8 ms·

Seriously. Without a dedicated on/off/volume knob for the soundsystem, the driving experience is diminished drastically, no matter how nice the car. And of cou

Seriously. Without a dedicated on/off/volume knob for the soundsystem, the driving experience is diminished drastically, no matter how nice the car. And of course touch is way better than eyesight when you are supposed to be paying attention to the road. As someone else said, rough motor skills are safer and more appropriate in a car then controls needing fine motor skills.

reaperducer 5y ago
touch is way better than eyesight when you are supposed to be paying attention to the road. Especially if you're one of the millions and millions of people who use different glasses for driving than you do for walking around.
NikolaNovak 5y ago
I know this makes me a clueless annoying boring techie nerd :), but I still cannot properly fathom how this is a minority opinion. NOBODY in my non-techie group of friends or family cares. Not.even.remotely. I watch them struggle with their touch screens, I even listen to them rant, but when asked about it afterwards, it's fine. Just fine. Sexy. Sleek. Desirable. Why do I have to go and ruin everything? Honestly, even HVAC - I watch my family with "Auto HVAC" constantly fiddle with it, as they scroll to some meaningless numbers - 18C, 21C, 24C, back to 20C, etc all in the same drive. Whereas my ancient Subaru knob stays in the same position through the drive, without needing to ever look at it. If it's on the right, hot air will blow; if it's on the left, cold air will blow. Whereas with Auto, you literally never know what you're going to get. It's not on conscious level - everybody thinks their Auto A/C it's awesome. Until you watch their actual sub-conscious behaviour on a drive.
- Aloha 5y ago
  I've had good automatic AC in a car, where it gets what I want most of the time. Most of the rentals I've driven get it too, but they work differently than what you have at home, insomuch as they control fan speed and temp, they should haves unload temp sensor too. Incidentally, I adjust my manual AC about as often as I do my automatic one.
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  I agree with this, I've seen it repeatedly. There has got to be a term for people who aren't aware of how they are suffering yet still say everything is fine. The only term I can come up with is "complicit in their own oppression." :)
  - bluefirebrand 5y ago
    It's akin to people with low emotional intelligence, who aren't aware of their behaviour or moods and who spend no time at all reflecting on themselves. I wonder if it's related
  - dole 5y ago
    UX Stockholm Syndrome.
- stemlord 5y ago
  I feel like people don't care because they expect the experts in that domain to care for them... that's us, probably.
- fishtacos 5y ago
  The problem you're describing (Auto AC) isn't that automatic ac doesn't work, but that it's working within a small, very confined space and those differences in temperature are felt immediately. From a personal perspective, I'd rather set it and forget it. It's why when I rarely use the car AC, one button is all it takes and it adjusts to something between 70 and 73, which is about the same it would be at home. When it's cold, you know the heater will be turning on automatically and I don't have to worry about waiting for the car to warm up for heat to work - the auto AC knows when it's hot enough and blasts it full strength at the right time, instead of me having to fiddle with manual controls to get the right timing, for example. Ditto for hot weather - blasts cool air with the push of a button. The beauty is that you can have both, and knobs and auto AC aren't mutually exclusive, although that's gonna be up to the manufacturer and their market research.
  - wildrhythms 5y ago
    You don't find it annoying having to override the 'intelligent' system? With manual control, I can immediately start or stop hot and cold air; with a climate system, I can merely propose some higher or lower temperature, and the system may or may not do what I want it to do. I temporarily drove a Buick that had such a system, and found myself constantly having to override what the 'intelligent' system thought I wanted. I prefer manual control. If the vehicle is too cool, I can immediately halt the blower without having to change the desired temperature with the assumption that the 'intelligent' system will halt the blower for me. I've come to the realization that many things are just better not being made 'intelligent', especially when it comes to cars.
