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Car touchscreens are cheap, not good

ben.stolovitz.com

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Re: Car touchscreens are cheap, not good

#11

Post by Gualdrapo »

citelao wrote: post #2

OP here: I always disliked touchscreens in cars, so I didn't understand why automakers kept shoving them in. I always assumed I was weird in some way, and that most consumers preferred touchscreens or something (Reddit seems to argue this in circles all the time). I planned to keep buying Mazdas, with their lovely buttons and stuff. But when Mazda unveiled their button-lite 2026 CX-5 about a year ago, I started inves…

I think that nowadays people value "technological features", and how better to show "technological advancement" like a giant ass touchscreen and not some "old" XX century knobs.

Re: Car touchscreens are cheap, not good

#12

Post by macintux »

bijowo1676 wrote: post #8

Voice interface is the future, just have voice assistant do everything without relying on knobs nor touch screen same way people just talk to claude code via whisper

No. No, please, no. I won't buy a car that relies on voice for anything, and I really don't want to rent one either. Wildly inefficient, slow, unpredictable.

Re: Car touchscreens are cheap, not good

#13

Post by drakythe »

bijowo1676 wrote: post #8

Voice interface is the future, just have voice assistant do everything without relying on knobs nor touch screen same way people just talk to claude code via whisper

Lordy I hope not. Cannot imagine having to childproof my car's entertainment system, or make sure I don't sing a trigger word, or try to turn on the defroster to dehumidify the windshield during an intense rain storm where I can barely hear myself think.

Also: I don't want a microphone in my car at all times. Thank you.

Re: Car touchscreens are cheap, not good

#15

Post by guessbest »

citelao wrote: post #2

OP here: I always disliked touchscreens in cars, so I didn't understand why automakers kept shoving them in. I always assumed I was weird in some way, and that most consumers preferred touchscreens or something (Reddit seems to argue this in circles all the time). I planned to keep buying Mazdas, with their lovely buttons and stuff. But when Mazda unveiled their button-lite 2026 CX-5 about a year ago, I started inves…

It is so much easier to add internationalization to a touchscreen over physical buttons

Re: Car touchscreens are cheap, not good

#16

Post by bryanlarsen »

wat10000 wrote: post #5
kleiba2 wrote: post #3

I think there is a real market for modding news cars to have physical buttons again. Whenever this discussion pops up on the internet, there's plenty if people who prefer them (they're called "old folks" ;-)) so why not mod your dashboard to feature a - wait for it - volume button for your music!

This company sells buttons for Teslas: https://www.enhauto.com/pages/buttons The "cloud features included" line amuses me greatly given the low-tech theme.

Here's another really nice looking one: https://www.ctrl-bar.com/ Mine is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow...

Re: Car touchscreens are cheap, not good

#17

Post by _flux »

drakythe wrote: post #13
bijowo1676 wrote: post #8

Voice interface is the future, just have voice assistant do everything without relying on knobs nor touch screen same way people just talk to claude code via whisper

Lordy I hope not. Cannot imagine having to childproof my car's entertainment system, or make sure I don't sing a trigger word, or try to turn on the defroster to dehumidify the windshield during an intense rain storm where I can barely hear myself think. Also: I don't want a microphone in my car at all times. Thank you.

It could use array microphone to detect that the sound originates from the driver's seat (in addition to using it for filtering out not-from-driver's-seat sounds).

Re: Car touchscreens are cheap, not good

#19

Post by birdostrich »

pwg wrote: post #4
citelao wrote: post #2

OP here: I always disliked touchscreens in cars, so I didn't understand why automakers kept shoving them in. I always assumed I was weird in some way, and that most consumers preferred touchscreens or something (Reddit seems to argue this in circles all the time). I planned to keep buying Mazdas, with their lovely buttons and stuff. But when Mazda unveiled their button-lite 2026 CX-5 about a year ago, I started inves…

> so I didn't understand why automakers kept shoving them in. The article explained why. Since 2018 in the US, due to the proliferation of giant trucks being used as passenger vehicles (SUV's) backup cameras have been mandatory safety equipment. A backup camera requires a screen. So the automakers have to install a screen in the dashboard. It is only a few dollars more to install a "touch screen" vs. a "basic display…

They're aware. You're replying to the OP of the article, lol.
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