How about touchscreens in cars

[Zenith]

Its personal opinion. That's pretty much it.

So basically you have nothing to support your "personal opinion."

What if we accept touchscreens as a standard? What would you suggest to improve the interface?
Let's suppose that all of the features of the car have to be controlled by a touch screen (like the Tesla - no buttons)

Great!

 

[Johnny1996]

So basically you have nothing to support your "personal opinion."

Yeah well its not like I'm saying a Honda Civic is twice as fast as a Veyron.

 

[ildd]

Re: being ugly

I, for the most part, agree that touchscreens in a car are usually ugly. Especially when it's aftermarket. The only time it looks "good" to me is when the interior is, more or less, designed around the screen.
But a lot (as in, way more than most) don't buy a touchscreen for looks. They buy it for features.

Plus, you can let passengers watch movies! Yay!

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

Or be killed in a crash while watching Seinfeld while driving... That happened here.


They're distractions.

 

[Doog]

They're distractions.

Only if you have poor judgement.

 

[ildd]

I said passengers. Not drivers. You're kind of retarded if you watch a DVD while driving.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

I said passengers. Not drivers. You're kind of retarded if you watch a DVD while driving.

Still, a few wiring tweaks and retarded guy can do that. Dangerous, stupid idea is dangerous, stupid idea.

 

[Bopop4]

Still, a few wiring tweaks and retarded guy can do that. Dangerous, stupid idea is dangerous, stupid idea.

Then don't do it...

Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

I don't need heated seats (which are, as Top Gear notes, completely disgusting feeling,) and I live just outside of the Arctic Circle.

You live closer to the sub-tropic (Cancer) zone than you do the Arctic Circle. Obviously Geography wasn't a pre-req for that year at college.

I don't need an infotainment system to keep me entertained when driving my simplistic, fun-to-drive car is all of the entertainment I need. I've got music, a nice exhaust note, decent power, and wonderful handling.

That's great that you're satisfied. I think we'll both agree you're hardly the average.

I still find touch screens and all that they entail entirely useless, and no one in this thread has proven anything to me otherwise. The only touch screen I like is the GT-R's touch screen

You mean the one that's noted for its gimmicky nature? Designed by PD, no less? I wonder why that is...

and maybe that BMW/Audi/VW system which allows tuning of suspension.

...that'd actually be a good number of companies now, not just BMW (or the much different VAG offerings).

For your average crapbox Ford, the only reason why you need the infotainment is because you're in a dull, front-wheel-drive car with no driving characteristics.

Oh for 🤬 sake, you drive a 4AT, nose-heavy AWD that, thanks to said drivetrain, is putting considerably less power to the ground than a new Focus. It's no more a sports (or even "sporty") car than the cars you look down on.

I find it telling that even "sports cars" have them, implying that people would ever get bored of driving a proper sports car. Who?

Yet you just commented on liking them in BMW's.

You're sounding more and more like W&N with each post.

My phone has voice-directions. The screen is useless. The phone has google navigation, and every sound the phone makes goes through car stereo via Bluetooth. The screen is useless. All it tells you is what the ground looks like, and what the roads are shaped like. Woo?

If your phone can relay alternate routes to you as fast as a glance at a map can - and I've dealt with Google maps plenty the past year for driving purposes - then cool. I've had an easier time simply looking and figuring out which way to go before she can finish telling me she's re-calculating.

I mean, I'm a mechanic - I drive - and reverse - cars all day long.

Well hot damn, I wonder how many more times I need to reverse before I gain the amazing skill of being able to see through solid objects.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

Get off your lazy bottom, go around and look. It's not hard. So much easier than spending a few hundred dollars on a back-up camera.

 

[Exorcet]

What if we accept touchscreens as a standard? What would you suggest to improve the interface?
Let's suppose that all of the features of the car have to be controlled by a touch screen (like the Tesla - no buttons)

In that case I'd add buttons. Steering wheel mounted being a good idea (can't remember if Tesla has these, so I'm going off the "no buttons" comment). Steering wheel mounted probably being a good idea, borrowing the HOTAS concept from aircraft. All the controls you need to use are already instantly in reach just by driving the car. For me this would be radio, A/C, Navigation, Lights, Instrument Display options. You could use the touchscreen for other stuff (internet browsing, additional options you can't fit into the steering wheel button set, etc). I'd also duplicate most of the steering wheel mounted controls on the touchscreen firstly for options sake and secondly to allow passenger control if needed.