    - koolba 5y ago
      Automated climate control always reminds me of that Bane quote from Dark Knight, “Do you feel like you are in control?” The instant gratification of slamming an analog heater to full blast and knowing that hot air will immediately flow from the vents cannot be beat. It’s not efficient, it’s not optimized, it’s not regulated to a steady state, but it what I want. And I’m the user.
- WastingMyTime89 5y ago
  > Whereas with Auto, you literally never know what you're going to get. It's not on conscious level - everybody thinks their Auto A/C it's awesome. Until you watch their actual sub-conscious behaviour on a drive. Honest question: do you really see people touch the level of their ac during a drive? Auto is actual temperature control. The system tries to stay at the set temperature. It’s a lot more comfortable that having cold air blasted in your face like we used to. I have never witnessed anyone changing it while driving, only flow control.
  - NikolaNovak 5y ago
    >>Honest question: do you really see people touch the level of their ac during a drive? Honest answer, not fudged for sake of making a point - Yes. Absolutely. I don't know if hyper-expensive luxury vehicles do better, but I can vouch that my wife has been frequently changing in our 2012 Kia Sportage, 2016 RAV4, and now 2019 Honda Odyssey. I've observed others do so frequently in Toyota Corolla, Honda Civiv, Subaru Crosstrek, VW Golf & Jetta. Like Kerning or Norman doors, or a low battery in screenshot, once you notice it you can't help notice it ever forth. So those are my observed facts - people fiddle with their auto A/C a lot. Why? I have my theories, but that is something I'm less confident about and none of them may be correct or sufficient (I've tried asking people, but as mentioned, most have no idea they're actually doing it and it doesn't seem to be on conscious level; which is reasonable - my own adjustment has always been "automatic" until I started paying conscious attention): - Perhaps it's just psychological. If I'm feeling cold, I don't trust the system and I turn it up. If I'm feeling warm, I want it colder faster. If it's -10C outside, I'll turn it up to 24C even though it may not get me warmer than if I just left it at 21C. Then it gets 24C and I'm hot. This may be just a case of humans using good system badly. - I think however, is that system ignores some of the reality. The AIR temperature may be a steady 21C. But if the air is 21C in cabin on a dark cold night when it's -10C outside when the very windshield seems to suck the warmth out of my body, I probably actually want it warmer. If it's 21C air but noon July sun is blazing on me, I probably actually want ambient temperature colder. If I start a July trip heading south and Sun is blasting on me, I need A/C cooler; then I turn North-West and sun is behind me, and all this A/C is now chilling me too much. I think it's an error to think ambient temperature is all that our body cares to be comfortable - I think what we're wearing, how we're feeling, what the radiative environment is, etc, are all factors. - Finally, it's that unpredictability and chasing. Heavily influenced by above, sometimes you're just comfortable, but A/C changes what it's doing because what it measures and what your lived reality is don't match, so you end up chasing each other. Maybe 2021 Mercedes S class etc don't have that problem; maybe people have changed it and you never noticed, or maybe they genuinely haven't because your systems are better or people are using it smarter or they just care less or whatever other reason; but I have personally seen very few people set Automatic HVAC to a specific temperature and never touch it again. My 100 Croatian Lipa :)
- blunte 5y ago
  It's because the layperson isn't constantly observing systems and thinking about how effective or efficient they are. Their minds just don't seem to work like that. (Perhaps there's some area of expertise they have which applies outside the realm of technology...) While fumbling with some poorly designed UI, they don't appear to get as angry and exclaim, "This user interface sucks! My previous car had a button to turn the A/C on and off." They just accept it. I could get philosophical (thanks for asking!), and I think that's a general problem with humanity. Too many are too accepting of just whatever comes along, and that's how we converge on terrible designs and terrible public policies and on and on.
  - w-ll 5y ago
    This is why phones don't fit in peoples hands anymore. -Sent from my Iphone SE
    - LegitShady 5y ago
      thats a tradeoff rather than an error. Making the phone bigger makes it fit differently but is an overall user experience preferred by many.
