The Real Reason New Cars Have Touchscreens
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
- From Tesla, to BMW, to Ford, 97% of new cars globally have at least one touchscreen on the dashboard. But most people would rather just use knobs and buttons. Well, despite what you're told, they aren't added to make your life easier.
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The Real Reason New Cars Have Touchscreens - Наука та технологія
It’s cheaper for the company. You’re welcome.
Yup. Literally the one and only reason.
Oversimplified actually. Actually the design decision have been far reaching in the industry.
Don't tell me they're afraid of going bankrupt because of buttons?
@@mrfishsticks266 cheaper to make one computer send CANBUS signals than have every individual button do the same thing
National security, secret squirrel spy technology. See Biden's 2019 executive order regarding "connected cars" and national security.
My father has always been a mercedes guy. When he turned 70 recently, I convinced him that it was finally time to upgrade to the beautiful new gen E class. We got inside one at the dealer...and both of us were like "nope". Way too complicated, million different settings, basic things are hidden behind layers of menus...I mean wtf were they thinking? Even me being a tech savvy IT guy was overwhelmed. And there was literally no benefit for the driver. It seemed to just be about saving the company money on buttons and knobs. Sad that they just alienated a lifelong customer...and I'm sure he isn't alone!
I'm Analog NOT Digital, yes I do have a smartphone for apps only which is off most of the time, I use a flipphone for calls and texting.
As far as vehicles I will stick with my '86 Isuzu Trooper equipped with a Millennial AntiTheft device.
I find it funny that it's legal for people to watch movies on a car screen but not on a smartphone while driving. Of course car makers block that feature so that people don't ask questions like that.
Complete 180 from the Benz of old. I had an 86 Benz, and I could do every single task without ever once removing my eyes off the road.
The sunroof button was shaped like a sunroof. If you wanted it up, push up, if you wanted to open, slide back. So easy!
Now the turn signal on a Tesla 3 is a button on the wheel, not on a knob ...
@blisphul8084, Depends which seat you are sitting in.
@@kooringagnd It may depend on the state, but some states don't properly account for distractions being located on the driver console, and only account for smartphone use, probably because manufacturers of cars put controls in place to avoid the ire of NHTSA, because I'm sure if a manufacturer did do that, they'd be chewed out regardless of the law.
And very soon, when the car detects it's waiting at a stop light, those screens will be playing ads at you. "Would you like to watch two ads while you're waiting, or would you like to pay $19.99/month for the Hyundai 'Premium' Ad-Free Experience...?" I think I'll take the bus instead.
It'll be called "Hyundai+". Because creativity is dead.
The bus all ready has ads and they will only get worse lol.
Anyone and everyone in the ad industry needs to unalive themselves. "Just doing my job" is an NPC defense.
Selling ads and personal data are the real reasons.
No Hyundais/KIAs thanks !
I'm gonna be honest our Civic with 50 million physical buttons all lit up at night like an airplane cockpit looks way more futuristic than a mounted iPad
I love illuminated gauges and buttons. I bought a BMW 7 series because of what it looked like at night. It was an older model but nearly new when I bought it.
And is just as distracting and difficult to use.
Civic !?? Are you kidding. You should see my '24 Mustang Dark Horse 🐎
@@court2379 it's an econo car. Lol
Still driving my 14 year old Civic and absolutely love those physical buttons and knobs!
“You can’t use your smartphone while driving so why is a giant tablet okay” Great point - lawmakers are a bunch of hypocrites.
Tesla touchscreen is not a smartphone. Are you kidding?
Learn Tesla. In one month you’ll change your opinion.
Tesla is the safest vehicle.
Try finding a knob to adjust AC on a night drive. It’s a nightmare of buttons. Lol
@@RandomRadsh, no?
Quick glance on a rental car and you can see where the knobs and buttons roughly are just by touch.
Try staring less than 3 seconds and then look away to find and activate the feature you want on a touchscreen just by touch. Yes, maybe with months of practice you can do it by touch alone, but until then it requires you to keep looking at the screen all along
@@Axel230 Lol. It amuses me, how you instantly assume that Tesla owners never drove a regular car.
I adapted to touchscreens but you didn’t. That’s the only problem here.
Imagine your grumpy ancestors: Why you need a car? Let’s keep it simple and ride our horse wagons. It’s hard to learn and engines are burning. It’s piece of useless metal and doesn’t even poop.
Don’t be afraid of technology. Learn and adapt. And touch screen is way better than buttons.
I have 2017 Honda pilot with all the buttons and Tesla Y. I thoroughly enjoy Tesla and the touch screen.
@@RandomRadsno way... I have an '07 BMW with buttons and knows, all Backlot and on ONE location, learning the hierarchy on a touchscreen, even if when you've gotten it is slower, period.
@@ken4924
I’m trying to implement Plant Maintenance Mobile application at manufacturing companies. The biggest problem I have is old generation: “iPads are a nightmare. WiFi, charging… Why you guys make it complicated? Can’t we just keep it simple with a pen n paper?” And the moment I lose network they laugh at me. They don’t even have an inch of open mind for the new world. They think I’m nothing but pain in their butt.
Simple question: Did you get into the car being grumpy from the get go? Or did you had an “honest” open mind to learn?
There is a reason why jet fighters still use buttons, switches and knobs and limited use of screens.
With switches & knobs, They can still use the “blindfolded cockpit test”. Instructor tells you to touch a control & do so blindfolded. This is how well you know your cockpit.
Oh boy... you must have not seen the F-35 cockpit. Literally just a giant fucking touchscreen for an instrument panel. A lot of 4.5/5 gen fighters are like this.
And a lot of late 4th gen had glass cockpits but with screens surrounded by buttons for context actions rather than direct touchscreens, but the general idea for the interface was the same.
If you really think "use of screens in jet fighters is limited", you're like 20 years out of date on their development.
