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Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

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Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#51

I've never owned a Hyundai, but stuff like this makes me want to look at them. I recently bought what I thought was a car, only to find it is a tech-ridden abomination. I want a vehicle that is reliable. I want a vehicle that is simple. I do not want a rolling AI/touchscreen. Even just from a security standpoint I want minimal software in my car.

Buy a Mazda

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#52
post #33

1) Nobody ever provides any evidence that touchscreen based car interfaces are less safe. You might imagine having to briefly glance at a screen is less safe, but that's not evidence. The only thing I've ever seen people cite is some unscientific magazine article that claimed touchscreens take slightly longer to operate for certain strangely-chosen controls, which is not at all the same thing as measuring safety. 2)…

> Nobody ever provides any evidence that touchscreen based car interfaces are less safe. That's a bit like the old joke that the efficacy of parachutes at preventing free-fall deaths has never been proven scientifically. (Well, until this 2003 study[1]) Some chains of causality are so obvious that we don't need to prove them scientifically: Many people find touchscreens hard to use without taking their eyes off the r…

“We don’t need to prove it because I believe it” isn’t a compelling point. There’s many ways the answer could be counterintuitive. For example, perhaps people know they have to take their eyes off the road so they operate those controls during safer conditions. But most importantly, I don’t even think it’s true that there are cars where key controls are only on difficult to access touch screen! Hence my whole point about Teslas actually having all relevant physical controls. Plus, all these cars with zillions of physical controls now have big shitty touchscreens too. It’s not clear that’s a better UX, as many people in this thread complain about.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#53
post #33

1) Nobody ever provides any evidence that touchscreen based car interfaces are less safe. You might imagine having to briefly glance at a screen is less safe, but that's not evidence. The only thing I've ever seen people cite is some unscientific magazine article that claimed touchscreens take slightly longer to operate for certain strangely-chosen controls, which is not at all the same thing as measuring safety. 2)…

Tesla's windshield wiper controls are pretty obnoxious. I think the climate controls are pretty bizarre too, even if you can look at them while you operate them, and I don't know how well the music controls would work if they were reliable, but I found them to be so random I couldn't operate without looking.

Good thing is on a freeway you can engage auto-throttle and lane keeping which are good enough that you can look away from the road for a few seconds. It makes it ok for the rest of the UI to be bad, but that's not the same as it being good.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#54
post #10

Wow, talk about missing the point. Four grids of uniform buttons, they think that's an improvement over a touchscreen? There is zero practical distinction between taking your eyes off the road to see which button you're pushing vs taking your eyes of the road to see which part of the screen you're touching. GOOD HVAC/radio design means you can perform ALL essential functions WITHOUT taking your eyes off the road AT A…

I agree entirely; this is lazy design. Cars are the most dangerous machines we’ve invented, by orders of magnitude nothing else causes as much unintended harm. It’s really, really worth doing the best possible job in the control surfaces for these machines. They’ve prioritized visual consistency over usability. For example, why do the Volume and Tuner knobs look identical? They’re for different purposes, used in diff…

> For example, why do the Volume and Tuner knobs look identical? They’re for different purposes, used in different ways and in different contexts. They’re even usually used by different _people_ — the volume knob is more likely to be used by the passenger, for instance.

Given that they’re so far apart, I don’t see why they should be physically different from one another. Also, the standard position of the volume knob is on the left, the tuner knob on the right. This is how it has worked in any car radio I’ve ever seen when the knobs are arranged horizontally like that. They’re both within easy reach so trying to statistically determine which occupant is most likely to operate which knob doesn’t seem very useful.

