41–50 of 218 posts
I'll offer a contrary perspective that I haven't yet read here: Digital controls have the potential to be more accessible to people who can't turn a knob due to a mobility impairment. Edit: See also ndarilek's explanation of how his mobility-impaired girlfriend benefits from Alexa: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20344613
Stereo: well-weighted analog knobs that are responsive.
Computer: mechanical keyboard.
Car: Manual Transmission.
> So what do product designers have against knobs? Several things. ... Then the piece omits the two overwhelmingly important reasons: cost and reliability. Knobs definitely are much better to use, but things with moving parts that stick out from the surface are not as reliable in population terms. Most people never have trouble, but that quintile that gives their stuff a hard time costs manufacturers a lot.
I'll take knobs over membrane buttons. Can't believe the entire appliance industry switched.
Everything is more complicated than it used to be, more likely to break as a result, and requires specialized parts to fix. And if the manufacturer doesn't sell that part anymore, your stuck buying a new appliance. What a racket.
Seriously. Without a dedicated on/off/volume knob for the soundsystem, the driving experience is diminished drastically, no matter how nice the car. And of course touch is way better than eyesight when you are supposed to be paying attention to the road. As someone else said, rough motor skills are safer and more appropriate in a car then controls needing fine motor skills.
Especially if you're one of the millions and millions of people who use different glasses for driving than you do for walking around.
If it's an analog system, I want analog input. If it's a digital system, I want good digital input or excellent tactile input. Stereo: well-weighted analog knobs that are responsive. Computer: mechanical keyboard. Car: Manual Transmission.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll take knobs over membrane buttons. Can't believe the entire appliance industry switched.
High-end ovens, such as those above, say, $5k, almost always have knobs. I sure appreciate tuning knobs on car audio systems but almost no one besides Toyota and Lexus offer them any more.
However, the 2021 brought them back.
I'll offer a contrary perspective that I haven't yet read here: Digital controls have the potential to be more accessible to people who can't turn a knob due to a mobility impairment. Edit: See also ndarilek's explanation of how his mobility-impaired girlfriend benefits from Alexa: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20344613
The problem with that is digital controls are often made much smaller than its physical equivalent. Things like pill bottles have large diameter caps for people with dexterity problems. That same person may not be able to press a small flat "button" due to hand-eye co-ordination problems. Or they may not even be able to feel the surface with their fingertips. For myself I hate having to go tap tap tap tap tap tap tap…
On a related note, if you have problems opening prescription bottles, let your pharmacist know. If the cap is put on upside down, it's much easier to open. It's no longer child-resistant, but there's a wide gripping area, and the cap top is threaded to screw into the inside of the bottle.
A lot of people don't know this.
Also, if you take a liquid medicine, every pharmacy I've visited can add flavoring to it for free, right there in the store. Things like grape or lime or bubblegum. It's supposed to help children take their medicine, but there's no reason life has to be artificially hard for adults.
I'm no old fuddy duddy. I'm not even 30 yet. We have a touchscreen hob - for no good reason. Its terrible
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Then the piece omits the two overwhelmingly important reasons: cost and reliability. Plus that not all industrial designers can create great designs. Often times when I look at e.g. my Bosch electric cooktop I can only imagine its awful touch panel was an afterthought in the design process. It's so bad, awkward and hard to use, it makes me feel sorry for those who created this thing. And for all its users just as w…
No, you don't replace the steering wheel because that's safety critical and the superiority of the UI is overwhelmingly important. You don't get to sell the product at all with a defect like that, so the "cost to the manufacturer" is pretty big. The entertainment system, or a phone? Not safety critical, no need to provide real-time interaction. Cost dominates.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
High-end ovens, such as those above, say, $5k, almost always have knobs. I sure appreciate tuning knobs on car audio systems but almost no one besides Toyota and Lexus offer them any more.
Huh. When remodeling my kitchen in 2016 the highest priced ovens all had crappy touchscreens. I had to "downgrade" from Miele to Bosch to get knobs.