That being said: jet fighters have also had _Heads Up Displays_ since the 70s, that are now slowly being replaced by (and have been augmented by for decades now) Helmet Mounted Displays. Both of these critical features allow to feed the pilot as much critical data as possible without him having to pry his eyes off the outside world into the cockpit. It actually _improves_ safety. And it's something that _has_ made its way into automotive industry already, but takes the backseat to the _fucking touchscreens._
The second critical technology that have been present in jet fighters for decades now and is only getting improved is HOTAS, or hands on throttle and stick - the stick and throttle grips are crammed with as many buttons and hat switches as possible without jeopardizing ergonomy, allowing the pilot to control as many of the functions as possible without having to use the touchscreen. He still has to do it, but all the functions that are needed at critical moments, e.g. during combat or landing, are mapped to buttons on stick and throttle. Combined with HMD it allows the pilot to do anything he could possibly need to do with his jet during combat without ever moving hands off the controls or eyes off the target. Again, this is something that is slowly making its way into automotive industry as it's easy to cram buttons onto the steering wheel without them being in the way (open wheel racing is kind of the bleeding edge on what can be done in this regard), yet still we have things like Tesla Cybertruck... no HUD, a giant touchscreen to the right, and even though there are buttons on the steering wheel to control the _audio,_ the driver needs to use the touchscreen to _put the goddamn car into drive or reverse - what the fuck_
@@delayed_control All I can say in appreciation for your comment is I'm glad I read it and screenshot it. Quora level stuff. 👍👍
@@delayed_control yup, added this to my cringe collection.
@@KitYeeScott It's not because they are physical switches that makes it possible though. It's because they have a fixed memorizable location and have tactile feedback when pressed. Screens can keep common locations, but can also offer context specific buttons that physical ones cannot. Also making them larger because they don't have to display ones irrelevant to the current situation.
Also all modern aircraft have screens all over the cockpit greatly reducing the number of switches, so I don't think this argument is even relevant. Planes use them even more than cars do to reduce buttons.
All I want in a car is music, navigation, and for it to go vroom. The rest is just unnecessary clutter
Agree with that plus heated steering wheel and seat. An almost must in Canada
Plus working AC. It gets hot where I live
Get a Mazda then. Vroom vroom plus physical dials and touch screen that disables when driving
@@idontcare-tk1te I actually thought about that. But I got a better deal on a used HRV base model
I have a Audi A3. Its got heated sports seats, no heated steering wheel, but the airvents are located next to the drivers hands = warm air directly on your hands :) But it also has physical buttons for heating, driver modes, but also a 10" touch screen. I only use touchscreen for navigation, and music. But steeringwheels also have physical buttons for navigating and volume, change track / radio etc. Works great.
Touchscreens should never have gone beyond the infotainment. I drive an ‘07, manual transmission, cruise control- with an updated radio head unit for Bluetooth and phone connectivity. Literally don’t want any more tech in my car. Keeping this one for the foreseeable future.
A better way to put it is: touchscreens should only be operational in terms of controls via touch when the car is stationary…
Yes for manual trans.
Anything is tech in a car. But touchscreen is just stupid if we rely pretty much everything on it.
There is a good reason why fighter jets still have physical controls. F1 still have physical controls.
Cars are still need to be driven despite having more advance autonomous features, it is still not 100% self driving system.
@@panameradan6860 I’d say that no car functions related to operating the vehicle - any of its comfort, safety, or driving features - should rely exclusively on a touchscreen.
My family has 2017 Renault Scenic IV. Even while main dashboard is using displays for speed, fuel and all that, touch controls are for navigation and infotainment only - everything else - buttons, knobs and levers. Also a manual transmission. I feel sad that Renault stopped making these :(
I once worked in computer security. I don't trust the newer cars with their over-the-air software updates and subscriptions for features. I also hate how complicated they've become, and how the windows have shrunk so much that they require backup cameras now.
I'm keeping my old car because it has real buttons, and I can see out of it. It's also much simpler mechanically, the parts are cheap, and it's easy to maintain it myself. It's 17 years old and has 247,000 miles on it, but it still gets me around comfortably.
...I keep wondering how much longer I can hold onto my '97 Saturn, a five-speed manual with 215,000 miles.
The Subaru BRZ is the first car I've happened upon in a decade that I actually like - and can order in a stick shift - but no one has it in stock locally for a test drive. That will take at least $500 and two or three months... 🙄
And you are in computer security?
A profession that requires constant learning, adaptation of new technologies and MUST have a passion to complex problem solving.
“Your brain is your limitation. Understand that. Turn your fear into curiosity.”
That's something that I didn't think about. It may be way harder to fix these cars yourself because you'd have to be knowledgeable about how computers and networking work...for buttons that even control small things.
There are real safety features tho
@@kalecale In light of recent reporting about how car companies are selling/sharing information, I continue to stand by my comment.
It's one thing to have a touch screen to control the radio (as long as there is a physical volume knob), but It gets ridiculous when things like headlights, A/C, etc.. are ONLY controllable thru touch screens.. I prefer how it was in the 90's with a physical button or switch for EVERYTHING. I also don't like having a big-ass bright Ipad like screen blasting 1000+ lumens of light into my face when driving at night..
I think the "ipad" dims down when its dark? atleast in my audi it does that. And you can turn it off also if you want. But I agree about the rest. It actually feels a bit luxery to have real buttons in a car nowdays
OLEDs should be mandatory for all car infotainment and instrument displays.
I've learned to drive with a simple car, no fancy things, only radio and AC. Feels way simpler than on any new car
When are you turning your headlights on/off? Every car for the last 20 years has had automatic lights.
@@RLang03 Do you even open your doors yourself?
Cheaper to make but expensive to repair and upkeep
Yeah, so they make more money on the front end by making it cheaper to produce and on the back end by making it more expensive to repair when it's out of warranty.
Planned obsolescance - impossible to fix in the future when they stop making the part, and if they do, expect very expensive on a old car.
There will soon be a plethora of aftermarket screens to replace these for 1/10th of the cost.
Price sure but upkeep not really, if anything it’s better because you don’t have a ton of different mechanisms that are interacted with daily. I still hate the screens though
@@kilroywashere9343 each of those components can break and be replaced individually for cheap or you can just ignore it if you’re not using it in the meantime. Everytime the screen breaks you have to replace the whole thing and it costs a lot more.
mazda nails it right now. Small screens mounted above the dashboard near the sightline. My family has a cx-30 and i love the interaction with the infotainment. But everything that you need to change quickly is physical buttons (ex. AC, seat adjustment)
What’s funny is that the entire automotive review industry seems hellbent on trashing Mazda’s decision to not have a touch screen, and all the screen addled addicts all similarly complain without any valid points.
Personally, I find that the command knob is much less distracting to use, even if CarPlay and Android Auto are touch based interfaces.
I have a 2021 mazda and I agree on the hardware side of things but mazda's sw is hot garbage. 2018 vw golf is the high water mark IMHO. Small responsive touchscreen but buttons and knobs for all important inputs.