Get off your lazy bottom, go around and look. It's not hard. So much easier than spending a few hundred dollars on a back-up camera.

Rotate your head 180 degrees faster than you can glance over to a screen.

 

[Doog]

Get off your lazy bottom, go around and look. It's not hard. So much easier than spending a few hundred dollars on a back-up camera.

That doesn't necessarily work in a parking lot, where the traffic and pedestrian conditions can vary in the time it took you to walk back to your car and shift into reverse.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Get off your lazy bottom, go around and look. It's not hard. So much easier than spending a few hundred dollars on a back-up camera.

Unless you're telling me you do that every time you shift into reverse (and judging by the "neck" comment, you think simply looking from the seat always works), like @Doog already said, there are situations where that simply isn't possible. Driving through downtown, where people - whole families, sometimes - J-walk on the regular, I can tell you a back-up camera would be a lot cheaper than mowing down someone's kid.

 

[Furinkazen]

a back-up camera would be a lot cheaper than mowing down someone's kid.

Probably bit better on your insurance too.

 

[ildd]

Sunday night-
*checks before getting in
*pulls up a little
*gets out
*checks again
*reverse a little
*get back out
*reverse a little
*get back out, check front
*pull foward
*make sure not to hit truck tailgate conveniently put down
*leave

Backup camera isn't "a few hundred dollars. " they're $50-$120.

It may not be a problem for you but when you live in a culdesac with 8 little kids who are always outside and leave their **** all over the place, not to mention they are still oblivious to big moving blocks of metal, the rear view camera is a good idea.

Then there are the dumbasses who park the opposite way as you, slightly boxing you in at night...

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Yeah well its not like I'm saying a Honda Civic is twice as fast as a Veyron.

No because that would just be stupid and prove you're a kid with no sense. But you're not a kid with no sense so you know that you can at least support what you're saying even if "opinion". This isn't about if you like a purple car or blue car. How are touchscreens so abysmal you'd basically take your future self out of the market to buy one?

 

[Johnny1996]

No because that was just be stupid and prove your a kid with no sense. But your not a kid with no sense so you know that you can at least support what you're saying even if "opinion". This isn't about if you like a purple car or blue car. How are touchscreens so abysmal you'd basically take your future self out of the market to buy one?

I really don't understand what the hell your problem is, but I'll let my ignore list take care of it. Have a good day, thank you very much.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I really don't understand what the hell your problem is, but I'll let my ignore list take care of it. Have a good day, thank you very much.

Okay that's fine, considering my second line put you in a higher regard than you think but if you want to lack reading comprehension...

Unless you're telling me you do that every time you shift into reverse (and judging by the "neck" comment, you think simply looking from the seat always works), like @Doog already said, there are situations where that simply isn't possible. Driving through downtown, where people - whole families, sometimes - J-walk on the regular, I can tell you a back-up camera would be a lot cheaper than mowing down someone's kid.

Not to discount the fact that they'll be mandatory on all new vehicles here in the States soon.

 

[Joey D]

Or be killed in a crash while watching Seinfeld while driving... That happened here.

They're distractions.

You can't watch videos on a touchscreen while the car isn't in park, and even then most won't play videos at all. However, you can easily watch videos while driving down the road on your phone.

But anyway, I have a touchscreen in my Focus. It never caused and issue for me and it hasn't caused an issue for my wife either, I don't even notice it most of the time to be honest. Just turn down the brightness on the screen or use your steering wheel controls to change the music.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

Because poorly typed insults full of typos isn't a valid grounds for ignore list.

LMS, I have to ask, does anyone ever tell you that you come across overly aggressive? Like, I have to deal with Azuremen, and even he's not as aggressive as you...

 

[ildd]

1. You can't watch videos on a touchscreen while the car isn't in park, and even then most won't play videos at all. However, you can easily watch videos while driving down the road on your phone.

2. But anyway, I have a touchscreen in my Focus. It never caused and issue for me and it hasn't caused an issue for my wife either, I don't even notice it most of the time to be honest. Just turn down the brightness on the screen or use your steering wheel controls to change the music.

1. Yes, you actually can with a parking brake bypass.
2. Can confirm second part is true.

 

[Joey D]

1. Yes, you actually can with a parking brake bypass.

Will the average person know how to do this though? Probably not. And I assume this is only for aftermarket systems too since factory systems are more wired into the car.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

That's what I'm talking about. I've seen that parking bypass thing before. Some minivan cut me off near SlipZ's area, so I looked in and saw a person paying no attention to anything except Simpson's.