      - throwawayboise 5y ago
        It's a terrible tradeoff. Every time I need a new phone I search for the smallest one I can find, and it's always bigger than my last phone.
        have_faith 5y ago
        Except if you have bad eyesight, enjoy gaming, long form reading, watching video while traveling, etc.
        IsometricRain 5y ago
        If you want to spend any significant length of time long form reading, even a 5+ year old E ink e-reader would be better than the biggest and newest phone.
- ineedasername 5y ago
  I recently bought a new car. The old one had HVAC as you described. I don't use the new one any differently though. When it's really cold, I turn the heat all the way up until I'm comfortable. Then I turn it down and keep it there. This is exactly what I did in my old car too. In the new one I just don't use the "auto" feature, and haven't even tried because my established behavior still applies. Then only difference is that in the old car I knew that when it was really cold and I reached a comfortable level, I turned the knob to about two notches left of center, in the red area. In every older car I ever had it was slightly different and I learned quickly where my preference was. That's just like the new car where, once my comfort level is reached, I set things back down to 74F and leave it there. Do some cars not allow users to disable auto? Mine has a dedicated button to enabling/disabling it. Otherwise, I agree that red/blue seemed to be a little clearer, but it only took me a few days of cold weather to find the sweet spot, same as any car I've ever driven HVAC aside, I agree on other issues. Touch screen audio controls are awful and much more distracting to adjust while driving. I have to be very care to pick my moment. I think if I was so inclined, I could set things up so that I could argue with Google Assistant to do some of this stuff. That frustration is offset a bit by the fact that-- and this will amaze you-- a button will roll my windows up or down. Not some crank I have to turn. And another button on the "key" will unlock the door from like 30 feet away! But I have problems leaving my keys in the car because I no longer have to actually hold, turn, and remove a physical key to get out of my car. Trade offs! Hopefully UX design will gently nudge use back to a better middle ground.
  - wrycoder 5y ago
    Absolutely. And I can set a knob without looking directly at it. I don’t have to punch a button 42 times or have an autoincrement function overshoot. Once I’m near the correct temp, I just move the knob one click at a time. For the seat heater, I reach down between the seats, feel for the switch, and push it. Never take my eyes off the road. I don’t want to be doing these things with touch screens, especially at night. Most of them are too bright anyway, they ruin night vision.
    - LorenPechtel 5y ago
- vel0city 5y ago
  I've had such a different experience in my vehicles. Even my 2000 Honda Accord had thermostatic controls that were usually excellent at keeping me comfortable. These days with remote start from an app and scheduling trips it can be 100F outside but by the time I'm getting in the car is a nice 73F inside. I'm not constantly fiddling with my home's thermostat, why would I be doing the same with my car's? I'm sorry all your cars have had such terrible AC systems.
  - NikolaNovak 5y ago
    >>I'm not constantly fiddling with my home's thermostat, why would I be doing the same with my car's? I assume because at home I'm generally in constant shade and not as exposed to radiative elements. Whereas in the car, air temperature is only one factor. Outside sun, temperature of surfaces etc are additional significant factors
- katzgrau 5y ago
  On that note, my wife either sets to the absolute minimum (60F) or max (80F) and alternates between the two extremes as she inevitably becomes too hot or too cold with one of those settings. I've tried my best to help her understand the insanity of it, but no luck yet. I think it's actually a throwback to the days when there was just red and blue to indicate gradually larger amounts of hot or cold.
  - porknubbins 5y ago
    The alternating all the way is a little insane but I can kind of understand because the old UI of heat or AC level knob is more intuitive . When I first get in a 40F car I don’t want to set it to 72 or whatever I just want max heat I can get as soon a possible while knowing my 72 is meaningless until the engine warms up. I don’t trust my car to use max heat until exactly 72 so I set it all the way to 80 then back off.