The location and controls are ok but software is pretty bad. Slow to respond and no color coding to quickly identify a menu. Also sometimes touch is just fast for a quick touch of something but Mazda locks that when driving and the screen is hard to reach
Japs in general got it right. I can't complaint about my Outlander.
@@fanovaohsmuts I am a big proponent of buttons over screens, never liked the idea of having important stuff like AC behind a touch screen. I’ve driven Mazdas several times and can easily say that the command dial is worse than a touch screen. It takes significantly longer to do anything and way more distracting while on the road. Want to switch from gps to music? On a touch screen you look over for a second and click the Spotify icon. On a Mazda you have to constantly look over to see where the dial is positioned previously and navigate it correctly to the new icon. The automotive industry doesn’t trash the command dial because they are addicted to touch screens, they trash it because it is an inconvenience and step back.
I drive a Toyota 4runner from 1999, recently got to drive a 2023 man that thing feels like a spaceship. The worse part after 2 decades of "improvements" it gets almost the exact same mileage as my vehicle form the 90s while being wider, longer, and harder to see out of.
The biggest positive is that the crash structure is definitely safer.
My 2000 dodge grand caravan get the extra same mileage as my 2019 dodge grand caravan.
@@chachacamelMaybe. However, the later model likely has side air bags which are highly valuable.
Except modern vehicles all have tiny gun slit windows and cramped interiors where you can't move around by design, and with rear windows so tiny and blocked by massive head restraints you must have back-up camera just to see behind you. @@chachacamel
At least you got a built-in backup camera.
so many things in our lives that are marketed to us as 'better' are actually not and instead are just cheaper and the manufacturers trick us into wanting it. But they don't lower the prices of the new cheaper thing, because they've convinced us it's better and convinced us to want it more. So for the producer, they're lowering costs, creating something objectively worse, convinced us that it's subjectively better, and sell it to us as the cool better thing for more money. Next time you notice something has changed and is 'new' and 'improved' think long and hard about whether or not it actually is new and improved or if it's just different, possibly worse, and cheaper to produce.
Yes like self checkout. When do I get a rebate from Walmart for doing their job for them?
Yep like 5g change isn't always good
They are always better. They just don't tell you for whom they are better. Most of the time it is for the bean-counters and suits, not end-users or consumers.
I'm 78 and my car is 24. It's a race to see which expires first, it or me. The thought of giving up buttons and knobs is terrifying. Every time I make an HVAC or audio adjustment in my old Regal I am grateful and know that I am living on (automotive) borrowed time.
I've driven with touch screens several times and I found the experience horrifying. Simple desires buried in sub-menus. I found it was easier to just give up than change a radio station or HVAC settings.
Once upon a time public schools had driver's education, and one of the mantras was "Keep your eyes on the road." Now, it's impossible to do so.
If they had buttons and knobs for HVAC and basic audio, 90% of of one's needs would be covered. Put basic readouts like speed and RPM on heads up displays. Leave the rest to the touch screen.
Tbh you don't have to be old to hate it, everyone except some 30-ish tech wannabees does.
I'm 25, I have right now a TT with a screen in place of the tacho, controled by buttons and it's the further I can do.
Hell I feel unsafe operating even slightly my smartphone while driving. And I use the damned thing a lot so I'm very use to it (on my everyday life I mean, not while driving). I don't understand how touchscreens that hold key features are even allowed on the road.
@@raidden-1583 Agreed. I'm going to be renting a Chevy Malibu, so I looked it up on the Chevy site. So relieved to see that the HVAC & basic entertainment functions use physical controls. And analog instruments right in front of you.
Sounds like a 2023 4Runner
Aircraft have glass cockpits, but ALL common and critical controls are always operated with fixed buttons.
I love my little 3 cylinder turbo. Tons of torque, character, nice sound. But it’s a small car so it makes sense. Even bmw has kept the idrive knob as they’ve gone to touchscreens on their newest mini coopers. But it will be 10 years before I buy a 2025 or newer car.
The rush to put touchscreens in cars is insanity. Talk about a solution looking for a problem... I'm totally with you on the points made. I've been driving for many years. I know too well how quickly things can go bad. The risks increase the less time you spend focusing on what you're doing. Here in the UK, it's (voluntarily) possible to do advanced driver training and do an advanced test. It's modelled on what they teach police. The watchwords are observation and anticipation. On the road, that is. Not on observing what's on your screen and anticipating where to put your finger to make something happen. I can't believe the stupidity of car companies' management in approving these designs.
You have to ask yourself: Have the women running these companies ever actually driven a car themselves?
its done to build cars for dirt dollars, and make 50k a car every time somebody buys it.... we all know 90% of the parts on any car are china china china.... these cheap fks dont want to pay to design stuff properly, so they just make the whole car work off a tablet, zero design or engineering...
The best part in your video, was when you talked about physical buttons and knobs.
Spot on!
The absence of these, are the main reason why we did not buy a Tesla, but instead a Renault Zoe.
The most important functions and settings in this car, can easily be adjusted, without the need of a touchscreen.
Just imagine how much money car companies, like Tesla, save by installing a screen instead of costly buttons and knobs.
Putting our safety at risk just to save a buck! 👎👎👎
Couldn’t agree more. What annoys me more that people on the road still didn’t learn there lessons about safety and and no touchscreen on dashboard
Pathetic overpriced cars and idiot people with Tesla cars!
Don't ever read up on how car companies avoid recalls then, despite knowing their owners are driving around in death traps..😢
@@stuartburns8657”Look! A squirrel!”
@@AnimefanDeCaro
Car Manufacturers are bunch of idio**. People buy cars for convenient features and simplicity not complexities. Why we should have another android in a car when we have already an andriod and tablet. Most people will prefer basic features and bottons than ridiculous keyboard touch screens.
What really upsets me the most
1. People on the road are careless
With texting and driving it’s extremely dangerous
2. They want to have earbuds on and listening to music loud while driving that is also extremely dangerous
3. They have no respect. with my old 2010 Subaru Outback it’s easy for me that has no touchscreen at all push buttons are good and no distractions at all.
People need to understand if people text while driving they could get crash! And when I’m driving I refused to text and phone call. I Hate Touchscreen and I Hate IPhones!
I drive 2021 Mazda CX-30 Turbo and I absolutely love how company organized an interior layout. There is no touchscreen, only command knob with 4 shortcut buttons. It allows you not being distracted while you're driving and you don't need wipe the screen every day. Also, it's just much easier and nicer to work with real physical controls.
Same here, the system is so natural to use and allows you to keep your eyes on the road where they should be.
