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James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

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Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#91

2020s UX "experts" would bury the entire instrument cluster under a hamburger menu if they could get away with it. The fuel gauge would be moved three menus deep and thus impossible to find, then removed in subsequent model years when their telemetry data "proved" no one used it anymore.

Most of the instrument cluster is superfluous. My 81 Vanagon has only these and it's fine:

Speedometer (which starts at 10 mph and I've managed to adjust so it's about right at 40ish but reports 70 mph when you're doing 60), odometer (5.1 digits), fuel gauge (non-linear, but consistent, the top half is a lot bigger than the bottom half, no arrow because it hadn't been invented yet). And then some lights: brake warning lamp (but the bulb is burnt out and doesn't seem replacable), high beam indicator, alternator indicator, turn signal indicator (one led for both directions!), low oil pressure indicator, and EGR indicator which really just turns on 10,000 miles after you push the button on the box under the front of the car.

Don't even need a tach, cause they put one dot on the speedo where you should shift out of first, two dots where you should shift out of second, and three dots where you should shift out of third.

The gauge lights come on when the headlights are on, so that's a subtle indicator too, I guess.

Don't really need much more than that. There was an optional clock in my model year, but mine doesn't have one.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> whats wrong with usb-a? Which way up it should go.

It's very weird that USB-C solved the problem of "we can't tell which way to insert the plug" by mandating that both orientations should work, as opposed to just making the exterior of the plug as asymmetrical as the interior.

I don't find it weird. Not even having to work out a correct orientation is a great convenience. The micro-USB connection (or is it "min"?), which I need to fiddle with to charge some older gadgets, is a testament to how annoying an "asymetric exterior" plug can still be.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#94
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

whats wrong with usb-a? I feels more sturdy and less likely to have connection issues then usb-c in my experience.

> whats wrong with usb-a? Which way up it should go.

Simple. The third way you try, always.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#96
post #54
post #6

On cars without the arrow they often follow the convention where the gas filler handle is depicted on the same side of the gas icon as the filler door is in the car.

I've heard that the gauge always points towards the side the cap is on when pointing to empty

[deleted]

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#98
post #77

Is the side to fill up evenly balanced between cars in average? I imagine there is value to make it close to 50/50 to simplify the logistics at the gas station. I was thinking car manufacturers perhaps had agreed so that some brands do it one way and some do it another

Even if there was a single side for filling, direction of approach being random is enough for 50/50 utilization of the pumps — so I’m not convinced there’s a pressure to spread which side the tank is on.

> direction of approach being random

is this specific to a country? I'm not sure I've ever seen a petrol station that wasn't one-way

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#99
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the other other way.

It's almost impressive that they designed a port that feels so wrong when you actually get it right

I worked in an IT department at one time and encountered USB-A plugs forced into Ethernet ports.

It seems so unlikely that I’ve just searched it to see if it’s possible, but am getting no hits.

Re: James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies

#100
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very weird that USB-C solved the problem of "we can't tell which way to insert the plug" by mandating that both orientations should work, as opposed to just making the exterior of the plug as asymmetrical as the interior.

I don't find it weird. Not even having to work out a correct orientation is a great convenience. The micro-USB connection (or is it "min"?), which I need to fiddle with to charge some older gadgets, is a testament to how annoying an "asymetric exterior" plug can still be.

With micro USB you end up with damaged plugs and ports in my experience.
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