    - jonny_eh 5y ago
      > I don’t trust my car to use max heat until exactly 72 so I set it all the way to 80 then back off. I've done the same in rentals but have always wondered if that helps. Shouldn't the car try to get the heat to 72 as fast as possible?
      - CorrectHorseBat 5y ago
        Yes, but it's actually not that simple. If it blasts too hard there's the chance it will have to start cooling. I suspect cars use linear control for heating and cooling, it's easy to implement and well understood. In that case it will not use max heat until it reaches the target and turning it to max could get you there faster. It's actually really not a simple problem, look into control theory of you're interested.
    - midasuni 5y ago
      Doesn’t it work like your home thermostat for the 80s - heat is on until temperature sensor equals 73, then heat is off until temperature sensor less than 71
- cmroanirgo 5y ago
  I honestly thought, in the early days of the Smart Phone era, that some clever person would come up a way to have tactile buttons appear on the screen (& change with the changing UI). Whether it be a solution where the surface physically deformed or whether it be some sensory feedback due to electrical on our fingertips. Remember when you could answer your phone as you picked it up? Remember T9 input where you didn't need to look at the screen to type? Imagine a tactile solution on your onscreen keyboard but still being able to swipe... Imagine feeling where the 'answer' button was while you were picking it up and just clicking on it... :sigh: (Ironically, I was looking at the Nokia Classic series phones just last night)
- marcosdumay 5y ago
  > I watch them struggle with their touch screens, I even listen to them rant, but when asked about it afterwards, it's fine. Reminds me of Windows users.
- johnwalkr 5y ago
  Auto HVAC works perfectly well in most homes, and nobody wants to control temperature by directly turning on and off a furnace. That being said, auto control is not such a great convenience that many people upgrade old-school radiators to have thermostats. But unlike a home, when a car is constantly changing direction, and speed, and sun is in your face or out of your face at times, perhaps you have heated seats that you've turned on, control based on a single temperature will always have difficulty making you feel comfortable. Better to control things directly.
charcircuit 5y ago
I like how YouTube Vanced / Newpipe does it where you just swipe up or down on the right side of the screen.
Railsify 5y ago
agreed, recently traded a cadillac with 100% capacitive buttons for a lexus with buttons and knobs.

reaperducer 5y ago

touch is way better than eyesight when you are supposed to be paying attention to the road. Especially if you're one of the millions and millions of people who use different glasses for driving than you do for walking around.

NikolaNovak 5y ago

I know this makes me a clueless annoying boring techie nerd :), but I still cannot properly fathom how this is a minority opinion. NOBODY in my non-techie group of friends or family cares. Not.even.remotely. I watch them struggle with their touch screens, I even listen to them rant, but when asked about it afterwards, it's fine. Just fine. Sexy. Sleek. Desirable. Why do I have to go and ruin everything? Honestly, even HVAC - I watch my family with "Auto HVAC" constantly fiddle with it, as they scroll to some meaningless numbers - 18C, 21C, 24C, back to 20C, etc all in the same drive. Whereas my ancient Subaru knob stays in the same position through the drive, without needing to ever look at it. If it's on the right, hot air will blow; if it's on the left, cold air will blow. Whereas with Auto, you literally never know what you're going to get. It's not on conscious level - everybody thinks their Auto A/C it's awesome. Until you watch their actual sub-conscious behaviour on a drive.

Aloha 5y ago
I've had good automatic AC in a car, where it gets what I want most of the time. Most of the rentals I've driven get it too, but they work differently than what you have at home, insomuch as they control fan speed and temp, they should haves unload temp sensor too. Incidentally, I adjust my manual AC about as often as I do my automatic one.
