
Behind the wheel of a Tesla Model 3: It’s a giant iPhone – for better and worse - mhb
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/08/02/behind-wheel-tesla-model-its-giant-iphone-better-worse/
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smacktoward
I just can't get past the idea of replacing all the instruments and switches
with a single giant touchscreen mounted in the center of the dash. This seems
like a _terrible design_ to me.

Physical controls don't move around, so you can find them without having to
take your eyes off the road, and they respond exactly the same way every time
you use them, so you can interact with them without having to do context-
switching in your head. On a touchscreen controls can be there or _not_ be
there, or respond to input differently from one moment to another, depending
on what mode the touchscreen happens to be in (here's Jef Raskin complaining
about this very problem, 25 years ago:
[https://www.wired.com/1993/06/1-6-guis/](https://www.wired.com/1993/06/1-6-guis/)).

And then Tesla takes that single touchscreen, which is bad enough all by
itself, and moves it to the center of the dash, so now you can't even check
your speed without looking down and away from the road. Aircraft designers
have known for _decades_ that you can improve pilot performance by presenting
important information front and center via a heads-up display
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-
up_display](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-up_display)). It's like Tesla
took all this research and practical experience and set out to design the
_opposite_ of what it cries out for: the world's first _heads-down_ display.

And of course every other car manufacturer will rush to copy this terrible
design, because (1) Tesla is cool and (2) people _loooooove_ touchscreens. So
the more touchscreens the better, right? Jam those touchscreens in everywhere!
Soon you won't be able to flush your toilet without swiping through four
levels of user interface (and eventually, three auto-playing video ads jammed
between those levels). Sigh.

~~~
mdeeks
My wife owns a Model 3 and I had the same thought going in, but after using it
for a couple months it isn't a problem at all and actually I prefer it FAR
more than my 2018 Audi A4 interface for example. Almost all of what you want
to do in the Model 3 is one or two taps away. It is very rare to have to dive
down deep into menus (except mirrors!)

I paid attention to how I drove for a while and realized the most common
things I do are just these:

1\. Look at a map to navigate

2\. Adjust the AC/Heat (temp, speed, vents)

3\. Adjust the radio (volume, change station, next track)

4\. Check speed

#1 & #2. These first two are worse cognitive load in my Audi. The Audi
navigation system and map are atrocious and the maps are horribly cluttered.
The voice navigation is awful unless you only ever tell it to "navigate home".
All of the AC controls are physical buttons but with digital displays that you
have to look down at anyway to see what they are set to.

Navigation in the Model 3 is Google Maps. It is clean and the voice navigation
is excellent. I can speak a street address to it and it'll get it. The AC is
just as much cognitive load as my Audi (high).

#3 Radio: The model 3 has steering wheel controls for volume and next/previous
just like other cars. Same cognitive load unless you go to browse for content
and then both are high.

#4 Speedometer. I notice I rarely actually check this. Most people drive by
feel. When you have to check it is only momentary and it is just slightly off
to the right of your eye line. In other cars I often have to move my hands out
of the way to see it. Also every dash in modern cars is loaded with garbage I
don't care about. I would guess that 98% of people never look at their
tachometer and yet it takes half the dash. Why is my speedometer even a dial?
I just want the number in big font and easy to see.

~~~
switch007
> #4 Speedometer. I notice I rarely actually check this. Most people drive by
> feel.

On what do you base that assertion? It's funny also that modern cars IMHO have
far less "feel" than older cars.

And it must be nice to live somewhere with no speed cameras! "It felt like 30"
while doing 37 is not a valid excuse round these parts :D

~~~
jinushaun
I drive by feel. You have a lot of visual, auditory and mechanical cues as you
drive faster. You also have other cars on the road so you know if you’re going
faster or slower. If you drive everyday, you also notice other aspects of the
car and when anything is slightly different the driving feels “off”.

I would argue this intuition happens for any activity you do regularly after
several years. Like accidentally putting your fingers on the wrong keys in the
home row.

It’s also different per car, so I rely on the speedometer more when renting.
Older cars definitely feel faster than newer cars, and I think that is mostly
due to weight and improved shock absorption. These things throw off your cues.

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EADGBE
On one hand, the connectivity is awesome.

But on the other hand, I haven't kept a phone in my possession for more than 3
or 4 years. And these are wayyy more expensive than phones.

I think there's a real market for "regular" cars powered by electric motors.
Just take my truck, rip out the drivetrain and put in electric motors and
battery. Same old door handles, same regular window buttons, same regular
radio.

I'd drive that thing until the battery catches on fire (er, I mean the wheels
fall off).

~~~
intopieces
I have the opposite fear: that we're entering the age of car interfaces that
have to be constantly updated. Like my grocery store changing its layout, I
don't want to re-learn how do the only 4 things I do with my car's interface:
change the A/C, Turn on NPR, set my destination, reject a phone call. If I
could teach it to do all of these automatically, I'd turn the display off....

~~~
EADGBE
No question it's nice... But I can't seem to keep a mobile phone over a long
period of time without it feeling more slow and buggy. I think the updates
have everything to do with that.

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neuralRiot
Unlocking with the smart phone? "Smart" keys are terrible but this is just
multiplying the troubles in the name of the coolness factor.

