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Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

slate.com

611–620 of 1001 posts

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#611

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... with the caveat that > 10 and 2 o’clock is no longer recommended because it can be dangerous in vehicles with smaller steering wheels and equipped with airbags. (Source: https://driving-tests.org/beginner-drivers/how-to-hold-a-ste... ) and the implication that otherwise the trad 10 and 2 position recommended for decades is still 100% A-OK.

Not sure about GP - but in my country they teach the 9 and 3 position when you take your license. I’ve always thought 10 and 2 was an American thing.

When I was in driver's ed in high school in America, there was a push to teach 8 and 4.

As far as I am aware, teaching students 10 and 2 has long since been phased out supposedly due to the increase of arm injuries in the event of an accident. 9 and 3 wasn't recommended to us because if your air bag deploys, your right arm will smash into your passenger or the passenger air bag. 8 and 4 is supposed to be safer but it comes with the caveat that you have to steer your car a specific way.

That being said, I prefer 9 and 3 and it's hard to find drivers in America that don't use this position as their default.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#612

I do not think drivers hate touchscreens. I think drivers hate idiot developers and their idiot management. First the touchscreens' esthetics are in the 90's. Then the touchscreens' performance are in the 90's Third the management strategy is to piss off the drivers by shoving down their throats the two above. I dream of a car where I (that is me personally) can set up what I want to see. I do not give a fuck about t…

> I do not think drivers hate touchscreens.

I do, and have spoken to many who agree.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#614
post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - the controls on my stove top How were these stove-top touch-buttons ever considered an upgrade to their predecessor? They always have no feedback, or that annoyingly high "beep" feedback. They are always slow to respond. They typically use only two or three buttons to control the actual temperature, forcing you to select location first, which is typically slow and terrible as well. Nobody in their right mind can…

The only saving grace of those is the ease of cleaning spills. Otherwise I completely agree with you and GP - how annoying it is that every physical button is now a clunky touch surface!

I agree with this. I like physical controls in most places but purposely picked a touch-control stove because it is just so much easier to wipe down. The controls are a bit less convenient than knobs but the ease of cleaning makes up for it in my opinion.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#615

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that these cars pass safety certification, makes me question certifiers. It's illegal to look at your phone while driving, for good reason, but it's legal to fiddle with a damn computer screen, because it's part of the car. I predict it's a matter of time before we'll see a correlation between number of crashes, and cars with touchscreens.

> but it's legal to fiddle with a damn computer screen, because it's part of the car. In Germany it is only legal to operate a touch screen while driving for essential functions with only a brief glance. For example, a judgement was handed down against a Tesla driver who tried to switch up the interval of the windscreen wiper via touchscreen and ran off the road in the process. Source: https://www.burhoff.de/asp_weit…

The judgement should have been against tesla, not the customer. Wipers are essential and should not require fiddling

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#616

What are some car makers who offer now buttons over touch screen interfaces? I plan to change my car in one year and I would like one with buttons on the dashboard.

The article mentions Nissan, Hyundai, VW, and Porsche.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - the controls on my stove top How were these stove-top touch-buttons ever considered an upgrade to their predecessor? They always have no feedback, or that annoyingly high "beep" feedback. They are always slow to respond. They typically use only two or three buttons to control the actual temperature, forcing you to select location first, which is typically slow and terrible as well. Nobody in their right mind can…

You can charge more for touch controls, than for cheap, reliable physical knobs.

Kind of the opposite; touch controls are easy to manufacture to a standard that will last the 10 odd years a stove is expected to live. Physical and moving parts are much harder, particularly in the context of a kitchen where there is heat, water, and oil. Physical knob induction stoves do exist, but primarily for industrial kitchens, and they cost a lot more.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#618
post #604
post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compounding this on a touchscreen is slippage. Cars can be bumpy. If you slip and hit the wrong control it can take an unacceptably large amount of concentration (given what you are meant to be actually concentrating on when driving) to work out where you are now, how to get back to where you are, and try to do the original thing again. A few seconds of confusion and distraction is more than enough to kill. Tactile b…

> or settings which I'd generally only check when parked. I think this is key. I'm perfectly happy to adjust the frequency/folume of the rear reverse sensors, or the date/time format, or whatever, via a touchscreen. Stuff I use while driving though is a different thing completely, that's where physical buttons come in. Fortunatly my Skoda meets this - temperature, volume, radio channel etc all on buttons.

Not all buttons are created equal. I have an admittedly older 2016 ford galaxy. The physical buttons are mostly all low profile smooth and flat buttons with thin gaps between them. There is very little tactile feedback to indicate where you are when 5 buttons are all next to each other. The cruise control and temperature control are particularly bad. I've been trying to remind myself to put some little bumps of silicon on each button so I can map them without looking.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#619

I wouldn't mind touchscreens as long as these imbecile developers would strictly limit UI response time to under 16ms. In no world where you're barrelling 3,000+ lbs of mass at tens of miles an hour should you be distracted by some moronic app or subsystem failing to respond in time because it was written by under-experienced software "engineers." Any software running as a part of a motor vehicle should be federally…

This is hilariously wrong on so many levels : - )

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#620

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it's legal to fiddle with a damn computer screen, because it's part of the car. In Germany it is only legal to operate a touch screen while driving for essential functions with only a brief glance. For example, a judgement was handed down against a Tesla driver who tried to switch up the interval of the windscreen wiper via touchscreen and ran off the road in the process. Source: https://www.burhoff.de/asp_weit…

The judgement should have been against tesla, not the customer. Wipers are essential and should not require fiddling

Sounds like the driver was attempting to adjust non-critical features of wipers not turning them off and on

We should be very careful not to include the kitchen sink in with "essential" items.

Turning the wipers off and on, is critical, adjusting delay timings is not

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