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It was never a cargo cult of being good... it was a cost cutting play that they correctly thought they could shove down consumers throats. Glad to see Honda act

It was never a cargo cult of being good... it was a cost cutting play that they correctly thought they could shove down consumers throats. Glad to see Honda acting on behalf of the driver again.

pdimitar 7y ago
Not looking to start a fight but was a touchscreen really the cheaper option? I would be strongly surprised if that was the case.
- Steltek 7y ago
  How could it not be cheaper? No molds (or just one bezel mold), far less industrial design, fewer individual wires. Not to mention the QA requirements for testing buttons vs a virtual screen.
  - pdimitar 7y ago
    I admit I am completely oblivious to those details. Quite interesting. I'd think 5-6 rolling dials and 3-4 buttons in total are still cheaper than a 8" touchscreen but apparently I was wrong.
    - kevingadd 7y ago
      They're probably cheaper at the small scale - big panel big price - but at the large scale might not be so cheap: Now you have a point of failure for each of those dials/buttons, the housing is more complex/expensive, you need to make replacement parts for all of those buttons, etc. More training for repair technicians, more parts they have to keep in stock. Possibly more damaged phones because each button is a weak point in the phone's housing. Screen costs trended down pretty aggressively over time so over the course of a couple years it probably ended up being cost-effective even if it wasn't at day 1. If you're already throwing a relatively sizable high-quality panel into your phone making it a bit bigger may not be as much of a bump up in price.
      - pdimitar 7y ago
        Economies at scale. I didn't think of that. Thank you, this was eye-opening.
  - s1artibartfast 7y ago
    Molds and parts are cheap at volume and I would be surprised if the costs were above a few buck in total, including setup. That said, a huge factor is assembly, maintaince, and repair.
- freepor 7y ago
  Touchscreens are massively massively cheaper. Especially for products with warranties like cars. Thing fucks up, just swap out the entire brain+display unit.

It was never a cargo cult of being good... it was a cost cutting play that they correctly thought they could shove down consumers throats. Glad to see Honda acting on behalf of the driver again.

pdimitar 7y ago

Not looking to start a fight but was a touchscreen really the cheaper option? I would be strongly surprised if that was the case.

Steltek 7y ago
How could it not be cheaper? No molds (or just one bezel mold), far less industrial design, fewer individual wires. Not to mention the QA requirements for testing buttons vs a virtual screen.
- pdimitar 7y ago
  I admit I am completely oblivious to those details. Quite interesting. I'd think 5-6 rolling dials and 3-4 buttons in total are still cheaper than a 8" touchscreen but apparently I was wrong.
  - kevingadd 7y ago
    They're probably cheaper at the small scale - big panel big price - but at the large scale might not be so cheap: Now you have a point of failure for each of those dials/buttons, the housing is more complex/expensive, you need to make replacement parts for all of those buttons, etc. More training for repair technicians, more parts they have to keep in stock. Possibly more damaged phones because each button is a weak point in the phone's housing. Screen costs trended down pretty aggressively over time so over the course of a couple years it probably ended up being cost-effective even if it wasn't at day 1. If you're already throwing a relatively sizable high-quality panel into your phone making it a bit bigger may not be as much of a bump up in price.
    - pdimitar 7y ago
      Economies at scale. I didn't think of that. Thank you, this was eye-opening.
- s1artibartfast 7y ago
  Molds and parts are cheap at volume and I would be surprised if the costs were above a few buck in total, including setup. That said, a huge factor is assembly, maintaince, and repair.
freepor 7y ago
Touchscreens are massively massively cheaper. Especially for products with warranties like cars. Thing fucks up, just swap out the entire brain+display unit.