SavantIdiot 5y ago
I agree with this, I've seen it repeatedly. There has got to be a term for people who aren't aware of how they are suffering yet still say everything is fine. The only term I can come up with is "complicit in their own oppression." :)
- bluefirebrand 5y ago
  It's akin to people with low emotional intelligence, who aren't aware of their behaviour or moods and who spend no time at all reflecting on themselves. I wonder if it's related
- dole 5y ago
  UX Stockholm Syndrome.
stemlord 5y ago
I feel like people don't care because they expect the experts in that domain to care for them... that's us, probably.
fishtacos 5y ago
The problem you're describing (Auto AC) isn't that automatic ac doesn't work, but that it's working within a small, very confined space and those differences in temperature are felt immediately. From a personal perspective, I'd rather set it and forget it. It's why when I rarely use the car AC, one button is all it takes and it adjusts to something between 70 and 73, which is about the same it would be at home. When it's cold, you know the heater will be turning on automatically and I don't have to worry about waiting for the car to warm up for heat to work - the auto AC knows when it's hot enough and blasts it full strength at the right time, instead of me having to fiddle with manual controls to get the right timing, for example. Ditto for hot weather - blasts cool air with the push of a button. The beauty is that you can have both, and knobs and auto AC aren't mutually exclusive, although that's gonna be up to the manufacturer and their market research.
- wildrhythms 5y ago
  You don't find it annoying having to override the 'intelligent' system? With manual control, I can immediately start or stop hot and cold air; with a climate system, I can merely propose some higher or lower temperature, and the system may or may not do what I want it to do. I temporarily drove a Buick that had such a system, and found myself constantly having to override what the 'intelligent' system thought I wanted. I prefer manual control. If the vehicle is too cool, I can immediately halt the blower without having to change the desired temperature with the assumption that the 'intelligent' system will halt the blower for me. I've come to the realization that many things are just better not being made 'intelligent', especially when it comes to cars.
  - koolba 5y ago
    Automated climate control always reminds me of that Bane quote from Dark Knight, “Do you feel like you are in control?” The instant gratification of slamming an analog heater to full blast and knowing that hot air will immediately flow from the vents cannot be beat. It’s not efficient, it’s not optimized, it’s not regulated to a steady state, but it what I want. And I’m the user.
WastingMyTime89 5y ago
> Whereas with Auto, you literally never know what you're going to get. It's not on conscious level - everybody thinks their Auto A/C it's awesome. Until you watch their actual sub-conscious behaviour on a drive. Honest question: do you really see people touch the level of their ac during a drive? Auto is actual temperature control. The system tries to stay at the set temperature. It’s a lot more comfortable that having cold air blasted in your face like we used to. I have never witnessed anyone changing it while driving, only flow control.
- NikolaNovak 5y ago
  >>Honest question: do you really see people touch the level of their ac during a drive? Honest answer, not fudged for sake of making a point - Yes. Absolutely. I don't know if hyper-expensive luxury vehicles do better, but I can vouch that my wife has been frequently changing in our 2012 Kia Sportage, 2016 RAV4, and now 2019 Honda Odyssey. I've observed others do so frequently in Toyota Corolla, Honda Civiv, Subaru Crosstrek, VW Golf & Jetta. Like Kerning or Norman doors, or a low battery in screenshot, once you notice it you can't help notice it ever forth. So those are my observed facts - people fiddle with their auto A/C a lot. Why? I have my theories, but that is something I'm less confident about and none of them may be correct or sufficient (I've tried asking people, but as mentioned, most have no idea they're actually doing it and it doesn't seem to be on conscious level; which is reasonable - my own adjustment has always been "automatic" until I started paying conscious attention): - Perhaps it's just psychological. If I'm feeling cold, I don't trust the system and I turn it up. If I'm feeling warm, I want it colder faster. If it's -10C outside, I'll turn it up to 24C even though it may not get me warmer than if I just left it at 21C. Then it gets 24C and I'm hot. This may be just a case of humans using good system badly. - I think however, is that system ignores some of the reality. The AIR temperature may be a steady 21C. But if the air is 21C in cabin on a dark cold night when it's -10C outside when the very windshield seems to suck the warmth out of my body, I