371–380 of 392 posts
Can we make the steering wheel a touch screen too? Like a digital wheel you turn with your finger to steer the car. Wouldn't that be just super duper? Couldn't possibly go wrong.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=tesla+yoke+steering+wheel+controls...
Contrary to the author's belief, grocery store doors do not open when you step on a mat. They open due to change in incident light on a photoelectric effect sensor above the door. It makes me so happy to think the Nobel committee, which was dominated by experimentalists, when considering Einstein's contributions to science, could only bring themselves to award him the prize for grocery store door openers.
The author answers their own question. It's in the marketing research! /s Did they do focus groups for this feature? Did they get responses like these? “I hate how easy and quick it is to get the glovebox open. Can you guys solve that?” “Is there any way to make simple acts I’m used to doing a real fucking chore?” “How can I be sure every single tiny fucking thing on this car will be an expensive hassle to repair in…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
TIL Skoda was manufacturing cars at least until 2016. I’m now that much more nervous about driving.
TUL: Skoda makes reliable cars at a good price. VW bought them out; they're basically VW models built in Czechia factories that apparently have great quality control. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business/skoda-named-most...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This makes an interesting point. The less used something is, the more apparent it must be how to use it. If something is used once a year, most users won't know what myriad of menus to follow. Some won't even know it is a menu option, and may hunt all over the car for a hidden release.
Except that by that logic, the hood release should be a giant red button in the middle of the dash.
That said, the hood release has been on the driver side somewhere, under the dash, in every car I own.
With a physical release, you can often hunt for a thing, much faster than a dozen submenus.
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?
This reminds of Philip K. Dick’s Ubik, where the main character has to pay the door a fee for getting out of his apartment.
> In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to the document many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip. “You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug. From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt’s money-gulping door. “I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out. Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.”
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is a manual glovebox latch more expensive than an electronic latch? I think there must be consumer demand for this feature. Oh how luxurious it must feel to never have to use a manual latch unlike the unwashed…
> there must be consumer demand for this feature That’s assuming competence. Design that follows consumer demand requires actual research work performed by the design team. It’s much easier for product designers to simply follow the design decisions of the “market leader. It’s what their higher-ups may even be requesting or requiring. This pattern explains such user-hostile decisions like the loss of headphone jacks,…
Curved glass displays cause phones to break more often which sells more phones, removing headphone jacks encourages users to leave bluetooth enabled which is used for data collection and tracking. People are making money from those design choices (at our expense), but who is making money by removing tactile controls and burying their functions behind menus? The screens and OS are there either way.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is exactly why I'm so sore about the newfangled button handbrake in my current front-wheel driven car. No more fun getting the rear to spin out by yanking the handbrake while exiting a corner at full throttle. Sadness.
What happens when you press it while driving? Does it just not engage if you are driving above a certain speed?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When starting the car, it loses the connection, and sometimes can't reestablish it. We are long past the point as an industry when we should have collectively declared Bluetooth a failed experiment.
I use Bluetooth every time with my car and I never have a connection problem. I use an old iPhone and my car is 5 years old. It may be an issue with GP’s car rather than the protocol itself. Turning your car off and on for Bluetooth sounds particularly stupid. I can unpair and pair my car without restarting it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The touch screen is one thing. To your point, arguably it's no incremental cost. But I don't buy that electro-mechanical latches and actuators and wiring cost less than a dumb latch.
Not having an accessible mechanical latch in the front of the glovebox hatch means it’s now a single smooth surface. That’s way cheaper to injection mould than something with a hole in it. Also, the mechanical latch mechanism needs to be strong enough to withstand hard use over many years. AND it needs to be made in a shape and finish that fits the design of the interior. AND it needs to feel good in the hand. AND it…
This design is an aesthetic choice, though certainly motivated parties could spin at as being cheaper (I suspect it's close to a wash).