I am all for the knobs, especially for driving, but going retro now would probably add silly costs to manufacturing, so that ship has sailed. I don't use voice controls in the house (Alexa et al) because creepy listeners. But in a car, I'd prefer decent voice controls for sound and heating etc over touchscreen menus.
Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
161–170 of 218 posts
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Whereas with Auto, you literally never know what you're going to get. It's not on conscious level - everybody thinks their Auto A/C it's awesome. Until you watch their actual sub-conscious behaviour on a drive. Honest question: do you really see people touch the level of their ac during a drive? Auto is actual temperature control. The system tries to stay at the set temperature. It’s a lot more comfortable that hav…
>>Honest question: do you really see people touch the level of their ac during a drive? Honest answer, not fudged for sake of making a point - Yes. Absolutely. I don't know if hyper-expensive luxury vehicles do better, but I can vouch that my wife has been frequently changing in our 2012 Kia Sportage, 2016 RAV4, and now 2019 Honda Odyssey. I've observed others do so frequently in Toyota Corolla, Honda Civiv, Subaru C…
Just to give you more anecdata, I have had both auto and manual AC and I fuss and fidget with both obsessively.
Part of it is that I often want a cool breeze regardless of the ambient temperature. I feel somehow more focused and relaxed with cool moving air, no idea why or how normal that is.
Air has more properties than temperature, that's the issue with auto AC.
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>Honest question: do you really see people touch the level of their ac during a drive? Honest answer, not fudged for sake of making a point - Yes. Absolutely. I don't know if hyper-expensive luxury vehicles do better, but I can vouch that my wife has been frequently changing in our 2012 Kia Sportage, 2016 RAV4, and now 2019 Honda Odyssey. I've observed others do so frequently in Toyota Corolla, Honda Civiv, Subaru C…
I very rarely meet an air conditioner that can keep the whole cabin cold enough for me. We all just point the things at our faces and enjoy the active cooled airflow, right? So I'm wondering what exactly these systems measure -- unless the thermometer is on my headrest I guess, it isn't measuring a variable that has anything to do with my experience.
Also there is more to air than it's temperature. I like a cool breeze even if the ambient temperature isn't overly warm.
It helps you stay focused, when it's too warm or the air is stale people get sleepy.
I posted this elsewhere but feel it's relevant here too.
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#164The approach should be digital knobs, which work relative to their setting and roll-through endlessly magnetically. So software can react, but user is in control.
The worst change in recent years is kitchen plates all having these horrible touch systems or magnetic detachable knobs.
It's horribly slow in usage, monster learning curve, locking systems which all behave differently, fails when wet. It's so over-designed and over-engineered. It's so bad. Just provide a knob for **'s sake and when you turn it right, it turns on.
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#165Well, we all know what happened to Apple's touchbar.
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#166The approach should be digital knobs, which work relative to their setting and roll-through endlessly magnetically. So software can react, but user is in control. The worst change in recent years is kitchen plates all having these horrible touch systems or magnetic detachable knobs. It's horribly slow in usage, monster learning curve, locking systems which all behave differently, fails when wet. It's so over-designed…
The amount of burnt index fingers I've seen with friends and family on these modern cooking stoves is hilarious.
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#167My dream -- Physical knobs and buttons (preferably with universal indicators of current state) for mic mute/unmute, camera on/off, volume. Laptops can have either built in or a usb/wireless accessory. Mobiles also need physical buttons if not knobs. Edit to add: A raspberry pi zero or less and commodity buttons / dials in a well designed case should easily work for this. I know some streamdeck projects exist but not…
Additionally I would like knurling on the knobs and muted musical tones to provide feedback, not the blaring monotonous beeps of today.
Star Trek TNG was wrong about the desirability of flat screen interfaces but right about audible feedback.
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#168The approach should be digital knobs, which work relative to their setting and roll-through endlessly magnetically. So software can react, but user is in control. The worst change in recent years is kitchen plates all having these horrible touch systems or magnetic detachable knobs. It's horribly slow in usage, monster learning curve, locking systems which all behave differently, fails when wet. It's so over-designed…
The amount of burnt index fingers I've seen with friends and family on these modern cooking stoves is hilarious.
Me too. If the content overspills you can't shut off the plaque because the control become unusable ('hot' or liquid on the surface displayed), which often leads to more overspills /autocatalyse.
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
thats a tradeoff rather than an error. Making the phone bigger makes it fit differently but is an overall user experience preferred by many.
It's a terrible tradeoff. Every time I need a new phone I search for the smallest one I can find, and it's always bigger than my last phone.
Except if you have bad eyesight, enjoy gaming, long form reading, watching video while traveling, etc.
Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
thats a tradeoff rather than an error. Making the phone bigger makes it fit differently but is an overall user experience preferred by many.
It's a terrible tradeoff. Every time I need a new phone I search for the smallest one I can find, and it's always bigger than my last phone.
I’ve got a 12 mini. It’s just about usable, however I find myself using it less for things like the internet as anything in the top left is out of reach