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Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

theautopian.com

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Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#151
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "perceived cons" - it causes accidents. It is distracting.

In 1930, laws were proposed in Massachusetts and St. Louis to ban radios while driving. According to automotive historian Michael Lamm, “Opponents of car radios argued that they distracted drivers and caused accidents, that tuning them took a driver’s attention away from the road, and that music could lull a driver to sleep.” https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/29631/when-car-radio-was...

It has caused accidents, yes.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#152

I don't want touch screens in cars period and I can't stand this trend of using them. I'm finally starting to understand the feelings my grandfather had for anything thing he considered superfluous or inconvenient in a car.

I’m pretty much with you and was exactly the same - until I got a Polestar. All the stuff I need is still an actual button - although not ac controls. Physical buttons for volume, front and rear demist, cruise, lights and wipers. So I only need the touch screen for maps and some audio - like changing radio or which streaming service. Can still be eyes off road for a second admittedly. My dad has a VW golf with this don’t have to quite touch it interface and it’s always changing stuff on him as he chats away, waving his hand about - it’s super dangerous imho.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#153
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you're doors won't open when the power goes out, that is just frikkin' stupid.

Not only stupid. That is plain criminal.

I was in a car crash as a child. Two cars caught fire, although I didn't realise it until I got out.

My door was blocked by another vehicle, as was my dad's. He was busy trying to get my sister to open her front passenger door, so he could clamber out after her.

The other rear door was damaged, and I had to pull the latch and then kick it to open it. (Not sure how that would work with one of these small manual release things.)

But parents: if you have a daft car with electronic doors, make sure your children know where the manual release is, both front and rear.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#154
I can fully relate to the criticism expressed, but does the article have to be that filled with expletives? I would argue that it could appeal to a far wider audience if the writer would be able to find a way around this crude use of a language. Less is more.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#155
post #39
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think touch screens are ok right now for two things: settings menus that you set once and never touch again, and Apple CarPlay. I recently moved backwards from a CarPlay car to a non-CarPlay car. Even with a very convenient MagSafe phone mount right where the CarPlay screen used to be, I still miss CarPlay. It was just easier and more convenient for controlling phone media, gps, etc. On the settings app, the choice…

Mazda disables touch for Android auto and carplay and I think that's awesome. The wheel is much better to use.

I have a Mazda 2, touch is disabled as soon as the car starts rolling, but is available at a stop.

I like their rotating joyknob implementation, which can be used without looking nor stretching arms, and integrates well with CarPlay as well. It's so good I skip on touch even when touch would be a good fit.

Even their homegrown UI isn't that bad, which is actually praise given the crap automakers can come up with.

Side node: touch is useful for the passenger though, as reaching to the knob can be annoying for the driver, even at a stop.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#156
This is a gem (emphasis mine):

"The touch-screen-actuated glove box is terrible because it’s one of those examples where carmakers have found that they have the technology to do something, so they do it, without considering literally anything about what they’ve done. Did anybody want this? At all? It takes something that has never been a problem, opening a glove box, and added cost and complexity to the construction, and added time and inconvenience to the process. No problem is solved, but a fuckload of new problems are introduced."

Here's the gist: carmakers, as many other businesses -this can apply to pretty much every product-, need more bullet points to be shown in advertising, so they use technology to add every possible feature, including those that are technically useless but still could add points of failure because of their bare existence. I think there's no way out until people is taught how this works very early in their life, and I mean children at school, so they can use their wallets when time comes. I can't see this coming anytime soon, however, as our economy totally embraces advertising the useless.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#157

Well how are you going to make Passenger Storage+ a $2.99 monthly subscription if the latch isn’t software controlled? Is a robolatch cheaper, compared to a manual latch? Is there a cost saving for the manufacturer?

The thought of the glovebox becoming a DLC like the BMW heated seats is hilarious.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#158
post #18

I like it. It means if someone breaks into the car they can’t get into the glove box. Also, with a Tesla, the car is never off so you don’t need to turn the car on again to get access to it.

I locked the glove box on my old Honda once. All it got me was a new dash, since the thief took a screwdriver and pried it open, destroying a lot more than if I'd just left it unlocked. Thieves will find a way.

I had a lock on the glove box on a used car. The lock was broken and it was difficult to open it so I never even bothered to use it. This has always led to awkward moments at borders.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#159
post #13

Reminds me of an aggravating feature (or really lack thereof) in my new Prius. It has wireless charging, but requires a cable connection for CarPlay. I hope I never meet a Toyota engineer in person, because it would be hard not to do something criminal to them.

Keep in my that a manager made that decision, not one of the engineers doing the hands-on work.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#160
post #89

GM also has electronic primary door release mechanisms in their vehicles. So if the car has no power, you can’t open the doors from inside. Granted, because of regulatory requirements there is STILL A MANUAL RELEASE… on the floor, near the chassis sill (and might be driver-seat only). So you save money going to electronic releases, but still have to put a manual one in anyways. The glovebox is merely annoying (though…

How does electronic release save money (or when is the breakeven), considering the engineering of the electronic / sw system and the new emergency release system vs adapting the usual manual system to a new car model?

It feels a bit like what happens when you have too many designers with too little to do.
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