I agree with everything else you’ve written. I hate it when disruptive controls are mixed in with less-consequential ones. This design could use some improvement, but it’s also substantially better than the touchscreen-only alternative.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#55
post #33

1) Nobody ever provides any evidence that touchscreen based car interfaces are less safe. You might imagine having to briefly glance at a screen is less safe, but that's not evidence. The only thing I've ever seen people cite is some unscientific magazine article that claimed touchscreens take slightly longer to operate for certain strangely-chosen controls, which is not at all the same thing as measuring safety. 2)…

Here you go: https://exchange.aaa.com/safety/distracted-driving/

This is not particularly relevant, the tested features are not really available as no-look controls in any car, nor are they the driving critical controls people imagine these touchscreens replace.

> Participants were required to use voice commands, touch screens and other interactive technologies to make a call, send a text message, program audio entertainment or program navigation, all while driving down the road.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#56
post #23
post #10

Wow, talk about missing the point. Four grids of uniform buttons, they think that's an improvement over a touchscreen? There is zero practical distinction between taking your eyes off the road to see which button you're pushing vs taking your eyes of the road to see which part of the screen you're touching. GOOD HVAC/radio design means you can perform ALL essential functions WITHOUT taking your eyes off the road AT A…

No, you are missing the point! With a row of buttons, you can count and you do not need visual attention. With a screen, instead, you must look even to understand whether you are on a clickable object at all!

Well designed button layouts don't require counting to figure out which one to push. Even that is a cognitive distraction.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#57
post #10

Wow, talk about missing the point. Four grids of uniform buttons, they think that's an improvement over a touchscreen? There is zero practical distinction between taking your eyes off the road to see which button you're pushing vs taking your eyes of the road to see which part of the screen you're touching. GOOD HVAC/radio design means you can perform ALL essential functions WITHOUT taking your eyes off the road AT A…

Unlike a touchscreen, you can feel the line between adjacent buttons and between buttons & the surrounding dashboard. Unlike touchscreens, you can touch these without triggering them, use feel to locate the correct button and center your finger on it, then press it, all without taking your eyes from the road.

Could they be even more distinct? Sure. Are these still a huge improvement over a touchscreen? Absolutely.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#58
post #21

I've never owned a Hyundai, but stuff like this makes me want to look at them. I recently bought what I thought was a car, only to find it is a tech-ridden abomination. I want a vehicle that is reliable. I want a vehicle that is simple. I do not want a rolling AI/touchscreen. Even just from a security standpoint I want minimal software in my car.

I can’t speak for their EV line, but no media is talking about how crappy their engines are. I won’t touch a KIA or Hyundai and I have zero qualms speaking up about it. My brother and I both needed new engines after 50,000 miles with normal wear and maintenance. If you read up on oil consumption you will discover they have had problem’s continually since 2014. Last I checked the 2021 +models are still affected. Getti…

One of mine has a seized engine at 66k miles. I’ve been waiting 2 months for the pleasure of paying $6k for a replacement. It is hopelessly backordered. I plan to sell mine as soon as I’m able.

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#59

I've never owned a Hyundai, but stuff like this makes me want to look at them. I recently bought what I thought was a car, only to find it is a tech-ridden abomination. I want a vehicle that is reliable. I want a vehicle that is simple. I do not want a rolling AI/touchscreen. Even just from a security standpoint I want minimal software in my car.

Buy a Mazda

In about 10 years when they are finally serious about EV's

Re: Hyundai promises to keep buttons in cars

#60
post #21

I've never owned a Hyundai, but stuff like this makes me want to look at them. I recently bought what I thought was a car, only to find it is a tech-ridden abomination. I want a vehicle that is reliable. I want a vehicle that is simple. I do not want a rolling AI/touchscreen. Even just from a security standpoint I want minimal software in my car.

I can’t speak for their EV line, but no media is talking about how crappy their engines are. I won’t touch a KIA or Hyundai and I have zero qualms speaking up about it. My brother and I both needed new engines after 50,000 miles with normal wear and maintenance. If you read up on oil consumption you will discover they have had problem’s continually since 2014. Last I checked the 2021 +models are still affected. Getti…

IIRC Kia or Hyundai has longest warranty - something like 8 years.
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