So one time someone broke into my car and tried to crowbar the radio out. They destroyed the whole dashboard, but failed to get the radio (it was nice of them to still take the face tho).
What this resulted in all of the controls hanging out by their wires. Everything still worked, I just had to sift through the exposed wires, pick up the proper control and twist the dial or push the button. It was ridiculous but still miles better than touch screen for these things.
What kind of car? Sounds like good build quality in their wiring, lol.
99 honda Civic. I loved that car. Abused the hell out of it because I was young and dumb, barely took care of it, and it still made it to 225k miles. Probably would have lasted longer but I got into a bad accident with it and it started leaking oil after that.
Ah, no wonder.
I had a 99 accord that I really liked. Manual transmission too. But it surprised me by blowing up its freaking engine not too far past 100k miles. (When my certified used warranty ran out, naturally) It blew out a cylinder valve hours from home, so I got back with a 3-cylinder that would stall if I let it idle. Just kept a foot on the gas at red lights. 😆
Fucking finally. Thank you.
Well duh. Even when they were introduced, touchscreens in cars got a lot of pushback. I’d much rather flip a switch or turn a knob for things I do daily, rather than futz three levels deep in a car maker’s software. They put things in there that really should be simple pushbuttons.
Tesla’s on-wheel turn signal buttons are criminally bad.
So is their “swipe up or down to go forwards or backwards”, ON THE SCREEN.
So is a missing shift stick, or the touch shift screen on the final roof.
I’d rather have a keyboard mounted on the steering wheel and operate the car with bash aliases.
I have a 2002 acura mdx. The old console finally gave away and now I can’t control air ventilation in my car. The only physical button I have is auto and defrost. So I’m either full blast heat or off. I hate it.
It’s the rotary shifter knobs and the AC controls buried in touchscreen menus that kill me
I used to think virtual automation and touchscreens were the coolest thing, until I started to do work designing an industrial process and considering safety. And ever since, I am completely in favor of physical switches and devices instead of virtual. So much more secure.
Honestly, I thought I would love touch controls in my car. But I drive a LOT for work and what I’ve learned is there are very few things as frustrating as being on a bumpy road trying to press a touch screen button and hitting every other button on the screen in the process.
Yeah there’s that too. It really isn’t practical. At the very least you want some sort of tactile feedback so you have confirmation “yes I pressed the thing”
I, for one, would like to see single-function, physical switches for everything that isn’t specifically infotainment. I want turn signals to be a single switch, and I don’t want any other features integrated into that switch, and I want each individual module to be easily replaced.
God yes. Having ten buttons on the turn signals is a nightmare. No I don’t want to play “guess which button controls the wipers” when I sit in an unknown car for 10 minutes. Thanks.
Great news. I wish they would also deduct stars if the heating/cooling controls are not physical too.
This seems like common sense to me.
Thank god touch controls is why I keep buying used cars pre 2017
The first time I tried using android auto in a rental car I hated it. The damn thing would disconnect constantly and there was no safe way to restart or reconnect it while driving, I had to pull over somewhere. The car’s screen controlled things like the radio and AC so I had to constantly take my eyes off of the road to adjust anything.
Touch screen, Vibration feedback/Color change or not, means that you have to look at what your hand is doing and not on the road.
A physical button means you can keep your eyes on the road and find the right button with easy.
So let’s be honest. At this point, touch screens are chosen by car makers because cost and not design. So essentially, safety is less important than cost for the car makers.
Can you actually hit the tiny button on the radio without looking? I cant, i would prefer big Touch spaces, because they reduce the time i have to look for the action.
I can as all the buttons are in a row. Same for the AC and heater controls. I pretty much know them by heart so it takes a fraction of a second to glance where to roughly put my finger, and then I can count them out by feel while looking at the road.
That image, while not as bad as a touchscreen, is still a pretty poor design. So many uniform buttons so close still require most people to look. Buttons should be clustered and/or have slighty different shape so you can tell by touch which one you’re about to press…
When you remember where the buttons are they’re fine to navigate. The average keyboard that meant people can type on without looking has less physical feedback (2 small bumps on f and h).
Yeah, once you get used to typing on a keyboard you don’t really need anything else. I got blank caps for my keyboard because I thought it looked neater. Memorising a row of climate options isn’t that bad. If you mix buttons and dials it’s even easier. If the manufacturer thinks of accessibility they’ll also add tactile bumps and such and make it accessible for people who don’t have great vision too.
Lol as someone who touch types but sometimes has to look down for F-key locations and which symbols are attached to which numbers, this would drive me mad.
That’s fair! Looking at my work computer’s keyboard, I’d go nuts if that was the case too. This keyboard has it clustered in groups of four though, so it’s not that challenging. Plus I rarely use more than two or three function keys on my personal computer.
Compare it to a video game controller. Or a keyboard.All of my face buttons and keys have the same shape and size. I still know where they are, because I’ve used them each hundreds, thousands of times. You learn where they are, and if you don’t immediately touch the right one, you can find it because they never move and you have feedback. A touch screen has zero feedback, and buttons are inconsistently placed, or 4 menus deep.
Even in a car I’ve never driven before I can find controls by feeling across the dashboard and pushing at random until I get what I want. With a touch screen you can’t push at random without taking your eyes off the road because there is nothing to feel.
Absolutely. You only need to find it once… And another thing, you can keep your finger on it and press it as many times as needed and know whether or not your press registered because guess what: it always does when you press it down.
You can find a large volume knob without taking your eyes off the road or press the next track/station button. We are not asking to configure a new Bluetooth connection while driving.
Yes to the Volume Knob. The next button or even worse the play button, i cant.
Shit interface then. Pressing down on my volume knob pauses it, and I’ve got media controls on the steering wheel as well so I can change tracks with my left thumb keeping both hands on the wheel.
maybe the problem is you and not the buttons or knobs.
Are you having these issues only in your car or in other places too?
If the next button is to the right of the volume knob, always, and the play button is below the volume knob, always, and the previous button is to the left of the volume knob, always, then if you can find the volume knob, you can find those other controls. It’s just a biiiiiit of learning your car’s interface.
The play button is number 5, 4 is shuffle and 6 is repeat. the buttons for 1-6 are smooth meaning you can not discern on wich button you are without looking. Shuffle and repeat have 3 modes you switch through if you press them.
Volume Knob opens the Menu onclick.
I can type mostly blind on both a Touchscree(phone) and on a Mechanical Keyboard.
You can type blind on a center console touchscreen, but you can’t memorize the location of 6 buttons that don’t move? I’m not buying it, doc. Besides, the buttons should at least have a ridge where the edges of them are, even if the buttons are smooth. If they’re those shitty, completely smooth capacitive “buttons” that some electronics have anymore, I get not being able to discern them, but that’s still the same problem as the touchscreen - no tactile feedback.
I also wasn’t exactly trying to say exactly how your radio is laid out, I have no idea on your specific model. My point was that the buttons don’t move, they’re always in the same spot, so you just learn where they are.
Channel change and volume control are all physical buttons on my steering wheel. All feel, no look. To me, that’s the best way it can be. The only time that isn’t useful is if I’m out of town and presets don’t work. For those situations, I’m generally streaming ahead of time.
Does car with touch screen has no button for warning ?!
