Please make a dumb car • Hacker News Board

Re: Please make a dumb car

#211

Post by tpxl » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:37 PM UTC

chakintosh wrote: post #138

khazhoux wrote: post #74

Our Volvo doesn't let you adjust the volume when you're in reverse. That means if you're backing out of the garage and the music is blaring -- you can't turn it off! The Volvo UI pops up an almost full-display warning when it can't connect to the phone over bluetooth on startup. This UI takes priority over the rear camera . So I guess it's better to hit Timmy and his puppy when I'm backing out, so long as I know my p…

I'm a UX designer and I've taken delivery of an XC40 Recharge two months ago, and I've never felt dumber in my life. Don't get me wrong, the car is absolutely wonderful, but the UX is so badly designed it makes me question myself. For starters, I have absolutely no clue how to use the lights, fans and wipers. Just last Saturday, a design oversight (and idiocy from my part) caused me to reverse into another car parked…

> Ø or ⌀ is sometimes also used as a symbol for average value, particularly in German-speaking countries. ("Average" in German is Durchschnitt, directly translated as cut-through.)

From wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98

My 2002 VW has the same and it means average over multiple trips. TM probably means this trip? You may have distance of the current trip and average consumption of the current trip (eg 40km, 6.3l/100km), then the last few trips with a combined average for those (eg 1500km, 5.4l/100km).

Re: Please make a dumb car

#212

Post by geenew » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

jdhn wrote: post #200

One of the reasons that there's not really a "dumb" car anymore is that backup cameras are federally mandated. So you have a camera for backing up, and you need a way to display that. So auto manufacturers say "Hey, we have this screen, people are used to touchscreens due to their phone, and it makes manufacturing easier if we put everything on a screen as it means we can just put a flat piece of plastic where all th…

Some of the original backup camera models (in ford cars at least) were integrated into the rear view mirror. Worked fine for its purpose and didn’t involve a central dash monitor.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#213

Post by protomyth » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

I'm fine with a touch screen for things like rear camera and plugging in a smart phone, but I want actual volume, temperature, and fan speed knobs.

I also want all of the information about the car I can get. For example, I don't want a "tire low light", I want an air pressure in each tire with an flashing indicator that its out of safe range. I don't want an "overheat", I want the temperature and big flashing when its out of range.

I do wish for a HUD just because I want my eyes on the road, but I think that's a lost dream.

I dearly wish someone would design a car for easy repairs, but we all know that isn't a profit positive thing.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#214

Post by prasadjoglekar » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

colejohnson66 wrote: post #12

junon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of their products appear to be "smart". Why can't they just make a TV that is... a TV?

Because society wants smart TVs. You and a lot of people here don’t, but collectively, people like the idea of having Netflix/Hulu/etc right on their TVs. The cat’s out of the bag now. If you/me want a dumb TV, don’t look at consumer TVs in BestBuy, but expect to be spending over $1000.

That may be true, but you only need a ~10% share of the market to want a privacy-first (i.e. dumb) TV, and that'll at least keep the others in line. Sort of like the role Mozilla ought to play in the browser market.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#215

Post by rabuse » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

jdhn wrote: post #200

One of the reasons that there's not really a "dumb" car anymore is that backup cameras are federally mandated. So you have a camera for backing up, and you need a way to display that. So auto manufacturers say "Hey, we have this screen, people are used to touchscreens due to their phone, and it makes manufacturing easier if we put everything on a screen as it means we can just put a flat piece of plastic where all th…

"Then we can charge them for our optional (mandatory, if you want even basic modern functionality, such as remote start) monthly/yearly subscription services! We'll call it Car+!"

Re: Please make a dumb car

#216

Post by rsj_hn » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

jdhn wrote: post #200

One of the reasons that there's not really a "dumb" car anymore is that backup cameras are federally mandated. So you have a camera for backing up, and you need a way to display that. So auto manufacturers say "Hey, we have this screen, people are used to touchscreens due to their phone, and it makes manufacturing easier if we put everything on a screen as it means we can just put a flat piece of plastic where all th…

You can get aftermarket camera kits for ~$150 that handle that for older model cars.

https://www.amazon.com/Vehicle-Backup-Cameras/b?ie=UTF8&node...

The backup camera genuinely is a great feature, but the touchscreen is itself awful. I agree with Mazda on this (and the US Navy, which is also replacing touchscreens with knobs).

I'm hoping we start seeing a renaissance of car customization -- for example I know that kit cars, almost all of which are pretty dumb - are gaining in popularity. One of the nice things about electric vehicles is the greatly simplified powertrain is going to create a lot of opportunities for customization and DIY, and I hope our regulatory environment is reformed to support that more. In the czech republic, everyone works on their own car and we have a friend who built his own car from scratch, but in the U.S. we see a lot less of that type of autonomy.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#217

Post by kunai » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

breakpointalpha wrote: post #193

Bought a Mazda CX5 a few months ago. Thank god Mazda currently has the "driver first" mentality. NO Touchscreen! Main input is through a comfortable knob in front of the arm rest, where your hand naturally lands when resting. Gauge cluster is digital, but analog type dials for spedo, etc. AC, Power Cool/heated seats, driver assists, auto-park, all controlled via BUTTONS! It's a modern miracle and one of the big reaso…

Honda has been moving in a similar direction as well it seems. Most of the Japanese marques besides Subaru have ditched all-touch layouts in favor of physical buttons due to poor focus group and customer response. The new Ford Maverick and Bronco also both come with extremely tactile interior layouts, which is a pleasant sight for touchscreen-sore eyes.

I really hope this is just another fad/trend in automotive design like 6-disc trunk CD changers or phosphor display gauges.

Re: Please make a dumb car

#218

Post by darkstar999 » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:39 PM UTC

bengale wrote: post #202

quartesixte wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon is weirdly good at getting regulators to just let him do things. FSD beta. The yoke steering wheel. Like a quarter of everything SpaceX does. Does he just have really good lobbyists? Is his force of personality just that good? It’s kind of fascinating.

I'm interested to know how he's going to get away with that truck that looks like its designed to cut pedestrians in half.

I don't understand why this is an argument against Tesla - how is it different than any other large truck?

Re: Please make a dumb car

#219

Post by prasadjoglekar » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:39 PM UTC

devchix wrote: post #194

junon wrote: post #5

Same with TVs, please. I can't find a single OLED on the market that doesn't have Android or some shitty Samsung OS installed on it.

There was a previous HN thread where someone said they were attempting to make a dumb TV (a commercial endeavor) and others here said they were interested in working on that. I wonder where that effort is. Feels like there is a ready market for this product. I can't turn on my Vizio without it taking 10 minutes to check for updates, changing inputs take a minute. The Samsung keeps trying to update YouTube and some ot…

Per chance, do you have a link to the thread?

Re: Please make a dumb car

#220

Post by throwaway946513 » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 5:40 PM UTC

I bought a 2022 Subaru Impreza Sport Hatchback last year in September.

5 Speed Manual Transmission Heated Seats Cruise Control SXM Radio All-wheel drive

No turbo to consume oil, no software to control the car. The Radio has Android Auto, and some software updates available for some nice 'radio features', like showing you the news, weather, sports information, etc. Never used it.

I still own a 1999 Isuzu Rodeo, safety and gas mileage were my reasons for getting the Subaru, as well as my desire to modify the Isuzu.