@@martinmilton-white5172I think all the people who don’t like it are crazy, touchscreens are the worst things to happen to cars, ever!
I had a 2020 Mazda 6, then switched to a 2023 Honda CR-V…it's a great vehicle, but I miss the command knob literally every time I drive. It's wild to me how much better of a user experience the tactile knob is, not to mention safer.
I like cars which just have a small screen for reverse camera and maps. modern cars take it way too far though. i like having physicals buttons for air-conditioning controls, music controls and anything related to actually driving the vehicle.
Backup screens are hella’ cool. 👍
they should have infrared displays as well for night driving. Once having installed one of those, you'll see how they are extremely useful for everything from deer to speed traps hiding in the trees.
@@zarroth Are you driving while constantly looking at infrared display to spot deers?
so if you are good with backing up using just mirrors you can mount your phone for navigation on the wind shield
Backup screens aren't necessary : they just have to put an end to the slit window trend.
I am 72 years old and I prefer the analog dashboard with actual gauges to a computer screen dashboard. Also I prefer actual knobs and buttons to control most items in the car. What I do not like is what I see in Tesla electric cars where there is one big touch screen that handles almost everything and displays almost everything. A big computer screen is fine for my home computer sitting on my dining room table, but not in a car.
Here in Norway it is illegal to use the touchscreen or mobile phone while driving and it is a 1100 $ fine...
The worst I’ve seen, is the 2024 Model 3 update; they substituted a laggy “swipe for reverse” field on the display for the previous model's physical shifter. Idiocy.
Bad enough shifters are now electrical instead of actual, like, you know, mechanical shifters. That's a step beyond.
Next step is brake control hidden in a menu.
@@janlanik2660 Huh? .....Oh, BRAKE. Jeeez
@@frequentlycynical642 thanks
Please tell me you're joking.
Quite right, you are either driving or looking at a screen. You cannot do both safely while on the road . Here in the UK where I live to touch a moble phone while driving is a traffic offence so how come touch screens are exempt?
Because the EVangelists on both sides of the pond need to turn a blind eye to any downsides to today’s EV, to sustain their push to eliminate ICE. So the screens were normalized by EVs, and then spread to all types of vehicle.
@@JoeOvercoat But there's nothing about an EV that means it has to have a touch screen rather than buttons.
I've been saying this for years now.
There's absolutely no logic in not being allowed to use a mobile which you can hold up right next to the window so you barely have to take your eyes off the road, but you are allowed to use the car's built in screen which is buried lower down on the dash which means you can't see anything.
Touch screens are just about always worse than physical buttons. You can feel physical buttons, and your muscle memory knows where they are. You can't feel a touchscreen, and your muscle memory can't accurately remember their location (especially as they're always changing).
Here in Norway it is 1100$ fine for using phone or your cars touchscreen while driving... Touch screens have no business being in a car.
@@a64738 Interesting. So how does a new car owner, say, turn on the air conditioning or change the volume? Do they have to pull to the side of the road?
always said.. aviation industry spent billions on R&D into pilot interfaces, and decided it saw faster, more intuitive and safer to keep physical buttons to an extend.
where the car industry spent 30 seconds to decide slaping everything on a bargain basement $40 touch tablet and having a 10 year old design the ui was just cheaper.
Good News! The Dacia Sandero makes it simple to perform common tasks.
Oooo! Anyways...
If the Dacia Sandero genuinely dropped all the stupid mod cons like touchscreens, that genuinely would be exciting news and i'd want one.
I'm gonna miss those guys. Only one GT episode left. Hope they find a way top keep producing content, car content, together.
I noticed that too! 😁
Thesis/antithesis: the two extremes. Synthesis: touchscreen for entertainment and navigation only and physical buttons for everything else
I got a rental one time and i couldnt figure out how to move back the fricken seat, why would i need to go through a list full of menus when i could just pull a lever in my own car. It makes it unnesisarily complecated. I dont like voice control on my phone, let alone my car.
“I hate doorbells because I can’t find the button. I would rather just knock on the door instead”
@@awesomebush8711 I have never seen a doorbell that you can only access through a list of menu items.
@@awesomebush8711 "We put the doorbell button in the crawlspace underneath the house and tested, it works fine! No clue why the customer is angry..."
@@_technicalfox doorbells are usual right in front of you, just like the touchscreen on the Tesla. Things are only complicated until you learn how to use them. Quit complaining about things you don’t even own. No ones forcing you to drive a Tesla
@@awesomebush8711 Except that the doorbell is only an issue till you know where it is, you don't have issues with it detecting you touched it, touching a bit to the right activating something you didn't want to, having flip pages to find what you want (imagine a doorbell hidden in one of 6 mail boxes), and a magical over the air update may just move everything completely destroying any muscle memory I ever had.
The fact that every car has a screen in it now is why if I ever get a car I want to get an older one. I don't want any modern conveniences.
Isn't it a safety issue to put all functionality into a screen? What happens if the screen stops working -- as they often do? You'd lose access to all functions in the car, while if there were buttons it'd be only one button at a time
It should be clear to anyone who is paying attention that auto manufacturers are only concerned with safety of occupants during a crash. They do not care about preventing crashes or they are actively hostile towards the safety of anyone outside of the vehicle
"that auto manufacturers are only concerned with safety of occupants during a crash" Not really (maybe Volvo and SAAB). Only as far as meeting the regulations and getting a good safety rating. In markets like Brazil, they can (and did) gladly remove the side intrusion bars in cheap economy hatchbacks to cut costs since side intrusion bars are not mandatory in Brazil!
Rotary dials with no stop are bad too. In my 1999 BMW z3, there are no controls I need to look for. None. Everything can be done by feel. I mean, vision helps for the radio, but it's broke anyway. All the HVAC, lights and other buttons can be felt. In my 2023 Ford Maverick, it's okay, but you can't feel the temperature, heating zone, or fan speed. It's just worse.
It should be built into law that certain controls can be done just by feel in cars. Including basic music controls, as that is something so many drivers utilize.
@@zoyadulzura7490 the dept of defense has applicable standards on the shelf that the department of transportation could use, so they could do what you suggest tomorrow.
My 2001 Volvo has buttons on the steering wheel to change stations on the radio as well as off/on and volume control, so no sight needed there either
The problem is having a digital dial (IE no stop) is way cheaper than having a dial especially designed for each control function.
By using the same inferior dial everywhere and just tuning its function with software saves production cost.