probably actually want it warmer. If it's 21C air but noon July sun is blazing on me, I probably actually want ambient temperature colder. If I start a July trip heading south and Sun is blasting on me, I need A/C cooler; then I turn North-West and sun is behind me, and all this A/C is now chilling me too much. I think it's an error to think ambient temperature is all that our body cares to be comfortable - I think what we're wearing, how we're feeling, what the radiative environment is, etc, are all factors. - Finally, it's that unpredictability and chasing. Heavily influenced by above, sometimes you're just comfortable, but A/C changes what it's doing because what it measures and what your lived reality is don't match, so you end up chasing each other. Maybe 2021 Mercedes S class etc don't have that problem; maybe people have changed it and you never noticed, or maybe they genuinely haven't because your systems are better or people are using it smarter or they just care less or whatever other reason; but I have personally seen very few people set Automatic HVAC to a specific temperature and never touch it again. My 100 Croatian Lipa :)
blunte 5y ago
It's because the layperson isn't constantly observing systems and thinking about how effective or efficient they are. Their minds just don't seem to work like that. (Perhaps there's some area of expertise they have which applies outside the realm of technology...) While fumbling with some poorly designed UI, they don't appear to get as angry and exclaim, "This user interface sucks! My previous car had a button to turn the A/C on and off." They just accept it. I could get philosophical (thanks for asking!), and I think that's a general problem with humanity. Too many are too accepting of just whatever comes along, and that's how we converge on terrible designs and terrible public policies and on and on.
- w-ll 5y ago
  This is why phones don't fit in peoples hands anymore. -Sent from my Iphone SE
  - LegitShady 5y ago
    thats a tradeoff rather than an error. Making the phone bigger makes it fit differently but is an overall user experience preferred by many.
    - throwawayboise 5y ago
      It's a terrible tradeoff. Every time I need a new phone I search for the smallest one I can find, and it's always bigger than my last phone.
      - have_faith 5y ago
        Except if you have bad eyesight, enjoy gaming, long form reading, watching video while traveling, etc.
        IsometricRain 5y ago
        If you want to spend any significant length of time long form reading, even a 5+ year old E ink e-reader would be better than the biggest and newest phone.
ineedasername 5y ago
I recently bought a new car. The old one had HVAC as you described. I don't use the new one any differently though. When it's really cold, I turn the heat all the way up until I'm comfortable. Then I turn it down and keep it there. This is exactly what I did in my old car too. In the new one I just don't use the "auto" feature, and haven't even tried because my established behavior still applies. Then only difference is that in the old car I knew that when it was really cold and I reached a comfortable level, I turned the knob to about two notches left of center, in the red area. In every older car I ever had it was slightly different and I learned quickly where my preference was. That's just like the new car where, once my comfort level is reached, I set things back down to 74F and leave it there. Do some cars not allow users to disable auto? Mine has a dedicated button to enabling/disabling it. Otherwise, I agree that red/blue seemed to be a little clearer, but it only took me a few days of cold weather to find the sweet spot, same as any car I've ever driven HVAC aside, I agree on other issues. Touch screen audio controls are awful and much more distracting to adjust while driving. I have to be very care to pick my moment. I think if I was so inclined, I could set things up so that I could argue with Google Assistant to do some of this stuff. That frustration is offset a bit by the fact that-- and this will amaze you-- a button will roll my windows up or down. Not some crank I have to turn. And another button on the "key" will unlock the door from like 30 feet away! But I have problems leaving my keys in the car because I no longer have to actually hold, turn, and remove a physical key to get out of my car. Trade offs! Hopefully UX design will gently nudge use back to a better middle ground.
- wrycoder 5y ago
  Absolutely. And I can set a knob without looking directly at it. I don’t have to punch a button 42 times or have an autoincrement function overshoot. Once I’m near the correct temp, I just move the knob one click at a time. For the seat heater, I reach down between the seats, feel for the switch, and push it. Never take my eyes off the road. I don’t want to be doing these things with touch screens, especially at night. Most of them are too bright anyway, they ruin night vision.
