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Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

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Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#91

Post by jonplackett »

Funny that a study was needed to determine this incredibly obvious thing but j guess good it was done.

Touch interfaces basically suck compared to physical.

The only exception being if an interface has to change a lot - and is meant to be looked at 100% of the time while in use (or smartphone screen)

Any other touch interfaces is just dumb.

Examples:

- a lot of new very expensive cookers have touch buttons that are a lot more fiddly than dials and dont work when your hands are wet

- a lot of very expensive SLR cameras now have touch screens that hide functionality that used to be instantly available on a dial in a submenu.

- MacBook Touch Bar (no explanation necessary)

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#92

Post by dontlaugh »

TekMol wrote: post #22
richbell wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Should you be doing many more things while having a phone call? Turns out the concept of a phone changed. Being distracted during a phone call doesn't pose a risk of grievous injuries or death to yourself or others. Unless the nature of cars fundamentally changes, they should not under any circumstances be cool entertainment devices. Your focus should be on your mirrors and the road ahead. Full stop.

Isn't that an argument to let computers handle the driving rather than humans? Computers are extremely good at calculating physics. And they never get distracted.

It’s certainly an argument for public transportation, automated or not.

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#93

Post by throwingrocks »

samch wrote: post #90

I’d like to offer a possibly controversial alternative viewpoint on this. On a longer time horizon than just the past few years, we saw the introduction of touchscreens for drivers way back in the early 2000s. We just called them smartphones. Before that, rush hour commuters could be spotted reading newspapers, shaving, applying makeup, and eating breakfast while driving. All of those pose real dangers to themselves…

I got distracted reading this comment, and I wish my AI companion was here to explain it to me!

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#94

Post by [deleted] »

ht85 wrote: post #79
ajross wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the proper control to use for interacting with a navigation aid in the UK? Or are you saying that UK law forbids in-car maps? These arguments always end up in this kind of hyper-specific realm where they seem to apply only to Tesla's particular design choices. But, in car maps are everywhere now (and, yes, Tesla's implementation is by far the best), and the natural way you use them is with touch. They absolute…

> What's the proper control to use for interacting with a navigation 1. Voice control 2. Pull over

[deleted]

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#95

Post by PreInternet01 »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #83
PreInternet01 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, thank you for mentioning digital dashboards, I completely forgot about those! So, in addition to mandatory physical controls for common functions, my imaginary EU legislation would also prescribe that all essential vehicle information (speed, outside light status, fuel level) has a physical representation (lights, dials, etc., in the sense that there is nothing that could be described as 'software' driving these…

I like the dashboard in my 2014 Prius. The speedometer is digital numbers, which is great because I have trouble reading dials. Never had an issue with anything freezing up. Later Toyotas I’ve rented have full color screens. They work okay.

Oh, I'm fine with digital readouts, as long as there is an analog backup for when you hit that unavoidable software bug. Airplanes get this right: even on the latest Airbus, you still have the basic altitude, air/vertical speed and heading instruments, in a familiar place and configuration, based on boring physical/analog principles, just in case you need them... (and, because they're mandated by FAA [14 CFR 91] and equivalent EASA rules, which probably is for a good reason as well)

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#96

Post by baq »

ajross wrote: post #82
everdrive wrote: post #9

As folks noted in the other thread on this topic: This is self-evident to most of the HN audience, but the more studies and more awareness is brought to this topic the likelier things are to improve.

This isn't a study. It's a "test" run by a Swedish car magazine, analogous to Car & Driver or Motor Trend, and similarly captured by its advertising base. Auto industry rags have always hated Tesla, for fairly obvious reasons, and it's sort of a running joke within the Tesla community. Does that mean it's wrong? No. But it does mean you need to apply some salt. This isn't first principles science being reported, as y…

My 10yo car has touchscreen control for aircon and it sucks really bad. My other 2019 car has physical knobs and buttons and it’s amazing.

Not saying I wouldn’t get a Tesla because of that, but if physical was an option (and I was in the market for teslas) I’d pick it anytime.

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#97

Post by javajosh »

acdha wrote: post #46
FranzFerdiNaN wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Touch screens also make it easier to lock functionality behind subscriptions.

This is only by coincidence. They’ll do that if they think they can get away with it no matter what type of controls it has.

If your car doesn't have any internet connected software, then there is no mechanism to make a feature artificially scarce, requiring you to pay money on an on-going basis to remove the artificial limit.

People may have sold subscription services for cars before 2010, but they were luxuries and without "teeth". This is different.

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#99

Post by bamboozled »

mannykannot wrote: post #37
bamboozled wrote: post #15

What about, programmable buttons? Seems like a happy medium?

All too often, that just adds to the cognitive load of figuring out how to do what needs to be done right now.

I meant pre-programmable of course.

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#100

Post by jquery »

ajross wrote: post #75
afandian wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Tesla FSD video[0] the driver spent a lot of time swiping back and forth on the map. If that touchscreen were an iPad, that behaviour would be illegal in the UK. I don't know what the road law is in the US, and if they sell the same Tesla model in the UK. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34268454

What's the proper control to use for interacting with a navigation aid in the UK? Or are you saying that UK law forbids in-car maps? These arguments always end up in this kind of hyper-specific realm where they seem to apply only to Tesla's particular design choices. But, in car maps are everywhere now (and, yes, Tesla's implementation is by far the best), and the natural way you use them is with touch. They absolute…

Carplay (and presumably Android Auto, although I only have experience with Carplay) have the best car maps, and they are unavailable in a Tesla.
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