
Road safety: Motorists using touchscreens in cars are being distracted - jkuria
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/05/07/motorists-using-touchscreens-in-cars-are-being-distracted
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downerending
Now that we're past the "gee-whiz" part of touchscreens, it's becoming more
apparently that they're an awful solution for almost every application.
Physical controls are simply _better_.

A couple of small examples: I frequently accidentally turn off my monitor, as
it has a "touch" (or even "touchless") sensor that acts if I brush my hand by
it. I'm not even sure exactly where it is, as it's not really marked.

ATMs now often have touch screens, but the angles often make it difficult to
figure out exactly where to touch the screen to activate the "button".

The thought of something like this appearing in safety-critical applications
is frightening.

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willio58
This is not a winner-take-all situation. Physical controls are better for some
things, touch screens are better for others. Imagine a map without pinch to
zoom, yuck. ATMs are an entirely different case. A lot of ATMs I use have
_terrible_ touch screens.

Written on a touch screen.

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downerending
I'd be interested to hear of cases where touch screens are an obvious win.
Zooming a map is great, but you don't need touch for that. Physical controls.

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kevincox
The biggest advantage of touch screens is that they are infinitely
reconfigurable. So things like phones where you can have dozens of different
types of applications running in the span of a day they provide a clear win.

Another advantage is that you can share control space with display space but I
think this is rarely a big advantage (other than the benefits described above
in that you can reconfigure what is control-space and display space).

For most devices that aren't general purpose computers I don't think
touchscreens are beneficial. For example in a car there isn't that much
variability in what you do so there is little benefit of a touchscreen so it
doesn't outweigh the downsides.

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pixelbash
> The biggest advantage of touch screens is that they are infinitely
> reconfigurable

Not sure I buy this line of thought. A computer keyboard is an example of an
infinitely configurable physical interface

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kevincox
Keyboards aren't really configurable at all. I mean sure, you can decide what
each button does in a given context but at the end of a day you have a fixed
number of buttons.

With a touchscreen you can change the size of the buttons, because if you have
fewer options you can make them easier to hit. Or you can have (limited) other
forms of control. You can have "analog" sliders and rotating dials.

Additionally you can configure between output and input which is valuable when
you are space constrained. (which is probably not an issue in cars)

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scubasteve85
When cars first started being released with touch screens only, I thought it
was a bad idea. With tactile controls, I can adjust whatever I want without
taking my eyes off the road because I know exactly what I'm touching by feel.

Now, my mother's Focus has a touchscreen infotainment system, but it also
includes tactile controls for the climate control and basic stereo controls on
the wheel. And everything can be controlled by voice as well. The touchscreen
makes sense given the multiple functions the system has so having tactile
controls for the functions you might want to change while driving makes a lot
of sense.

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m463
Using a touchscreen in a car is like dating an attractive person with a flaw.

Come over here and we can date and do things. I'll always be fresh and
attractive. I keep up with the latest fasions. You will have many options, and
I can add more. But you have to come over here. You have to do things my way.
And I'll never meet you half way.

The decision to put in a touchscreen comes from above by fiat (latin for "let
it be done"). Cost savings, simplicity, elegance. attractive.

But it could be _so_ much better if you were met half way.

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exabrial
I've never understood how touch screens are road legal.

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koenigdavidmj
Even the physical controls are becoming more complicated. A 2018 Traverse has
about 20 buttons, with no tactile clue as to which one you’re touching. I get
that it’s got more options than my last car, a 2012 Impreza, but that could be
operated pretty well without looking at it. Just three knobs (temperature, Dan
speed, and vent choice) and three buttons (AC, defrost, and
recirculation)—once you remember what it looks like, you can feel your way
around pretty easily.

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bookofjoe
[https://archive.vn/CzBsi](https://archive.vn/CzBsi)

