Yep. The touchscreens on new cars seem absurd and more dangerous than phones. I think the systems with the “mouse” near the shifter are safer than touchscreens. i.e. BMW idrive. That way your control is always in 1 spot.
Using tiny virtual buttons on a touchscreen to change the radio is super distracting. You have to look to find the button and then look to make sure your finger is in the right spot as you reach. And when you try to repeatedly press it, it can slip off.
You don’t have this issue with physical buttons since you eventually remember where they are by touch.
Yep. The touchscreens on new cars seem absurd and more dangerous than phones. I think the systems with the “mouse” near the shifter are safer than touchscreens. i.e. BMW idrive. That way your control is always in 1 spot.
Using tiny virtual buttons on a touchscreen to change the radio is super distracting. You have to look to find the button and then look to make sure your finger is in the right spot as you reach. And when you try to repeatedly press it, it can slip off.
You don’t have this issue with physical buttons since you eventually remember where they are by touch.
= = =
Amen to all of this.
My old ‘53 Chev radio could be operated in the dark, by touch.
Volume = one knob
Tuning = the other knob
“Enhanced Tuning” = pre-sets
This new touch screen stuff is dangerous, much more so than texting.
That’s why I loved the controls on the ‘66 Bonneville I used to drive. I could find every control by touch blindfolded. You knew precisely how the heater was set (blower speed and air temp) by the set of the horizontal slider controls.
Today’s controls are a must-level maze of madness. It’s almost impossible to change the blower speed on my wife’s little MB SUV. Teeny buttons, down low by the console with microscopic embossed icons. The buttons are black in a black interior in a dimly lit part of the console.
It is obvious today’s 30 something designers have never used good old fashioned man-hand-sized tactile controls and they never learned “human factors” design principles.
Frankly, I’m amazed that we don’t have far more deadly accidents attributed to extremely poor car cockpit layout with incomprehensible controls.