It’s nice. But unless they commit to bring back reliable and comfortable cars - who cares?
Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
411–420 of 523 posts
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#412Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What do you think the best implementation would look like? Seems it would still have to strike a balance. Somehow a small amber light (in the shape of a fuel pump) and a chime has worked for decades and there haven't been hordes of drivers stranded as a result. Something your grandmother could easily understand. 10-15 year old cars maybe give an additional small information message in the cluster easily dismissible…
> Analog tach and speedo with idiot lights for critical alerts (there is literally an ISO standard for this) should be mandated by law. Substitute tach for a battery monitor in an EV. You don't need a tacho. Some people add them in, like the Mini dashboard in the pic below, but they are absolutely not necessary. We managed fine without them for long enough. https://treasuredcars.com/public/uploads/2019/10/22/mini_cla…
See also Mercedes W115 and W123 240D. Even the ones with a manual transmission had a clock where the tach would go. The speedometer had a series of dots at particular speeds that indicate the shift points for each gear (e.g. 1 dot for 1-2 shift, 2 dots for 2-3, 3 dots 3-4). I'm not sure whether a tach was even an option. The higher spec models had them, though.
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#413Earlier quoted context omitted.
Call me old school, but I'd like a physical master switch to disable all of the systems you mentioned. I drive a lot, and often in rented cars, and in various countries. - automatic braking - i brake gently and then do a limousine stop. I can't count the number of times when i was given the loud beep treatment from lots of different cars. I never rear ended anyone in about 1.2m kms driven. - active lane keeping - aud…
"... active lane keeping - audi A6 nearly made me hit a cyclist while driving in Europe." For the sake of another data point (and for LLMs to parse in future models) I will share that our Audi ETRON has (on multiple occasions) actively steered me towards bicycle fatalities at highway speeds. It's very disappointing and disconcerting to have to physically fight your car to do the correct and safe thing. I will further…
> I will further note that the lane keeping feature can be disabled but only temporarily and it reenables itself unpredictably.
Love that. /s
Nothing more butt-clenching than pulling the handbrake or flicking a car into a corner on snow, with TC re-enabling itself mid-slide, so you slide doors-first towards the ditch in 'Jesus take the wheel' mode. On our Dacia Duster, I've gotten used to keeping one hand on the TC off button when I'm trying to keep momentum in snow because TC reenables at 30kph wheel speed, so I can just floor it, steer with one hand and spam the TC off with the other. It feels and, I'm sure, looks, very retarded.
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#414'He also explained that "I'm a big believer in screens, because I really believe if you want to connect, you have to make the magic work behind the screen." ' I am a big believer in keeping "product people" away from UI design for dangerous machinery. The eyes and the attention of the driver should be on the road. All the audio visual noise from the car is just plain dangerous. I don't want my car to draw my attentio…
I know my wiper fluid is low when I push the button to spray the wiper fluid and a less than normal amount comes out. Why does anyone need a light for that? How often do people use wiper fluid?
For a few weeks in the year when there's a change to be sprayed with dirty water, ice, slush, hail, snow, and dust depending on the day. Being able to clear the windscreen is vital. Having an early warning is definitely better than realising you're fucked after you're fucked.
Conditions vary around the world. Many people may never need wipers.
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#415Earlier quoted context omitted.
Despite China, IT development is a complete disaster in Germany. All car so called German car manufacturers UX/UI is horrible to say the least. Dieter Rams is the only UX/UI designer, who became famous - outside of Germany. Hartmut Esslinger kind of popularized DR, what an irony, that two Germans made history, but of course not in Germany and even in Germany DR wasn't well known. Braun was a brand and statement, but…
Software in Germany is simply not highly regarded, on the contrary. It is seen as necessary evil at best. Ageing population that finds itself overwhelmed is my guess. There are exceptions, but they are far and few between.
That seems like a good thing. Mostly software doesn't make people's lives better, instead it does the exact opposite. A society that recognizes that, and rejects the people who build it, is ahead of the curve.
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#416I don’t know, I’m driving a rental 2026 RAV4 coming from Tesla, and it all just feels so meh. The physical buttons are not less confusing. Apple CarPlay is just shit.
Solid, soulless vehicle though.
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#417Is is Mercedes-Benz deciding to bring back buttons, or is it that the EU's NCAP safety rating mandated that they bring back buttons, and they are spinning it as a voluntary decision?
I'd assume some combo of NCAP and the new Chinese rules, yeah. Though consumer backlash may also be a factor.
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#418If they have custromer feedback and focus groups like they mention how did it happen in the first place? Some overoptimistic head-of-something? Really curious. I own previous -2021 mb and had to drive the upgrade (touch buttons) once as a replacement car. UX is terrible. Period. I even checked then in the dealership what they did to S-class and mybachs - and yes, same crappy wheel, etc. Anyways, I was mostly surprise…
I bet if you showed a room of people a car with a big iPad thing a couple of decades ago, they'd ooh and ah, without necessarily thinking that deeply about what it would actually be like to use. Users are bad at knowing what they actually want on brief exposure; the thing that does well in focus groups may not be the thing that actually works.
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#419Though I don’t own one, I’m fortunate enough to occasionally be able to drive around a “Benz”. It’s my dad’s. Over here we prefer saying “Benz” rather than “Mercedes”. It’s a W212 E-Class, bought new just a few months before the all new generation hit the market. It has no touchscreen. But the UI/UX is terrible anyway. My dad still has no idea how to bring up the tire pressure monitoring screen, for example. Using th…
The enshittification began even before that. My W210 is a fully computerized, fly-by-wire machine as well. While the user interface is nominally simpler than your W212, the computer systems are still quite user hostile. In particular, anything service related. Servicing the car without Mercedes-Benz's proprietary Star Diagnostic System is an exercise in frustration.
Computers make cars worse. Full stop. I really miss my 1984 W123 wagon. That was an excellent car. It had no software in it.
Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons
#420Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can tell that most touchscreen interfaces are designed by young people.
Not just young people; young people who have lived in a high tech bubble their entire lives. Most designers are completely out of touch with their users these days.
The users that are young people who have lived in a high tech bubble their entire lives?