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The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

thedrive.com

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Re: The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

#51

Post by pyrale »

ryandrake wrote: post #26

Honestly wish there was more experimentation in automotive human-UX besides the current "Just put it all in touchscreen LOL" design rut we're in. A car today functions almost entirely like every car that's existed since the 1950s: Big, transparent window in front, a handful of "critical" gauges and displays underneath that window, a steering wheel that hasn't changed in a century (besides the addition of buttons), ac…

> Have we really settled on objectively optimal controls?

The cost of retraining the whole user base in a dangerous environment will likely dwarf any small gain from making "better" controls.

As a case in point, the car in the article is so alien to what I'm currently using that I wouldn't feel comfortable driving it, knowing that it challenges significant parts of my driving routine which are not conscious.

Re: The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

#54

Post by dwighttk »

burntwater wrote: post #42

"The dash display is almost completely digital—strangely, they left an extra analog speedometer and tachometer" This is common even today, even on 100% digital screen dashboards, they'll have fake analog speedometer and tachometer displays. My 2023 Mazda CX5 is 50/50, half the dashboard is analog and half is digital. And I like it that way.

I’m never a fan of digital speedometers. I still have to think about how far a number is from my target. I’m sure if I used them long enough instead of only seeing them in rentals I’d get used to it.

I do like a digital cruise set speed.

Re: The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

#55

Post by datavirtue »

willismichael wrote: post #14
throwup238 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the upcoming version you'll have to argue with an LLM over voice about the optimal temperature, before threatening to drive into opposing traffic unless it sets it to 70.

There's no way to win that argument, the LLM will take control of the vehicle and refuse to let you make any decisions at all after that point. If you're really unlucky, it will really go rogue and make its own decision to veer into oncoming traffic.

"the LLM will take control of the vehicle and refuse to let you make any decisions at all after that point"

We can dream.

Re: The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

#56

Post by Tanoc »

486sx33 wrote: post #41

Steering wheel is wild But those kind of dashboard gauges did make it to production. 80s digital dashes from GM were actually super cool. They have a few failure points but there are still some guys restoring them . I retrofitted the S10 model into an S10 blazer in high school and owned a factor Camaro with one. The S10 one was like driving a space ship at the time. Here’s some cool examples https://drivemag.com/red-…

The 1990 to 1993 Pontiac Grand Prix in SE and GTP trim has a steering wheel I love, because it and the steering column are adorned with buttons you can press without moving your hands. On either side of the gauges are even more buttons, making it look like some sort of arcade flight sim cockpit. The final generation Mazda Cosmo also did it, but in a more elegant way where the only giveaway that they were buttons and not trim pieces was the non colour matched black plastic of the bumper controls for the cruise functions on the right side of the wheel.

Re: The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

#57

Post by datavirtue »

Tanoc wrote: post #47
stonethrowaway wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about the managers killed the brand?

Oldsmobile at the time (around 1990) had a reputation for being the car of the not-quite-well-to-do middle aged. Cars that were positioned upmarket like the Delta 98 and Cutlass Ciera were very cheaply and poorly built despite having standard features that were high end options on a Chevrolet or Pontiac or were exclusive to Oldsmobile and Buick. Oldsmobile was one of the brands that decided not to participate in the…

I have often heavily questioned GMs sanity. Building their clunky cars and thinking they are competing with Lexus and BMW. I remember a Bonneville ad from the 1990s where they were comparing it to a BMW. It would have been funny if I wasn't so blindsided by their astonishing level of disconnect.

Re: The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

#58

Post by datavirtue »

jccc wrote: post #22

This headline would be much less effective if it told you the truth, that the car never existed: “Unfortunately for us, Oldsmobile never went ahead and produced the Incas. They made a slew of other wild concept cars as well, but none of those saw the light of day either […]”

They produced most of it. Looks like a Corvette.

Re: The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

#59

Post by sagischwarz »

dwighttk wrote: post #54
burntwater wrote: post #42

"The dash display is almost completely digital—strangely, they left an extra analog speedometer and tachometer" This is common even today, even on 100% digital screen dashboards, they'll have fake analog speedometer and tachometer displays. My 2023 Mazda CX5 is 50/50, half the dashboard is analog and half is digital. And I like it that way.

I’m never a fan of digital speedometers. I still have to think about how far a number is from my target. I’m sure if I used them long enough instead of only seeing them in rentals I’d get used to it. I do like a digital cruise set speed.

One of the first things I learned during my electronics apprenticeship was that changes in a value are much more intuitive to read with an analog pointer (or a digital replication of one).

Re: The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Dashboard (2020)

#60

Post by rascul »

phs318u wrote: post #46

I love this!!! As a non-American, let me say never has a brand name been so out of sync with a car design. That thing is anything but an "Old"-smobile. Looking at it I also thought how cool it would be if the dash were entirely modular a-la Framework laptops. "Standard" electrical, electronic and mechanical interfaces to which modders could fit all sorts of weird and wonderful interfaces. And I mean the whole physica…

> As a non-American, let me say never has a brand name been so out of sync with a car design. That thing is anything but an "Old"-smobile.

It was named after the founder, Ransom Olds. I get it, though.

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