Time to buy up all the engines that dont need ECUs
So we're okay with pollution now?
Software is eating the car
141–150 of 549 posts
Re: Software is eating the car
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently bought a used 2016 Spark EV (having a baby and needed something other than my motorbike). It does have a touchscreen, but mostly for extraneous information and radio functions. Everything else has dedicated knobs and buttons. (The one dumb thing is that the fan speed updates on the screen, rather than just having ticks above the knob.) It is a California "compliance car", which means it was just a modified…
This is the exact same stupid thing that happened with DSLR cameras. Old SLR cameras had a ring around the lens for f-stop and another dial on top for shutter speed. New DSLR cameras even now hide all that stuff in a menu on the touch screen, as if it isn't something you want to change ALL THE TIME - and develop instant muscle memory for.
never mind that when I'm taking a photo outdoors on a bright sunny day, there's no way in fuck I'm going to be able read your LCD screen.
Never mind us older folks, who often have vision problems with up-close viewing, which is a solved problem when you can spin a shutter or aperture wheel by touch. But not when you need no-glasses to view the objective, but reading glasses to view the fine print on the screen.
Re: Software is eating the car
#143Best of all, it is all written in C and C++, with all the security it entails.
oh its funny.. of all the rust trend storm I cannot recall one mention of automotive industry usage (not that I imply it's not used.. I just don't remember hearing about that).. this is a place where I'd really love safer languages.
btw any embedded car ADA shops ?
Re: Software is eating the car
#144Best of all, it is all written in C and C++, with all the security it entails.
Well, sort of. It's all written in MISRA C and a very special version of the C++14 standard
https://www.autosar.org/fileadmin/user_upload/standards/adap...
Definitely still possible to write buggy MISRA code, but its the best we got unfortunately
Re: Software is eating the car
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
1000% agree. I do not want a car that is a smartphone on wheels and I have no idea why so many people find this attractive.
I own a 2014 Subaru Impreza and my brother in-law a 2017. I've driven both extensively. Sometime during those years, Subaru switched from knobs and levers to a touchscreen and the controls are so much worse! 1. The controls on the 2014 are obvious, easy to find, and my choices are readily apparent. In the 2017 I have to search for them and often guess their meanings. If I'm actively driving, I just give up because it…
Re (3):
It's still an issue in the 2018 Impreza. I've gotten used to it now, but it's still frustrating. Especially if I ended the drive with a phone call. On phone calls I have to really crank up the volume (nearly max) whereas for music and other things I have it very low (10-15? The numbers mean nothing to me, not loud). So when I turn it on after a call I get blasted by NPR for about 5-10 seconds before the audio volume dial actually responds (sometimes it takes the early attempted dialing down but delayed, other times I have to try and dial it down again).
Other than audio controls, though, everything else is responsive, I don't notice any lag. It really seems to be an issue with their stereo system. Either it's not fully booted (and can't respond to controls yet) or there's some mediating system that transmits the controls which isn't booted up as quickly.
Re: Software is eating the car
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Car guy here. Yeah, I’m with you. My favorite car was a ‘96 Tercel with mechanical steering and a 4-speed manual. It even had manual roll-up windows. It had less than 100 HP, but it was simple as hell to operate, very fun to drive, cheap to maintain, and extremely reliable up until I sold it with nearly 400k miles on the odo. I put an aftermarket stereo and speakers in it and I was set. Only reason I sold it was beca…
> "Modern cars are absolutely terrible in the UX department, but they are a hell of a lot safer, so there’s that." tangentially, "safety" is highly cargo-culted. things that seem so obviously safer are taken without question as better, but in many cases, such features really only provide a false sense of security along with substantive unintended consequences. most safety features in cars (e.g., lane-keeping) allow p…
Modern cars have more design features that improve crash survivability (better airbags, better crumple zones, tested with more realistic crash tests, etc). Those seem like a pretty unalloyed improvement to me.
I'm not saying you're wrong about the things you mentioned, but cars really have got safer, in important ways.
Re: Software is eating the car
#147Best of all, it is all written in C and C++, with all the security it entails.
oh its funny.. of all the rust trend storm I cannot recall one mention of automotive industry usage (not that I imply it's not used.. I just don't remember hearing about that).. this is a place where I'd really love safer languages. btw any embedded car ADA shops ?
There's unfortunately no hardware or standards support for Rust, nor will there be any time soon. Silicon vendors don't provide Rust compatible toolchains, and the standards everyone is locked into is C/C++ only
Re: Software is eating the car
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cars like Microsoft Word have a broad feature set because needs are broad. For those of us who want reliable, inexpensive, self service-able transportation there are fewer choices. My guess is because the majority are entranced by sexier things: smart features, driver assist, and safety features of dubious quality.
What safety features are of dubious quality? Do you have some examples?
THREE, Takata airbag recalls on a single vehicle.
Re: Software is eating the car
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the exact same stupid thing that happened with DSLR cameras. Old SLR cameras had a ring around the lens for f-stop and another dial on top for shutter speed. New DSLR cameras even now hide all that stuff in a menu on the touch screen, as if it isn't something you want to change ALL THE TIME - and develop instant muscle memory for.
never mind that when I'm taking a photo outdoors on a bright sunny day, there's no way in fuck I'm going to be able read your LCD screen. Never mind us older folks, who often have vision problems with up-close viewing, which is a solved problem when you can spin a shutter or aperture wheel by touch. But not when you need no-glasses to view the objective, but reading glasses to view the fine print on the screen.
I think backlit E-ink screens would be great for cars. I too want something I can see well in the day.
Re: Software is eating the car
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
1000% agree. I do not want a car that is a smartphone on wheels and I have no idea why so many people find this attractive.
I drive a 2002 Focus MK-I, and I can use all controls rather blindly , just by feeling them. I hope to buy a similarly ergonomic vehicle when this one becomes unmaintainable.
I still remember how to operate the stock radio of the Volvo 240 by touch and I haven't touched one in ten years.
(You kind of make an Ohm gesture around the volume knob with ring and middle for up down channel)
I am glad to see other's desire for analog cars align with my own views.
I have told everyone who will listen for a long time that I will never buy a new car because of these silly digital features that often include surveillance capability.