Perfect. I've been preaching this for over a decade, and everyone thinks I'm nuts.
A computer screen in a car is tech bling that further elevates the cost of vehicles most of us can barely afford. And it makes driving more hazardous than it already is.
The foundation of my sermon is a marketing concept that automakers will likely never implement. Considering the prices that younger new car buyers face, why don't manufacturers market an entry-level that skips the bulk of the expensive bling? It would welcome more cash-pressed buyers and begin building the brand.
You are nuts
@@SLADHuntter-du6pv True. But not in a "running down the street with an axe" nuts. Just, you know, nuts.
Cash for clunkers took a lot of affordable used cars off the market. It was a political gift to car manufacturers.
My ‘97 Jetta has the perfect amount of technology. As in, none of it.
Well it does have technology, it has ECU, digital odometer and drive-by-wire/throttle-by-wire instead of a physical accelerator cable. It still probably has some other electronics I didn't notice. You just don't consider it tech because you're used to it.
All car in early 90 had a ecu drive by wire don't get popular on till early 2000's
@@rich-ue5qy Yeah but certain car models did have drive-by-wire already in the late 90s, like OP's '97 Jetta and my Volvo S80 (MY03 but it came to market in '98). My previous '96 850 still had a physical gas cable.
@@Fortzon most importantly, it has half a million miles and still runs!
@@Fortzon His Jetta almost certainly doesn't have drive-by-wire. That was a feature that started with the Bora.
You guys will make whole vids about things that have infuriated me for years, like these car touch-pads, please keep doing it! I mean, the fact that these touch screens are insanely expensive to replace vs. a broken volume or defogger button adds a whole new level of consumer exploitation to these touch screens IMO... also, the distracted driver who wraps their Tesla around a tree has to buy a whole new vehicle, pay more for insurance too...
I suggest that all of us are paying the increased costs of providing EV coverage. Because if they charged TVs for the risk that they represent, the insurance would be unaffordable to the individual. So the insurance companies spread the cost across all of us.
Everybody’s insurance increases because of the removal of buttons/dials … and my buttons/dials on my old cars never broke and never failed to work, over even 25 years … think how soon and often infotainment screens will break/fail
Touchscreens should be for maps and music, maybe. Pretty much everything else should be separate physical buttons. At most AC as well, but even those are incredibly annoying and inconvenient, usually
I am constantly changing the volume and and down, and sometimes I absolutely must skip a song. I don't want to have to look to do those things, either. Touchscreens for maps make sense, but when something inevitably goes wrong with the screen, it shouldn't affect the drivability of the car.
Maps & music/phone/audio & climate & drive mode should all be operational via physical buttons & dials, mostly on the steering wheel
Happy to say my Alfa Giulia also has buttons switches and knobs for all the important things.
I opted for an Ioniq 5 over a Model Y after test driving them both, and a big factor was the lack of buttons (Or even traditional windscreen wiper control on a stalk.) The Ioniq has buttons for all important controls , which I feel more comfortable with, plus a HUD, so that I don't need to look out of the corner of my eye to see what speed I'm driving at.
the more electronics a car have the more issues can happen. that's what i've learned over the years.
And greatly complicates things, no wonder why no one wants to be a mechanic anymore.
@GrumpyIan that too. Whew
No modern car will let me hot splice the fog light power to the taillights. If I can't fix it I don't want it.
@@calebharris292 great logic to live by I totally agree
Applies to everything, actually.
I believe that things that were mostly mechanical if not fully and now slowly becoming with more electronics than necessary are becoming shit like smart home devices that have security and privacy issues or fridges (like, why there is a fucking screen when fridges at the time, in the 60s, didn't need one and were working properly ?!).
Electrical things are less friendly to the average person than mechanical I believe, because a car with software is an issue since software is generaly properitary, you can't modify and so it's not fixable.
Software is going worse too. Because to make a good software, it's takes time and good software engineers that create secure and fast code. Yes, companies could make a software, then after that, making updates overtime but they don't care and it comes with costs.
You would probably need Internet to update with no alternatives of doing differently (like plugging a usb with the new software and push it to the car. . Although, I'm sure it will be used to find exploits.)
Why is Internet necessary in a object that was built in the early 1900s and for the last 110 years, never needed it ? Do you really own your car ?
i would pay so much more for hardwired switches, knobs, and buttons, you have no idea
Oh, they do....just wait a few years, they'll offer physical buttons as "pro" or "racer" interface upgrades. For a cost, of course.
Exactly. That's why old cars are overall better with just physical buttons.
Well you're soon not going to have the option. If you have not noticed the govt is doing everything it can to eliminate any older cars. Pretty soon you won't be able to buy or sell or register or insure any older cars that can't be hacked by the govt. You will have no choices otherwise. Just a prelude to getting us out of our own vehicles and on to public transportation or walking in our 15 minute cities.
This and some other reasons mainly Great MPG is why I still Drive a 2006 VW Jetta with a Manual Transmission.
@@tah6746 What a concidence ! Yesterday, I was watching Ted (the movie) and the main car was the Jetta A5 too.
Back in the 1980ies you literally knew by heart where the controls are. Choosing radio station, cassette/CD in/out, volume. Heating, Ventilation. You never needed to look away from the road to control them. And you got feedback. The knob turned. The switches clicked.
Exactly. Even with a big equalizer with a LOT of slide controls, it was all VERY intuitive and easy to operate by FEEL while you watched the ROAD.
Now you can't even get a CD player. You're stuck with $$$streaming$$$
I rode motorcycles for like 20 years and this is the reason why I no longer ride motorcycles
me too, though i guess u mean riding newer motorcycles, right?
Also, if a car manufacturer decides to start charging you a subscription for the features your car already has, all they have to do is grey out a virtual button on your touchscreen until you cough up.
I liked this video. Excellent format and very informative. Keep them coming
What I hate when they use the touch screen for things like shifting to fevers in the Tesla or turning on the aircon, or even seeing the SPEED. YOU HAVE TO TAKE EYES OF THE ROAD TO CHECK SPEED!
Umm, hate to break it to you, but you've always had to look down away from the road to check the speedometer...
Love my 2021 Mazda infotainment system. There's a nice sized screen that's controlled by 2 knobs in the dashboard and a row of buttons for the climate control. Super easy and clean looking!
