2028: Study finds that cars without any human controls are safer than those with
Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
61–70 of 386 posts
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#62Already posted, the original: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34283385
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#63I liked what Ford did with its new Mach-E. They literally glued a physical knob to the touchscreen:
https://electrek.co/2023/01/06/ford-finds-unique-knob-contro...
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#64The actual "study" (really, an unscientific test) is here: https://www.vibilagare.se/english/physical-buttons-outperfor... At home we have both traditional vehicles with lots of knobs, and vehicles (Tesla) with mainly touchscreen buttons and voice commands. My personal experience: * It takes at least a few weeks to become familiar enough with the touchscreen buttons and voice commands that they become second-nature.…
Thank you for this. There is a very vocal minority on HN that cries bloody murder about touchscreens in cars. Anything that argues against the hivemind is often downvoted and dismissed without much thought or self-reflection.
It’s interesting that you say that because the people arguing against touchscreens are writing long thoughtful comments aligned with decades of human factors research, quite notably contrasting with proponents.
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#65I am starting to wonder if the definition of a ‘luxury car’ in 2030 will be ‘no touchscreens’ and if economy cars will be chock full of cheap android devices just to shame the people who buy them into spending more to get a car with buttons and mechanical indicators.
The Bugatti Chiron has no touchscreen, in fact it made a point to look like it has no screen at all. It is a deliberate choice, they didn't want people to look at the window and see a lifeless black screen, and one that will look outdated a few years from now. No need to wait for 2030, look at the top end luxury cars, while they don't all have as strong a stance as Bugatti, you will see a lot of physical buttons and…
The screen (and its interface elements) are definitely one of the faster aging elements of cars (especially luxury).
For instance the Jaguar XK(R) is a rather good looking car, but the central touchscreen is just horrible.
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could do almost anything with the buttons in my car without looking away from the road. That's never going to be possible with a touchscreen.
How do you, say, check tire pressure? Setup a new garage-door opener? View your calendar for today? Do you have physical buttons for those things? A car that does everything (or "almost anything") via physical buttons would be insanely hard to use . It would look like, and be about as easy to use as, a jet cockpit. The best approach is clearly not all-physical-buttons, nor all-touchscreen-buttons, nor all-voice-comma…
Not sure if you are being sarcastic but yeah, my car has a physical button for the garage door. I just hold it down for 5 seconds to set a new one.
Tire pressure I use a physical button to cycle through my cars diagnostic info.
And I have no idea why I would check my calendar on my car. Lol seems like a made up argument.
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#67The actual "study" (really, an unscientific test) is here: https://www.vibilagare.se/english/physical-buttons-outperfor... At home we have both traditional vehicles with lots of knobs, and vehicles (Tesla) with mainly touchscreen buttons and voice commands. My personal experience: * It takes at least a few weeks to become familiar enough with the touchscreen buttons and voice commands that they become second-nature.…
I understand your points.
I will add one more thing, touchscreens have the ability to allow you to customise location of "knobs and dials", according to your own idea of "what makes sense".
However, having one car with both, I cannot understate the fact that you can touch physical buttons and correct yourself without activating them or looking.
Haptic feedback on touchscreens, while allowing you to sense without activating those buttons, is possible. And I wonder why nobody is doing it.
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that this is not actually happening. Tesla fsd is still a huge problem.
They weren’t talking about Tesla FSD
What they were talking about requires FSD. Car manufacturers have been adding various assistive features but none of them are at the level where it’s safe to direct your attention away from the road.
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could do almost anything with the buttons in my car without looking away from the road. That's never going to be possible with a touchscreen.
How do you, say, check tire pressure? Setup a new garage-door opener? View your calendar for today? Do you have physical buttons for those things? A car that does everything (or "almost anything") via physical buttons would be insanely hard to use . It would look like, and be about as easy to use as, a jet cockpit. The best approach is clearly not all-physical-buttons, nor all-touchscreen-buttons, nor all-voice-comma…
> How do you, say, check tire pressure?
Cars have had these for decades. Usually a dash indicator pops up if it's low.
> Setup a new garage-door opener?
??? Have a physical garage door opener.
> View your calendar for today?
WTF? Pretty sure you shouldn't be looking at your calendar while driving. Also, it's on your phone, again, which you shouldn't be using while driving.
Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you, say, check tire pressure? Setup a new garage-door opener? View your calendar for today? Do you have physical buttons for those things? A car that does everything (or "almost anything") via physical buttons would be insanely hard to use . It would look like, and be about as easy to use as, a jet cockpit. The best approach is clearly not all-physical-buttons, nor all-touchscreen-buttons, nor all-voice-comma…
My car, born from jets, has no tire pressure checker, no garage door opener, no touchscreen, no automatic transmission, and smack-you-in-the-back-of-the-head turbo lag. I honestly can’t think of a new car I’d trade it for (unless selling that new car to buy more old cars isn’t cheating).
I miss my old Saab... One of these days I need to pick up another one.