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Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

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Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

#211

Post by jrootabega »

frankosaurus wrote: post #102

IMO, much worse than touch screen buttons is touch screen glare. Driving westward in the mornings, sunlight is reflected directly off my car's touch screen into my eyes. Everything on the dash needs to be matte -- it's a safety issue.

I'd say anything in the car, really, but mostly the stuff in front of your eyes. My car has some chrome-like trim on the steering wheel, gear shift, etc. (It's a cheap car, so this is not just a case of it being luxury trim.) The sun occasionally hits them at the right angle to blast straight into my eyes. It's not frequent, but in the wrong circumstances it could cause an accident. Even once is unacceptable.

Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

#212

Post by jrootabega »

Animats wrote: post #105

Someone needs to invent something new. More tactile than a touchscreen, and with a cost no worse than a bunch of knobs. Disney has tried.[1] [1] https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/the-future-of-ta...

Apple's Taptics seems perfect, and it's been around for a long time now.

Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

#213

Post by itsjustmath »

Bret Victor's 'Brief rant on the future of interaction design' is a worthwhile read on the same subject: http://worrydream.com/#!/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionD...

> Pictures Under Glass sacrifice all the tactile richness of working with our hands, offering instead a hokey visual facade.

Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

#214

Post by IsometricRain »

have_faith wrote: post #169
throwawayboise wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you want to spend any significant length of time long form reading, even a 5+ year old E ink e-reader would be better than the biggest and newest phone.

Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

#215

Post by johnwalkr »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #80
SyzygistSix wrote: post #30

Seriously. Without a dedicated on/off/volume knob for the soundsystem, the driving experience is diminished drastically, no matter how nice the car. And of course touch is way better than eyesight when you are supposed to be paying attention to the road. As someone else said, rough motor skills are safer and more appropriate in a car then controls needing fine motor skills.

I know this makes me a clueless annoying boring techie nerd :), but I still cannot properly fathom how this is a minority opinion. NOBODY in my non-techie group of friends or family cares. Not.even.remotely. I watch them struggle with their touch screens, I even listen to them rant, but when asked about it afterwards, it's fine. Just fine. Sexy. Sleek. Desirable. Why do I have to go and ruin everything? Honestly, eve…

Auto HVAC works perfectly well in most homes, and nobody wants to control temperature by directly turning on and off a furnace. That being said, auto control is not such a great convenience that many people upgrade old-school radiators to have thermostats.

But unlike a home, when a car is constantly changing direction, and speed, and sun is in your face or out of your face at times, perhaps you have heated seats that you've turned on, control based on a single temperature will always have difficulty making you feel comfortable. Better to control things directly.

Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

#216

Post by phil294 »

magicalhippo wrote: post #203
WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #117

Earlier 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? My GF has the climate control in the car set to the max (28C) and regulates the temperature by turning it on or off. Part of the reason she hates the auto setting is that if it's not blowing hotter air over her, she feels cold. And she hates feeling cold. However leave the climate control on a higher setting and the car ends up un…

But... almost all cars (including BMW i3) do have seperate fan speed and temperature controls. So isn't this exactly what she would want?

Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

#217

Post by magicalhippo »

phil294 wrote: post #216
magicalhippo wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Honest question: do you really see people touch the level of their ac during a drive? My GF has the climate control in the car set to the max (28C) and regulates the temperature by turning it on or off. Part of the reason she hates the auto setting is that if it's not blowing hotter air over her, she feels cold. And she hates feeling cold. However leave the climate control on a higher setting and the car ends up un…

But... almost all cars (including BMW i3) do have seperate fan speed and temperature controls. So isn't this exactly what she would want?

No, the point is that the automatic temperature control controls the exhaust temperature. Once the target temperature is reached, you get a flow of not-very-hot air. Since it's moving, the wind-chill factor makes it feel like cool air.

Re: Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

#218

Post by hallway_monitor »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #66
hallway_monitor wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I can type exceptionally quickly and actually using the android swipe typing. At least as good as the original Swype. Sure it's not as fast as a physical keyboard, but I'm not writing a novel on this device. (3 typos made writing this)

Is that "actually" supposed to be "accurately"? Kind of undermines your point, doesn't it?

It does! C'est la vie, it's good enough for me!
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