service that takes out the touchscreen and puts in a radio and cd player? I would love to remove the touchscreen from my 4runner
As a mobile software developer I have to agree. For applications where looking at the screen to operate the device makes sense (I.e., a smartphone), touchscreens make sense. But when safety is paramount like keeping your eyes on the road, being able to operate a car’s functions by tactile feel of uniquely-shaped buttons is far more preferred.
It isn’t just cars though. For the same reason, video game consoles have excelled over touchscreen gaming for almost anything other than casual phone games because you need to keep your eyes on the screen. I don’t understand why manufacturers of almost everything insist that everything needs to be flat and devoid of any tactile feedback whatsoever. It’s insanely stupid, honestly.
One “advantage” of designing touch screens processes instead of pushbuttons is that the programmers can work remotely, because in order to make sure pushbutton processes work, you have to be in the same room as the pushbutton.
Exactly, I don’t want the blue screen of death…..
I could have done all these things in about one second in my 1966 VW sedan. Pull the lever to start the defroster, that’s it, and the damned thing probably wouldn’t give out any warm air for the next 20 minutes anyway. Didn’t have any of the other stuff, not even a radio.
Agree
Simple is better.
Agreed, KISS (keep it simple, stupid) is good advice for carmakers and everyone else.
But I’m an old guy. Maybe today’s kids demand power windows and the fancy touchscreens. What carmakers don’t get is that it’s the old folks who have the money.
Don’t give us what we want, and we’ll keep driving around in what we have now. (At least I will.)
100%. I like the old cars. I don’t even have power windows and I’m glad.
I used to have a friend who sold stereo equipment and he would always cite the “K and B factor” to his customers. Basically, he’d count the knobs and buttons on each unit and push the customer to the one with the highest count, because they were usually more expensive.
It's about money in cost of development and cost to manufacture. It's far easier to design all their cars with a touchscreen then it is to figure out buttons, switches, knobs, etc.
Likewise, keyboards vs. smartphones.
Touch screens in Automobiles to control features while driving are insane. I drove a family members GM truck and it took me forever to figure out a few things. Some of them like changing the volume were impossible without instruction. And I am convinced that some of the most simple tasks were not even an option. Circle the touch screen with your finger to change the volume? And try doing that without activating one of the other features. Change from XM to FM. That takes awhile. The few words that appear don’t seem to describe the action you want to do. So you have to just start pushing things and hope you find it somehow. Would they write the word “Band” on there.... No of course not. I never did find a way to input a station that was not on a preset. First it would do the auto scan which would stop on a non-station with static blaring. Then I found a manual option which would increment by single frequency every time you selected it. Hit that about 100 times to get where you want to go. No option to get a key pad to just type in the frequency you want. Meanwhile you risk driving off the road trying to simply play an FM station. I never figured out how to just turn the thing off either. Total insanity. No thanks. All of those tasks take just seconds with a traditional radio.
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