Touch screen's in Cars Yes/No?

[screenman]

Give me knobs and buttons any day, still trying to get the hang of electric windows....

Are you kidding?

 

[I like Skol]

I disagree, I have driven for over 3 hours today and only touched the screen once, that was to select the radio channel I wanted before starting off.

The problem Screenman, and you know it full well, is that a worrying proportion of the driving population possess neither the intelligence or attention span to remain focused on the important task of driving what is a potential killing machine. Not all drivers are driving to your standard Screenman.

Give me knobs and buttons any day, still trying to get the hang of electric windows....

Windy windows! Sounds like witchcraft to me. Sliding windows are better....

 

[Fab Foodie]

The problem Screenman, and you know it full well, is that a worrying proportion of the driving population possess neither the intelligence or attention span to remain focused on the important task of driving what is a potential killing machine. Not all drivers are driving to your standard Screenman.

Windy windows! Sounds like witchcraft to me. Sliding windows are better....
View attachment 540395

And that’s kinda the point. These things are ridiculously complicated in an unnecessary way - and it’s all about marketing and lifestyle rather than getting from a to b safely and efficiently.
In the course of normal work I’m in and out of hire cars here there and everywhere. Christ, it takes 20 mins in the Hertz car park to figure-out how the basic stuff works before you get on the road.
My sad little Dacia does most of the same things with a few simple knobs and dials that I don’t need to look at to make the changes I want. No I-drive to fiddle with or screen to select the temperature page etc.
Our MOHO has a Blaupunkt nav and media soooo complex that you need a radio-operator to travel on every trip.
Roads are getting busier, we need more eyes and brain cells on the road, not the screen....

 

[Gunk]

If used properly a good touch screen is safe, the VW infortainment is particularly good, the icons are big and the menu is simple, it’s just becoming familiar with the functions, in reality I just stick on 5 live and leave it, I don’t use much else.

However 25 years ago I was driving a BMW 328 touring with a plethora of tiny buttons and a Nokia 6310 with a hands free kit, when I look back it was a pretty chaotic place to be.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I wonder if there is also anything in the fact most people are right handed, 89-90% so in a right hand drive car you are navigating the system with your weak side, our foreign cousins are using their stronger side.

 

[Gunk]

I wonder if there is also anything in the fact most people are right handed, 89-90% so in a right hand drive car you are navigating the system with your weak side, our foreign cousins are using their stronger side.

The might be something in that, I’m left handed so that possibly helps.

 

[icowden]

And that’s kinda the point. These things are ridiculously complicated in an unnecessary way - and it’s all about marketing and lifestyle rather than getting from a to b safely and efficiently.

And that's also not the point. The point of a Tesla is not to be ridiculously complicated. It's to be simple. No need to memorise 3000 different buttons. The car does it for you. Yes, if you want to change the way the car thinks, you have to use the onboard computer to change the programming, but that's usually done when stationary.

All the driving sites are quick to blame the touchscreen but very few places have pointed out that he didn't need to do it.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

he didn't need to do it.

But he did & more to the point was able to, I take it you either have a Tesla or a vested interest as this isn't about Tesla it is about touch screens in ALL cars, but you seem to want to jump to Tesla's defence at all opportunities?

 

[Drago]

And that's also not the point. The point of a Tesla is not to be ridiculously complicated. It's to be simple. No need to memorise 3000 different buttons. The car does it for you. Yes, if you want to change the way the car thinks, you have to use the onboard computer to change the programming, but that's usually done when stationary.

All the driving sites are quick to blame the touchscreen but very few places have pointed out that he didn't need to do it.

Whaddyamean he didn't need to do it? If he wants to adjust the heater or demist the screen he has no choice. It's not just fancy stuff buried in these menus like twat nav or music - its also controls for critical functions that are essential to save driving.

 

[Fab Foodie]

And that's also not the point. The point of a Tesla is not to be ridiculously complicated. It's to be simple. No need to memorise 3000 different buttons. The car does it for you. Yes, if you want to change the way the car thinks, you have to use the onboard computer to change the programming, but that's usually done when stationary.

All the driving sites are quick to blame the touchscreen but very few places have pointed out that he didn't need to do it.

But you don’t need to have hundreds of buttons to memorise either.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Windy windows! Sounds like witchcraft to me. Sliding windows are better....
View attachment 540395

But you have the luxury/technology of coil-springs there

 

[tyred]

A proper dashboard

 

[I like Skol]

But you have the luxury/technology of coil-springs there

Not sure if luxury is the right word?

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Not sure if luxury is the right word?

Compared to an older leaf spring version it is

 

[Drago]

Mrs D's car has air suspension. It is rather clever, although altering the settings requires navigating the menus in the touch screen...

I cant help thinking that three buttons - Sport, Comfort, and Off Road - might have been far more user friendly.