
Car doesn’t need a touchscreen in it - MBCook
https://theoutline.com/post/8309/the-volkswagen-space-vizzion-and-ford-mustang-mach-e-have-taken-car-touchscreens-to-new-levels-of-unnecessary?zd=3&zi=efy4bzqe
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m-p-3
I hate, HATE, _HATE_ touch screen interfaces in cars. They lack the tactile
feedback that I prefer to rely upon when modifying a setting all while keeping
my focus on the road.

Voice commands are hit and miss with my accent (a mix of english and canadian
french) so they don't work really well either.

~~~
sli
I don't strictly hate touchscreens in my cars as long as the physical controls
I use the most are still there, but it infuriates me that OEM replacements can
cost upwards of $1000 while there are fairly high end aftermarket replacements
-- with 99% of the existing features plus some additional extra features --
for half the price.

I'm not totally sure what goes into those OEM ones but they'd have to work
hard to convince me the part itself is actually worth that much when everyone
else disagrees.

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sjustns
This is why I am going to drive my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee until it explodes.
The dash is wonderfully analog, with knobs and buttons and just the right
amount of lighting. One day, I am going to start a business that specializes
in ripping out new car technology and replacing it with quality analog
components.

The simple issue I have with all of car technology is that most of it does not
solve a problem I have. These days, we build shit not because it would be
useful, but just because we can. And then businesses shove their products down
your throat whether you want it or not. I don't know which car site on was on
the other day, but they had a giant feature callout on the page for animated
light sequences on the headlights and taillights, saying the car would "greet
you" and say "goodbye" when you unlocked or locked the car.

I don't need my car to communicate with me like it's the fucking mothership
from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I want my vehicle to be a reliable
but mostly unremarkable tool. We've got decades of engineering brain power and
marketing know-how in play to bring a car to market, and car companies are
trying to sell us on light beam sequences. I want off this planet.

And I find it funny that manufacturers are making screens look like phones and
tablets. They float above or in front of the dash in the same way your phone
would be positioned with a holder. I'd much rather have a great analog
interior, with a strong magnet mount for my phone when I need it. With a
simple bluetooth connection, you'd be good to go.

What about safety? I'd argue the added "safety" technology is just an
illusion. The indicator lights on the dash and in the sideview mirrors
whenever you're "too close" to a car or object are super distracting. As soon
as you get up on the interstate, your eyes start twitching uncontrollably side
to side in response to the side view proximity lights. "No officer, I haven't
been drinking, my nystagmus is a side effect of driving my brand new car."
And, even though everyone has backup screens these days, people still can't
parallel park or get out of a grocery store parking without restarting the
process no less than 10 times.

I also don't need to talk to my car. "Alexa, ask Jeep how much gas is left in
my car." I bet you'd know if you didn't have to tap three times on a screen to
see your fuel gauge.

I really don't know who these new vehicles are designed for. "Alexa, ask Jeep
to accelerate and drive us off that cliff."

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mikehodgson
I'm surprised the article didn't mention Mazda. Their research lead them to
focusing on tactile feedback, reducing reliance on the touch screen, and
minimizing driver distraction.

[https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1121372_why-mazda-is-
pur...](https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1121372_why-mazda-is-purging-
touchscreens-from-its-vehicles)

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kwhitefoot
I'm perfectly happy with the touch screen in my Tesla S 70D. It has rid the
car of the ridiculous clutter of buttons, dials, knobs, and switches that seem
to be just sprinkled all over most other cars.

All the critical functions of the car are controlled by steering column
stalks, steering wheel scroll buttons and the brake and accelerator pedals,
and the critical visual feedback is in the dashboard.

No ads have appeared so far.

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neuralRiot
What’s the problem with buttons? It’s a car, it’s main function is
transportation, it should first serve transportation in safe manner then the
showroom. To me the model 3 interior looks hideous, stripped of everything
just to look futuristic.

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kwhitefoot
I can't comment much on the Model 3 as I have never sat in one much less
driven one. However, as far as I know the steering column controls are pretty
much the same as on the Model S so as far as controls are concerned it's
pretty much the same. The big difference is that there is no speedometer,
etc., directly in front of the driver.

Most of the buttons on a modern car, in fact all cars I have owned, have
little to do with transportation and much more to do with media selection and
control and control of ancillary functions that are not directly to do with
driving the car. I'm quite happy that those buttons have been collected in a
set of screens instead of being littered all over the centre console.

This is my considered opinion after more than 20 thousand miles in the Model S
and after more than forty years of driving a variety of British, Scandinavian,
European, American, and Japanese cars.