  - LorenPechtel 5y ago
vel0city 5y ago
I've had such a different experience in my vehicles. Even my 2000 Honda Accord had thermostatic controls that were usually excellent at keeping me comfortable. These days with remote start from an app and scheduling trips it can be 100F outside but by the time I'm getting in the car is a nice 73F inside. I'm not constantly fiddling with my home's thermostat, why would I be doing the same with my car's? I'm sorry all your cars have had such terrible AC systems.
- NikolaNovak 5y ago
  >>I'm not constantly fiddling with my home's thermostat, why would I be doing the same with my car's? I assume because at home I'm generally in constant shade and not as exposed to radiative elements. Whereas in the car, air temperature is only one factor. Outside sun, temperature of surfaces etc are additional significant factors
katzgrau 5y ago
On that note, my wife either sets to the absolute minimum (60F) or max (80F) and alternates between the two extremes as she inevitably becomes too hot or too cold with one of those settings. I've tried my best to help her understand the insanity of it, but no luck yet. I think it's actually a throwback to the days when there was just red and blue to indicate gradually larger amounts of hot or cold.
- porknubbins 5y ago
  The alternating all the way is a little insane but I can kind of understand because the old UI of heat or AC level knob is more intuitive . When I first get in a 40F car I don’t want to set it to 72 or whatever I just want max heat I can get as soon a possible while knowing my 72 is meaningless until the engine warms up. I don’t trust my car to use max heat until exactly 72 so I set it all the way to 80 then back off.
  - jonny_eh 5y ago
    > I don’t trust my car to use max heat until exactly 72 so I set it all the way to 80 then back off. I've done the same in rentals but have always wondered if that helps. Shouldn't the car try to get the heat to 72 as fast as possible?
    - CorrectHorseBat 5y ago
      Yes, but it's actually not that simple. If it blasts too hard there's the chance it will have to start cooling. I suspect cars use linear control for heating and cooling, it's easy to implement and well understood. In that case it will not use max heat until it reaches the target and turning it to max could get you there faster. It's actually really not a simple problem, look into control theory of you're interested.
  - midasuni 5y ago
    Doesn’t it work like your home thermostat for the 80s - heat is on until temperature sensor equals 73, then heat is off until temperature sensor less than 71
cmroanirgo 5y ago
I honestly thought, in the early days of the Smart Phone era, that some clever person would come up a way to have tactile buttons appear on the screen (& change with the changing UI). Whether it be a solution where the surface physically deformed or whether it be some sensory feedback due to electrical on our fingertips. Remember when you could answer your phone as you picked it up? Remember T9 input where you didn't need to look at the screen to type? Imagine a tactile solution on your onscreen keyboard but still being able to swipe... Imagine feeling where the 'answer' button was while you were picking it up and just clicking on it... :sigh: (Ironically, I was looking at the Nokia Classic series phones just last night)
marcosdumay 5y ago
> I watch them struggle with their touch screens, I even listen to them rant, but when asked about it afterwards, it's fine. Reminds me of Windows users.
johnwalkr 5y ago
Auto HVAC works perfectly well in most homes, and nobody wants to control temperature by directly turning on and off a furnace. That being said, auto control is not such a great convenience that many people upgrade old-school radiators to have thermostats. But unlike a home, when a car is constantly changing direction, and speed, and sun is in your face or out of your face at times, perhaps you have heated seats that you've turned on, control based on a single temperature will always have difficulty making you feel comfortable. Better to control things directly.

charcircuit 5y ago

I like how YouTube Vanced / Newpipe does it where you just swipe up or down on the right side of the screen.

Railsify 5y ago

agreed, recently traded a cadillac with 100% capacitive buttons for a lexus with buttons and knobs.