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Luxury for me means a touchscreen that works, a media/navigation system that doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out, a car that adapts to my preferences at e

Luxury for me means a touchscreen that works, a media/navigation system that doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out, a car that adapts to my preferences at every step of the way, evolves as technology evolves around it and an experience that was deliberately crafted from start to finish. Luxury for me does not mean fancy stitching, special leather, a mechanical clock on the dashboard for no reason, software that doesn't get updated, exquisite wood grain in random places, lots of knobs, shiny trims, "dealership experience", or 4 years of free oil changes. I think you'll see the definition of luxury change as our concept of mobility changes. Traditional markers of luxury won't matter anymore and that will leave incumbents who have traditional luxury as their core competence in a weird place.

foepys 8y ago
I'm not convinced that a single, large touchscreen is actually good UX for a car. Knobs make me feel way safer while driving because they give be instant feedback on my selected setting by either clicking or snapping into position. I don't want to take my eyes of the road to change my AC setting, to enable the rear window heating, or to change the radio channel. Before people now come around to tell me I can have both: there's limited space in a car for that. If you place everything too narrow, you won't gain anything in terms of safety.
- askafriend 8y ago
  I think you have to drive one for a weekend to truly be the judge. Your argument is the kind of argument people made about tactile keyboards when iPhone first came out with a completely software one. On the surface, it was a valid concern - physical keyboards were simply far better input devices than software based ones when considered in isolation. However keyboards are part of a system, and in the system the physical keyboard was a local maxima. For the system to grow past that local maxima, it had to ditch the physical keyboard. Yes there are tradeoffs to make, but it's a different set of tradeoffs - ones that we can adapt around given a better future for the system as a whole. That being said, you really have to live with it for a weekend before being able to judge it in full. I think people are right - purpose built physical buttons and switches will always be superior at some level to software buttons, especially when driving. However, it's worth considering if there is the promise of a better future for the whole system by going down the 100% software route. Maybe it's a bit ahead of its time, but consider a semi-autonomous future where drivers mostly only assist driving and spend 90% of their time free to do other things (1). In the mean time Tesla gets better at delivering software updates to hundreds of thousands of cars in the wild, improving their software processes as a competitive advantage. Other car companies simply aren't doing this. In the future, every car company will need to do this and learn to get good at doing it. (1) If you've tried Autopilot, you know it's good enough that engaging with the touch screen for extended periods is no problem at all.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > I'm not convinced that a single, large touchscreen is actually good UX for a car. For a car with a human driver, it's both a bound input service and bad for key driving displays. For a fully automated car with a human “commander”, it's not a bad idea, but then the centerline mount is probably not ideal.
tzahola 8y ago
This. Traditional “luxury” cars are like those Nokia phones they made with gold plates and swarowski “crystals”. Nothing but gimmicks, and a laughable feature set compared to an iPhone.
- samstave 8y ago
  Heh, yeah the Virtu phones were a joke. ~$20,000 for a platinum encased Nokia.
- Fins 8y ago
  Except that the Tesla's huge touchscreen is about as usable as the Vertu phone. And unlike Vertu, Tesla has no precious materials in it. Tesla has the innards of an old Hyundai. I can understand when you laud Tesla for being emissions-free, or for high torque, or for figuring out how to cool Panasonic's battery packs properly. But pretending that it is a luxury car is just silly.
- flycaliguy 8y ago
  There are some gimmick luxury cars out there but for car people, there are some damn fine experiences out there. An entire range of expensive UX from the rugged to the sleek. Cars are just different.
openIce 8y ago
The last thing i want in my car is a touchscreen or software updates. I cant understand how someone thinks a big screen is a luxury.
flycaliguy 8y ago
I highly doubt that traditional traits of luxury like interior build quality, fine details, mechanical touches, etc. will ever go away. The Tesla is a great car, but for people with a different taste, there are some really nice alternatives. For people with lots of money, there are far better driving experiences to be had. The geek part of my brain is not the part that lights up when I’m driving.

foepys 8y ago

I'm not convinced that a single, large touchscreen is actually good UX for a car. Knobs make me feel way safer while driving because they give be instant feedback on my selected setting by either clicking or snapping into position. I don't want to take my eyes of the road to change my AC setting, to enable the rear window heating, or to change the radio channel. Before people now come around to tell me I can have both: there's limited space in a car for that. If you place everything too narrow, you won't gain anything in terms of safety.

askafriend 8y ago
I think you have to drive one for a weekend to truly be the judge. Your argument is the kind of argument people made about tactile keyboards when iPhone first came out with a completely software one. On the surface, it was a valid concern - physical keyboards were simply far better input devices than software based ones when considered in isolation. However keyboards are part of a system, and in the system the physical keyboard was a local maxima. For the system to grow past that local maxima, it had to ditch the physical keyboard. Yes there are tradeoffs to make, but it's a different set of tradeoffs - ones that we can adapt around given a better future for the system as a whole. That being said, you really have to live with it for a weekend before being able to judge it in full. I think people are right - purpose built physical buttons and switches will always be superior at some level to software buttons, especially when driving. However, it's worth considering if there is the promise of a better future for the whole system by going down the 100% software route. Maybe it's a bit ahead of its time, but consider a semi-autonomous future where drivers mostly only assist driving and spend 90% of their time free to do other things (1). In the mean time Tesla gets better at delivering software updates to hundreds of thousands of cars in the wild, improving their software processes as a competitive advantage. Other car companies simply aren't doing this. In the future, every car company will need to do this and learn to get good at doing it. (1) If you've tried Autopilot, you know it's good enough that engaging with the touch screen for extended periods is no problem at all.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> I'm not convinced that a single, large touchscreen is actually good UX for a car. For a car with a human driver, it's both a bound input service and bad for key driving displays. For a fully automated car with a human “commander”, it's not a bad idea, but then the centerline mount is probably not ideal.

tzahola 8y ago

This. Traditional “luxury” cars are like those Nokia phones they made with gold plates and swarowski “crystals”. Nothing but gimmicks, and a laughable feature set compared to an iPhone.

samstave 8y ago
Heh, yeah the Virtu phones were a joke. ~$20,000 for a platinum encased Nokia.
Fins 8y ago
Except that the Tesla's huge touchscreen is about as usable as the Vertu phone. And unlike Vertu, Tesla has no precious materials in it. Tesla has the innards of an old Hyundai. I can understand when you laud Tesla for being emissions-free, or for high torque, or for figuring out how to cool Panasonic's battery packs properly. But pretending that it is a luxury car is just silly.
flycaliguy 8y ago
There are some gimmick luxury cars out there but for car people, there are some damn fine experiences out there. An entire range of expensive UX from the rugged to the sleek. Cars are just different.

openIce 8y ago

The last thing i want in my car is a touchscreen or software updates. I cant understand how someone thinks a big screen is a luxury.

flycaliguy 8y ago

I highly doubt that traditional traits of luxury like interior build quality, fine details, mechanical touches, etc. will ever go away. The Tesla is a great car, but for people with a different taste, there are some really nice alternatives. For people with lots of money, there are far better driving experiences to be had. The geek part of my brain is not the part that lights up when I’m driving.