3:39 I think car companies see airplane cockpits and think “that’s sci-fi; I want it”. The problem is people like airbus and nasa have done thousands of hours of study on human error and distraction to optimize those displays, planes are flown by two pilots so one can be monitoring instruments while the other is looking out the window, and a constant scan to avoid small obstacles, animals, and people isn’t necessary in the air, where navigation and atc hopefully keeps you away from terrain and other aircraft.
Manufacturers: buttons are so hard and expensive 🥺
My $10 keyboard: 😈
I hate touch screens period. I wish my phone was not a touch screen. The only "feature" pushed on almost all tech users then touch screens, is tapping on touch pads.
I find 11"-ish tablets with touchscreens to be pretty good, and the touch screen on the self check out at the grocery store too (There are a lot of ways to do self check outs wrong too, mind you, but at least one supermarket in my area does them Right, so that's also possible).
My phone having a touch screen is a really mixed bag... there are significant upsides and significant downsides and whether it's better or worse varies with what nonsense the various companies involved are getting up to at the moment.
Touch screen controls in cars?
The first model Proposed, nevermind available for sale to the public, should have been all it took to kill that idea, given the absolute nightmare that is the mobile phone industry, various related and adjacent industries, and just... the fact that the idea wasn't regulated against the moment it was proposed is a testiment to the ignorance (if we're being Generous about motivaiton) of relevant legislators.
I don't want tech in my car.
A car IS tech.
All I need is good stop to hang my phone one to be able to use rhe map and stuff. Most modern cars make you connect your phone by USB and Bluetooth at the same time to get those features and most cars don't have a good place to attach the phone too that is safe and easy to access. Having stuff like air conditioning controlled by a touch screen is dangerous. I often adjust stuff while driving.
Buy a late 80s Volkswagen diesel. That’s what I have. All buttons, no computers much fun.
Volkswagen cheapest car available aka the Jetta has all physical buttons and knobs. However the GTI which is a lot more expensive has a giant screen. Gotta love when the cheapest option is also the best option
The best cars are usually the "cheap and cheerful" very common models. Not only has the design gone through a lot more refinement, but so has the manufacturing. They tend to be a whole lot more reliable too.
BTW: My brother in-law is looking for a new car, and didn't want to get an Ioniq5 because it is very common and taxi companies use them (he lives in Korea)... To me, those are reasons to want to get one. (I do think it suffers from the stupid touchscreen problem though.)
At the low end, you get what you pay for (if you get lucky, more than you pay for!). In the middle, you (usually) get what you pay for (unless someone's decided to be 'clever' recently). At the high end? If it didn't come with your own small country you got ripped off.
This is pretty consistent across everything that the 'tech companies' get their hands on these days.
For me, touchscreens serve a few purposes: navigation, audio entertainment (radio, music, podcasts, audiobooks), display for backup and 360 cameras, and that's mostly it...
I'm not a fan of built-in navigation systems and prefer google maps since I can figure out where I want to go ahead of time on a computer or phone where the interface is superior, save it to a calendar event, then click on the location as soon as I connect my phone to my car.
And backup/360 cameras are just a lot clearer and easier to see on bigger screens.
Everything else should be knobs and buttons (including volume).
On my smartphone, I search for location, hit share location, select Tesla icon. When I sit in the car, voila Tesla will open garage door by itself, drive by itself to the destination and park by itself.
I wonder one day, Tesla will remove that touchscreen also. Just use phone.
Naah .. maybe not. Just kidding.
Nothing like my 2014 seat ibiza with a manual transmition
Very interesting take. Something I haven't really thought of. I do like the screens, but hate if everything that you need to do is in the screen. Knobs and buttons are still very much needed.
There is a reason why aviation has controls shaped like what they do, flaps, landing gear, etc.
The only time I had an at fault accident I was reaching for the radio knob and looked away from the road and rear ended an SUV that abruptly stopped in bumper to bumper traffic. I didn't even have a touch screen. Those 2 seconds looking away was all it took. My car was the only one damaged thank goodness. I'm grateful I learned that lesson without anyone getting hurt. Now when I rent a car sometimes I get upgraded to a Premium Model with touch screen only, even for radio volume. I had to pull off the road and use my phone to google how to turn down the damn radio! It was not in the slightest bit user friendly. I won't have a car that requires a touchscreen to do everything, way to dangerous, Bring back Knobs!
Because it's cheaper. Saved you 8 mins.
Thanks.😂
I’ve got a 1991 Ford Ranger and a 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage.
The mirage is far from being a touchscreen on wheels, but even then, there’s something about the couple of switches on the old truck that I find pretty satisfying, it’s a very noticeable click for everything, it’s a lot more enjoyable than the cheap, tiny tin car.
As an IT guy (so it’s safe to say I know my way around tech) the first thing I do when I get behind the wheel of a relatively modern car I press the moon 🌙 button and turn off as many screens as possible.
I own three cars. One of them doesn’t have a single screen, one has a digital clock and the last one has two dot-matrix LCDs with green backlit which give me all the information I’d ever need and then some. That’s the way I prefer it.
Agreed. Everything that needs to be adjusted while driving should have a physical control. Volvo is good at this. Screens are good for displaying maps, cameras, and for detailed menu adjustments when parked.
I like having an infotainment screen but not to the point where everything has to be done through it and then there’s the added fact of having to look at it to use the touchscreen that almost every car has nowadays.
I prefer the way Audi’s b9 generation did it with the physical knob to interact with the interface and physical buttons for everything else you needed. The virtual cockpit was an added bonus as well.
Once I crashed my 80s Toyota, changing a station on a pre historic radio. It was just one button to push…
The worst is you can’t even just ignore it. If you don’t answer the 20 questions it has for you it blocks the whole screen so you can’t control the radio.
4:15 precisely. Governments are also a huge part of the problem.
"We'll fine you for not using hands-free when talking on your phone while driving. Also, here's a freakin' tablet in your car that replaces physical controls and cannot be used without directly looking at it."
Whatever you slap on the screen, I want physical buttons for volume/channel/track switching, AC and seat functions.
I'll never get a tesla for that reason. Had a car where you had to navigate menus to set the freaking temperature of the AC and it drove me crazy.
Great production value and good info.
I will never get rid of my manual 2016 Tacoma because it’s the perfect combo of modern-enough (and stick!) but still with dials and, you know, actual buttons. No power seats with motors to break, no complicated menus to sift through just for the HVAC controls, no settings for different drive modes and terrain…but it does have satnav, a backup cam, and heated side mirrors. I inherited my mom’s E46 323i and forgot how nice it was to drive at night without a screen glaring in my peripheral version at all times.