On news, I saw a thing about someone watching Seinfeld.


Stupid. Don't do it.

 

[ildd]

Will the average person know how to do this though? Probably not. And I assume this is only for aftermarket systems too since factory systems are more wired into the car.

The average person would probably pay $100 for someone to do it when they find out it's possible. You can do it with a factory radio, it's the same process. Cut 2/3 wires, attach them to the bypass, done.

 

[niky]

I think knobs and buttons are fine. There can be too many of them, but a touchscreen is still uglier.

Anything can be bad if there's too much of it. Note the MINI's gargantuan speedometer...

Touchscreens will get better. We already have touch-surfaces (which are not completely flat) and, there's also the possibility of non-rectangular screens. Carmakers already use such for digital instrument gauges... that can be done with center screens, as well.

It's early days for touch-panels in cars. They will only get better.

Do recall, when 1DIN and 2DIN stereos came about, those standardized rectangular boxes looked like garbage on most cars as opposed to the integrated stereos that came before They still do. Only we're used to them at this point, so don't think about it. It's only in recent years that manufacturers have finally gotten around to making integrated stereos that fit in that area that look decent, though swapping out to a better system requires you to buy some extra plastic bits to retrofit an off-the-shelf unit.

Get off your lazy bottom, go around and look. It's not hard. So much easier than spending a few hundred dollars on a back-up camera.

Next time I'm backing up into a tight space on a busy street in a tropical rainstorm, I'll be sure to try that one.

Having parked nearly twenty foot long trucks in the dark and the rain without backup sensors or cameras or having to get my lazy bottom out of my chair (I'd rather ding a steel push bar than get leather seats sopping wet), I have no trouble doing that. But also, having done that for nearly twenty years, I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

Let's suppose that all of the features of the car have to be controlled by a touch screen (like the Tesla - no buttons)

No. Not yet. There are still a lot of issues, such as response speed, haptic feedback and the difficulty of running everything through a single system. Ford's MyFordTouch is a sobering reminder of how bad it can get. Blackberry's QNX, with its independent kernels, shows that it can be better... but having steering wheel keypads are still a necessity, so the driver can focus on the road.

 

[Joey D]

That's what I'm talking about. I've seen that parking bypass thing before. Some minivan cut me off near SlipZ's area, so I looked in and saw a person paying no attention to anything except Simpson's.

You know you could still watch The Simpsons on a phone, laptop, portable DVD player, iPod, or any other media device so it's not really a knock against a touchscreen since it's vastly more difficult to do the process to bypass their safety features.

The average person would probably pay $100 for someone to do it when they find out it's possible. You can do it with a factory radio, it's the same process. Cut 2/3 wires, attach them to the bypass, done.

I still don't think the average person would bother when they could just use their smartphone with a windshield mount. I also really doubt the average would know who ever to ask about it since most shops probably wouldn't due to liability.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Because poorly typed insults full of typos isn't a valid grounds for ignore list.

LMS, I have to ask, does anyone ever tell you that you come across overly aggressive? Like, I have to deal with Azuremen, and even he's not as aggressive as you...

Well I'm suppose to be the most aggressive here hasn't anyone told you I'm out for Famine's robotic head? Also what insults, he said "at least I didn't say a civic is twice as fast as a veyron" and I simply said no because if you believed that you'd be stupid but since I know he isn't stupid I hold him (and obviously @Zenith) to a higher regard than..."it's just my opinion".

Though I could see how you only seeing insults and not a bigger meaning could be troubling for you considering at this point you think the entire board is against you. Also should I point out your typos since that is the low level you want to go to due to having nothing else?

 

[Tornado]

Get off your lazy bottom, go around and look. It's not hard. So much easier than spending a few hundred dollars on a back-up camera.

Man, I wonder why they even put mirrors on cars then.

 

[ildd]

Man, I wonder why they even put mirrors on cars then.

I guess technically it would be an idea* to create a mirror system instead of a camera
*does not dictate a good or bad idea

 

[Zenith]

The back-up camera is just more of what we discussing earlier.

Why would I do it worse when I can do it better?

Backup cameras are not expensive, especially for manufacturers, they don't weigh anything, and they work just like a mirror. Why wouldn't I want one?

There will always be people who insist on doing things the worse way. They rarely end up as chief engineers on successful race teams.