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Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

autocar.co.uk

701–710 of 770 posts

Re: Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

#701
post #601

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect you’re assuming too much about Tesla buyers. You are overlooking the possibility that the product is actually good.

It's all subjective, to me the touch screen on Model 3 is a deal breaker - I don't want to make this big a compromise for something this expensive. Other people have different utility functions, but from my perspective it seems that part of the reason to buy it is Tesla hype. It's a car, it moves me from point A to B, it gets stuck in the traffic exactly like everyone else's car, am I really getting ~$10k more worth…

A lot of people don’t understand the touch screen isn’t really needed while driving, except for glancing at the speed maybe.

And since you ask, you get that 10k or more back in gas savings. On top of that there are other benefits, some of them objective and monetary such as resale value ($), safety ($$$), environmental responsibility, longevity of the car ($$), fun, and speed. So, yes. You should test drive one and see what it feels like.

And that’s just comparing to gas cars. Comparing to competing electric cars would be a different list of benefits.

Re: Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

#702
post #601

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect you’re assuming too much about Tesla buyers. You are overlooking the possibility that the product is actually good.

It's all subjective, to me the touch screen on Model 3 is a deal breaker - I don't want to make this big a compromise for something this expensive. Other people have different utility functions, but from my perspective it seems that part of the reason to buy it is Tesla hype. It's a car, it moves me from point A to B, it gets stuck in the traffic exactly like everyone else's car, am I really getting ~$10k more worth…

>it gets stuck in the traffic exactly like everyone else's car

Ohhhh no no it is waaaay different because I make the lights that you don’t. Yes sometimes get stuck in traffic but not nearly as much. I can observe speed limits and still be way ahead of you because of the acceleration speed (quickness). Acceleration ability also means being able to keep longer follow distance in traffic without losing chances to pass safely when they open up.

Re: Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

#703
post #8

Eminently sensible call by Honda. Knobs, dials and switches work well and do not demand that a driver takes their eyes off the road. I suppose that voice controls would be a reasonably safe tech option, but probably not cost-effective.

I drive a 2010 Honda Jazz (Honda Fit in the US I believe) and I love it. Not only does it indeed have buttons, but good buttons as well. Clicky where needed, rubbery where appropriate, with the righ amount of resistance etc. Just like the iPhone always has the nicest buttons of any phone. It's a little thing that makes using it a pleasure.

I love the big knobs and switches on my 2013 Honda Fit. They are big and chunky so it's easy to tell the difference between the vent and the temperature on the AC. Everything about it is simple and ergonomic. Although I kind of wish I went with the manual instead of the automatic sometimes.

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/honda/fit/2013/photos-in...

Re: Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

#704
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily. There are many moments during the operation of an aircraft where full attention is paramount. Yes, you see a pilot leaving the cockpit to use the lavatory while the co-pilot is monitoring the autopilot, but the margins are just as small as operating a motor vehicle.

Modern airliners are just short of autonomous. Even if they aren't, unless you are landing or on initial ascent, you are generally minutes away from catastrophic outcomes regardless of your control inputs. In fact, most of the time, if something bad is happening, simply letting go of the controls will lead to the issue resolving itself. A car is very often fractions of a second away from a serious accident. A plane a…

> In fact, most of the time, if something bad is happening, simply letting go of the controls will lead to the issue resolving itself.

Unless you're flying a Boeing 737 MAX that is.

Re: Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

#706
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In airplanes touchscreens are less of an issue than in cars. In cars you have to have a hand on the wheel 99% of the time, and your gaze on the road. You can't afford interaction with a complicated non-haptic touch screen menu. In airplanes it's different. Here, outside of takeoff and landing, it's OK to look at a screen for 10 seconds while interacting with it with a hand.

Most planes in the world are not the big airliners, but smaller planes where single pilot operation is very frequent and many planes do not have a complex autopilot, but usually a 2 or 3 axis stabilization. Also in turbulent weather looking for 10 seconds at a screen can induce motion sickness even to seasoned pilots. We have to do that for map checks and calculations, not a pleasure.

Huh, I wonder if they can use a measurement to adjust the refresh rate based on turbulence. I think they did this for the space shuttle experiencing vibrations to make a screen readable.

Re: Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

#708

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most planes in the world are not the big airliners, but smaller planes where single pilot operation is very frequent and many planes do not have a complex autopilot, but usually a 2 or 3 axis stabilization. Also in turbulent weather looking for 10 seconds at a screen can induce motion sickness even to seasoned pilots. We have to do that for map checks and calculations, not a pleasure.

Huh, I wonder if they can use a measurement to adjust the refresh rate based on turbulence. I think they did this for the space shuttle experiencing vibrations to make a screen readable.

It is not the refresh rate, it's the fact that you are looking at a screen that is not moving so much while the airplane and you body is shaking; your internal sensors are telling you are moving, the eyes do not correlate the information, you get motion sickness. I had this problem in my first 50 hours of flying, sometimes even after 100 hours.

Re: Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

#709
I was somewhat dreading what the interface would look like on my next car purchase. On the one hand I'd love the idea that the navigational map on my phone may be displayed on the car's "big screen", but I didn't know what to make about this touchscreen stuff.

Makes a lot of sense! Right now I can adjust almost everything by touch alone: cruise control, volume, etc. I would hate for those to get buried in an inevitable submenu on a touchscreen.

Re: Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls

#710

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A mechanical switch is easy and cheap to fix or replace. A touch screen is the opposite. It cannot be repaired, only replaced. A switch can usually be cleaned easily, to restore its function. And proper quality switches can be actuated millions of times before failure.

> A mechanical switch is easy and cheap to fix or replace. Not if it is in an airplane. Think of all the QC steps required to track the production, storage, shipping, installation, testing, etcetera for the replacement of a single switch. If a switch has failed it needs to be inspected to understand the reason for failure (no switch should fail; tracked to understand if it is a batch failure, plus other steps). I am…

>Not if it is in an airplane.

Even less so if it's on the space station. Or on a Mars rover. But we're talking about cars. Something a lot of people like to mend for themselves.

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