My father is a helmsman on a support ship. He moves people and equipment around for repairs, maintenance and alterations to ships. Like welding and such. The ship was 'upgraded' with a touchscreen before he started there. He showed me how long it takes to activate functions of the ship. Like lights or engine information. Lots of times it required 2, 3 or even 4 taps to get to the function you need. That is too long. Buttons, knobs, etc, are easy and fast to controle by touch only
I see a ton of auto accidents in the future. Especially when someone is trying to do something on the touch screen with one hand and steer the car with the other.
when they lean over to reach the far edge of the touchscreen, their other hand will, inadvertently turn the wheel in that same direction.
Ironically Tesla's have the lowest amount of collisions of any car.
@@lachlanB323because the sample size is smaller
@@lachlanB323 heh....if you don't know how math works sure. There's only 1 tesla for every 200 to 300 cars. You need to go by % on the road, not by # of accidents. When you use the numbers correctly, they are NOT lowest by a long shot.
@@Demsky83 No. It's based on per mile driven obviously. If it wasn't Tesla wouldn't be number one since they have already sold over 6 million cars and they still sell every car they've made S/3/X/Y.
Model Y is the best selling car of 2023 you know?
Awesome video and very informative. This guy does a great job! Keep them coming.
This why I love my 2014 Volvo XC90, dashboard design is the same as the original 2001 model but still includes all the critical modern features like bluetooth connectivity but none of the distracting fluff
Worked for several car companies on their head units.
Touchscreens were tempting but having everything necessary be doable without glancing at the hardware just by touch and sound was a massive design priority with an enormous effort behind it. Touchscreen was specifically reserved for cheaper vehicles, and even there touch wasn't doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Great video. Years ago I was an accident investigator and see touchscreens as a major distraction.
I would never own an EV because they don't have the range I need to go and visit my kids, almost a 400 mile trip, mostly on Montana 2 lane roads.
I had a 2019 Silverado (Was given to me by a dear friend who got up in years and stopped driving) I couldn't stand the touch screen and after a year the vehicle was sold. Kept my old '72 Chevy pickup and my daily driver is a 2005 Buick LeSabre. Gets over 30 mpg on the highway with the 3800 V-6 and NO TOUCHSCREEN. Buttons knobs and switches.
I refuse to buy a new car because of all of the technology put into them. Many of the features I have no use for and I dislike having to use the screen.
Looking to find a nice 1970 BMW Bavaria like I had years ago. That's when BMW made REAL cars, not full of plastic parts and with a touch screen that they sell people now so they can show people how big their car payment is.
96 Chevy truck owner here, plus a W body like yours, a 2005 Impala SS. Enough technology to make them better than an 80s vehicle but not too much to where it's a pain in the butt to deal with. Yeah, and no car payments plus I can diagnose and repair 75% of problems.
I feel like you can have a central control panel that a handful of buttons are connected to via wires that then is basically an extension of the screen? As in , same reduced complexity
conceivably yes but I suggest that in general, it’s not well understood exactly what is important to drivers when they’re driving in what situation. in my experience, a lot of alluring solutions only work in a very narrow case and are only useful for and very narrow set of people and once you get outside of those bounds, the solutions go sideways.
So yes, but someone would have to do the human engineering to get from here to there.
I still drive a lada and that thing is immortal
I loved my 87 Square Body Chevrolet Silverado 4x4. It drove like a dream , everything was manual. Even the 4x4 has a manual engagement. Then engine went down several years ago. I gotta get it back up n going again.
My best buddy has a new Ford F-150. It tows great , but he hasta push buttons for ever just to get it rolling. I've driven it while towing , and him riding in the passenger seat. It will just randomly start barking alarms while driving. He has to start pushing buttons again to make it hush - up. Any time we stop , its the same procedure. My old Chevrolet, and other 50+ years old trucks , you just shifted gears as you needed to , and drove. Everything is in arms reach. You don't take your eyes off the road.
As a 75 year old, who owns no cellphone (and never will), and drives a 2008 Honda Accord with standard transmission, the current automotive offerings are absolutely nightmarish. I thought that I'd probably never buy another new car due to my age, and the almost complete disappearance of standard transmissions, but this video game style touchscreen technology takes it one step further, making the act of being a pedestrian a continual threat to life and limb. It's wonderful that the manufacturers are saving money, though...
And your grandpa whined about the demise of horse pulled carriages and the inflation in the price of buggy whips
@@conrusco How right you are! Ignore people who've been around longer than you have. In my grandfather's day (and mine), parents would sit down and eat dinner with the whole family, at the same time. People went on dates and looked at the other person--not an I-Pad or cellphone, in sight. Students, of all ages, attended school, without cellphones; in places like California, they went to public colleges and universities, with NO tuition. And any student debt was fully dischargeable, in Bankruptcy. Back then, people read books printed on paper or vellum, which, if censored, would reveal the fact to the reader. They'd use the public library for preparing school work, instead of copying Wikipedia's repository of public "facts." If only Grandpa could see how much better things are now, then in those old, benighted, days of the 20th century. My old eyes have been opened; thanks, Chuck.
@@skellys1948 Stephen
I forgot to mention we would have been in high school at the same time.
@@conrusco Nobody's perfect.
They don't want to pass the savings onto consumers though 😂
I think touchscreens can be a good thing in cars, so long as they don't completely substitute too many controls. Having a large screen for directions, especially when driving in unfamiliar areas, is safer than trying to use a phone or the use a paper map (which I've used before cell phones came about). My wife's '22 Rav4 has a good setup, a touchscreen basically for the radio (am/fm, satellite) and maps with the rest of the controls being a button or knob.
Great video BTW. I've been getting Morning Brew since last year and I love it. Easy to read, concise articles with a bit a humor (when appropriate of course) but also with links (like the one for this video) so I can take a more deep dive if something is really interesting.
I think touch screen to change things physical to use things
Yah the big map is of value. The positioning is dubious though: why not present a smaller map on the driver’s centerline and then perhaps a bigger map on the center of the console. I know the answer is because that doesn’t save the OEM money, which is what the tablets are all about.
I think the maps somewhat make sense, but using the map on the car is honestly more difficult in most cases than just using your phone. It's much harder to type one handed on the car screen than my phone meaning I spend more time while driving typing things.
Plus the phones do just have better voice recognition if you wanted to use that. Why android auto just tends to be the best answer. Type on your phone view on the car.
