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Mazda has been actively removing touch screens in new models. The screens are still there, but the touch part is replaced with physical controls for cabin featu

Mazda has been actively removing touch screens in new models. The screens are still there, but the touch part is replaced with physical controls for cabin features/radio and a puck controller for other stuff.

pleb_nz 5y ago
A few manufacturers, expensive ones included, are reverting to screens and physical controls. I think there is proof your eyes spend more time off the road when using a touch screen compared to physical controls
- bluefirebrand 5y ago
  This seems obvious, really. When you're using a touchscreen you cannot "see" with your hand the same way you can with physical analog controls. Touchscreens force us to look at them with our eyes to use them.
judge2020 5y ago
Note that backup cameras are now a mandate for US cars: https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/new-backup-camera-rule-cameras-will-be-mandatory-by-2018-223739 https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/new-backup-camera-rule-c...
- randcraw 5y ago
  My 2019 pickup has a backup camera and it's dumb as a post, even though the rest of the truck fairly bristles with sensors. The camera's view appears when I shift into reverse and goes away when I exit reverse. I think nobody who prefers simplicity objects to that kind of tech. It's overcomplicated interfaces to basic services that we despise, like a volume slider that requires you to look away from the road and that's too easy to mishandle.
grahamburger 5y ago
I know HN loves to hate on touchscreens in cars but I don't really get it. Both cars I own and almost every car I've rented in the last few years (that's quite a few) has had a touchscreen. This is pretty much always how it works: 1) The most used functions have physical buttons and knobs, often on both the steering wheel and the center console 2) Touchscreen is used for uncommonly done things, like adding new Bluetooth connections and adjusting radio settings 3) If the vehicle is moving there are limits on touchscreen use (like the touchscreen will refuse to work after X clicks, or disallow some functions, or both.) This seems ... fine.
- p_l 5y ago
  Some vendors and models went a bit beyond that (hell, Tesla is even the poster kid for this - coupled with arrogant use of non-automotive screen in early cars that broke from heat). What GP is talking is return to the design you described, possibly with more focus on car-equivalent of HOTAS and tactile controls.
- perl4ever 5y ago
  >uncommonly done things, like adding new Bluetooth connections and adjusting radio settings Adding new Bluetooth connections is something I do more than one would think, because my car doesn't seem to allow Android Auto via a USB cable alone, and periodically it gets into a bad state somehow. The only solution I've found is to forget the pairing and start over. This has happened to me on multiple cars, two Hondas and a BMW, so I'm not sure whether it's universal or not. If for instance, GM cars didn't have this issue, I'd seriously consider one. Obviously this is a software problem and not a touchscreen issue per se, but I associate it with the touchscreen and the generally poor standards of car tech these days. Adjusting radio settings is something that I do quite a bit if I am going on a trip, because any given FM station fades out in a fairly short time. I could stream music from my phone, but I have a limited plan due to spending most of my time using wifi these days. My car does have a reasonably clever and low mental bandwidth way of using the radio, though. There is a "scan" (touchscreen) button and then it changes through the stations reasonably slowly with a "stop" button in the lower left. I don't understand your third point - it's supposed to be a mitigating factor? It seems like a good reason to "hate on touchscreens" to me, though. Touchscreens and software bloat are not really central to what I dislike about modern car tech. It's the fact that the user experience has converged on personal computers, where things tend to stop working without any meaningful diagnostic or error and I end up spending 15 minutes resetting and disconnecting/reconnecting things to make it work when I really just want to get home before my food gets cold, etc. As long as any given computer system is simple enough that the engineers understood it, it seems fine to me in theory.

pleb_nz 5y ago

A few manufacturers, expensive ones included, are reverting to screens and physical controls. I think there is proof your eyes spend more time off the road when using a touch screen compared to physical controls

bluefirebrand 5y ago
This seems obvious, really. When you're using a touchscreen you cannot "see" with your hand the same way you can with physical analog controls. Touchscreens force us to look at them with our eyes to use them.

judge2020 5y ago

Note that backup cameras are now a mandate for US cars: https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/new-backup-camera-rule-cameras-will-be-mandatory-by-2018-223739 https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/new-backup-camera-rule-c...

randcraw 5y ago
My 2019 pickup has a backup camera and it's dumb as a post, even though the rest of the truck fairly bristles with sensors. The camera's view appears when I shift into reverse and goes away when I exit reverse. I think nobody who prefers simplicity objects to that kind of tech. It's overcomplicated interfaces to basic services that we despise, like a volume slider that requires you to look away from the road and that's too easy to mishandle.

grahamburger 5y ago

I know HN loves to hate on touchscreens in cars but I don't really get it. Both cars I own and almost every car I've rented in the last few years (that's quite a few) has had a touchscreen. This is pretty much always how it works: 1) The most used functions have physical buttons and knobs, often on both the steering wheel and the center console 2) Touchscreen is used for uncommonly done things, like adding new Bluetooth connections and adjusting radio settings 3) If the vehicle is moving there are limits on touchscreen use (like the touchscreen will refuse to work after X clicks, or disallow some functions, or both.) This seems ... fine.

p_l 5y ago
Some vendors and models went a bit beyond that (hell, Tesla is even the poster kid for this - coupled with arrogant use of non-automotive screen in early cars that broke from heat). What GP is talking is return to the design you described, possibly with more focus on car-equivalent of HOTAS and tactile controls.
perl4ever 5y ago
>uncommonly done things, like adding new Bluetooth connections and adjusting radio settings Adding new Bluetooth connections is something I do more than one would think, because my car doesn't seem to allow Android Auto via a USB cable alone, and periodically it gets into a bad state somehow. The only solution I've found is to forget the pairing and start over. This has happened to me on multiple cars, two Hondas and a BMW, so I'm not sure whether it's universal or not. If for instance, GM cars didn't have this issue, I'd seriously consider one. Obviously this is a software problem and not a touchscreen issue per se, but I associate it with the touchscreen and the generally poor standards of car tech these days. Adjusting radio settings is something that I do quite a bit if I am going on a trip, because any given FM station fades out in a fairly short time. I could stream music from my phone, but I have a limited plan due to spending most of my time using wifi these days. My car does have a reasonably clever and low mental bandwidth way of using the radio, though. There is a "scan" (touchscreen) button and then it changes through the stations reasonably slowly with a "stop" button in the lower left. I don't understand your third point - it's supposed to be a mitigating factor? It seems like a good reason to "hate on touchscreens" to me, though. Touchscreens and software bloat are not really central to what I dislike about modern car tech. It's the fact that the user experience has converged on personal computers, where things tend to stop working without any meaningful diagnostic or error and I end up spending 15 minutes resetting and disconnecting/reconnecting things to make it work when I really just want to get home before my food gets cold, etc. As long as any given computer system is simple enough that the engineers understood it, it seems fine to me in theory.