Let’s talk about touchscreens generally. My brother was laying down in his bedroom when burglars approached and fired four shots which missed. He crawled on the floor to reach the alarm system...no panic button. Instead , he has to go through a menu, meantime he is trembling like a leaf and wondering when they will shoot through the door. He survived but replaced that alarm system.
No way is a a centralized touchscreen below the horizon of the hood safer than my phone which is mounted on the left side of my windshield very close to the position one might expect a HUD. I have to turn my eyes from dead on the road a mere a few degrees and can still see forward, just like a HUD. A touchscreen I have to break eye contact with the road entirely.
My neighbour's family member died in a car accident since he was watching a video feed while driving a bus. Imagine how accidents will multiply if people like him get their hands to cars like this, we are doomed. Luckily electric cars and tablet displays are too expensive for most here. Amazing how Europe hasn't reacted to this stupidity.
Luckily most car companies bring back switches and knobs. Nothing wrong with a small touchscreen (typing in destination in you navigate app is a lot easier) or do some small task that are easier with a screen. But changing the volume, turning on front heat and airco are all things I want to do without having my eyes from the road
Great video. Thanks. I'll be sharing it.
Which is less likely to wear out or go awry, mechanically: buttons/knobs or touch screens?
If a portion of a touch screen goes bad, is the rest viable?
Individually, each knob and/or switch will have a failure rate that’s roughly commensurate with the entire display, but then each knob or switch, generally only controls one function, whereas touchscreens will develop problems zones, but generally speaking, the screen fails in its entirety.
p.s. Failure rates for switches and knobs are generally expressed in how often you actuate the switch and/or knob, whereas the failure rate for a touchscreen is generally expressed in risk over time.
@@JoeOvercoat if a switch fails I go and buy a generic one, it doesn't need to fit, just connect two wires, in fact you could just strip wires and control the same function. Touch screen, good luck finding replacement that works. If they want to charge you 1000$ for a new screen that costs 100 they will
I think it's even more egregious than you put it. These screens are also being used to push subscription services for continuous revenue. Nearly every company, even the ones with android auto, have a paid maps system built into their cars, satelite radio, paid voice commands, car tracking, and they can have all of that accessed on the touch screen of your car.
Plus it's a well known psychological tactic to put a button somewhere you can't used till you pay for it. My Toyota's biggest button on the steering wheel is the voice command button, but you have to pay to access it. Plus even if I did pay or they didn't charge it, these companies actively record what the voice commands heard and sell that data. Nearly every company acknowledges they do.
As a UX designer I’m glad someone is FINALLY talking about this. Like my issue has never been the information structure of the things shown on the screen. I mean, yes, it’s bad. But the first time I saw one of these systems I was immediately concerned about the lack of tactile feedback and amount of cognitive load this adds. Seemed _totally fine_ for an interface you use while hurdling down the road at 70mph in your two-ton death machine.
This is why "Android Auto" and "Apple Car Play" are so buggy -- the software in the car NEVER gets updated/patched. That means the mobile device's side of the connection has to contend with a HUGE amount of variety of cars it connects to. It's an unmanageable buggy mess. Android Auto is reliable on less than 25% of rentals I've used over the last 2 years.
And you know that, if it Did get updated, they'd be screwing with the UI every six months.
Yeah mine doesn't work, and there's nothing you can do to fix it.
Thought this was going to have millions of views and subscribers after watching the video. The quality is insane! Amazing job man
I remember seeing programmable aftermarket buttons you can install. Make the button do whatever you want it to do. And install the buttons where they're convenient for you.
Even if you have buttons and knobs for everything, there aren't mass quantities of wires everywhere. Most of those things are connected into an integrated CANBus controller. When you press a button or turn a knob, it sends a message on the CANBus and some other module sees the messages and does something. You need electrical ground to the frame, 12 VDC and two wires for data and ... that's it.
Wanna put a bunch of buttons and knobs on the steering wheel? Ground to the frame, three wires and you're there. Wanna have the buttons on the steering wheel drive functionality in the head unit? So long as both are connected to the CANBus, it's just a matter of software running on the modules, responding to standardized messages on the CANBus. Wanna put a back-up camera in the car and have it display on the head unit? The backup camera module needs ground to the frame, three wires, and some software on the head unit and in the backup camera module and you're there.
When I needed to lift the dash in my 1998 Dodge Dakota, such that I could change the heater core, there were a gazillion wires, in multiple connectors, which needed to be dealt with. These days ... no so much.
So long as the module manufacturers stick with standardized messages on the CANBus, you can mix-and-match modules from different manufacturers. You don't have to get permission from Bosch to change their software.
Loved this video
Great video
Some companies still do a good job of keeping a balance between buttons and touchscreen. My Vilvo C 40 still has some basic buttons like mirrors, locks, lights and basic sound control as physical buttons. The rest is either touch screen or voice commands. They do a decent job by keeping buttons very big on the screen for the apps that you are meant to use while driving. I dont often complain about anything taking more than a couple of seconds to do.
Very helpful info for consumers in every way. A great service by you and ur colleagues. Many thanks. Cheers 🙏👍
I have a 2022 Jeep that has touchscreen but also buttons for all the major functions like volume, temp and fan control, etc. I’ve tried using the touchscreen functions while driving and it’s horrible- you have to look at the screen for a period of time. I like my setup but I can’t imagine a setup where it’s completely touchscreen and doesn’t have knobs / buttons for volume, temp control, and a few other functions.
watching this from my Tesla touchscreen
Nice
Here in Norway if you use your mobile phone or the touchscreen in your car and police see it you get a 1100$ US fine... So to legally change any settings now in a modern car you have to stop your car and park it.
Thank you, honestly 🙏 On several channels I've already pointed out in the comments your same opinion about the absurdity of being fined for glancing at your phone, but not for sweeping the built-in tablet for all kinds of day-to-day functions. It just doesn't make sense!! They should make a range of knob/button controlled function mandatory again.
"automakers are not tech companies" ... really? Really? Cars have never stopped being technology!
In a Tesla (and other cars) everything you used to do with a button or knob is now automatic, climate control, heated seat, lights, wipers etc is all automatic and tied to your user profile. So now you interact with the car less than you would in an older vehicle.
Hanging onto my 87 Mercedes and 97 Lincoln for dear life. Super reliable and easy to use!
I have an aftermarket Pioneer radio with CarPlay. I really like it, it using the maps, and YouTue Music is such a challenge. I end up using my voice to navigate around whenever possible. I think too much is on the touch screen now days. I have an ‘04 GMC Envoy. Voice is really the best entry method in the end.