3 ms·

I'll offer a contrary perspective that I haven't yet read here: Digital controls have the potential to be more accessible to people who can't turn a knob due to

I'll offer a contrary perspective that I haven't yet read here: Digital controls have the potential to be more accessible to people who can't turn a knob due to a mobility impairment. Edit: See also ndarilek's explanation of how his mobility-impaired girlfriend benefits from Alexa: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20344613 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20344613

atoav 5y ago
Why not both?
- toss1 5y ago
  My 2019 Ford Ranger has all three, opting for at least throwback one - On the dash, a volume knob w/on-off button in the center and tuning knob On the steering wheel, digital control buttons (L/R=tuning Up/Dn=volume) On the Screen, touch controls But that is all - the climate controls are all the damn flat, blend-it-all-in mini buttons or the touchscreen, so if the windscreen suddenly fogs up it's a few hazardous seconds while you have to keep looking back&forth at the controls and through fogged windscreen to find the [defrost] button. And yes, I use the knobs probably over half the time. The steering wheel controls are also nice because they can also be used by touch without looking. Probably used the touchscreen controls a couple times while stopped, mostly as a novelty. Gawd I wish designers would prioritize actual use over how good they think it'll look in some glossy brochure. and, frankly, at this point, I'd rather toss them all and have an ugly knob in a good spot I can use by feel (HINT: I'm NOT looking at it!!), than any flattened wall of pretty backlit buttons. I'm not lounging in a living room, idly caressing your damn panel, I'm driving a two-ton machine at speed.
dghughes 5y ago
The problem with that is digital controls are often made much smaller than its physical equivalent. Things like pill bottles have large diameter caps for people with dexterity problems. That same person may not be able to press a small flat "button" due to hand-eye co-ordination problems. Or they may not even be able to feel the surface with their fingertips. For myself I hate having to go tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap on a digital button when a quick twist of a knob does the same. At least have a slider digital control rather than discrete taps. Imagine instead of a doorknob to open a door you had to tap an electronic button 12 times.
- reaperducer 5y ago
  Things like pill bottles have large diameter caps for people with dexterity problems On a related note, if you have problems opening prescription bottles, let your pharmacist know. If the cap is put on upside down, it's much easier to open. It's no longer child-resistant, but there's a wide gripping area, and the cap top is threaded to screw into the inside of the bottle. A lot of people don't know this. Also, if you take a liquid medicine, every pharmacy I've visited can add flavoring to it for free, right there in the store. Things like grape or lime or bubblegum. It's supposed to help children take their medicine, but there's no reason life has to be artificially hard for adults.
- pomian 5y ago
  and none of those tap tap tap buttons, work with gloves.
markdown 5y ago
You don't make a UI worse (more dangerous) for 99.99999% of drivers in order to accommodate the .00001%. The radio isn't a necessity.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

atoav 5y ago

Why not both?

toss1 5y ago
My 2019 Ford Ranger has all three, opting for at least throwback one - On the dash, a volume knob w/on-off button in the center and tuning knob On the steering wheel, digital control buttons (L/R=tuning Up/Dn=volume) On the Screen, touch controls But that is all - the climate controls are all the damn flat, blend-it-all-in mini buttons or the touchscreen, so if the windscreen suddenly fogs up it's a few hazardous seconds while you have to keep looking back&forth at the controls and through fogged windscreen to find the [defrost] button. And yes, I use the knobs probably over half the time. The steering wheel controls are also nice because they can also be used by touch without looking. Probably used the touchscreen controls a couple times while stopped, mostly as a novelty. Gawd I wish designers would prioritize actual use over how good they think it'll look in some glossy brochure. and, frankly, at this point, I'd rather toss them all and have an ugly knob in a good spot I can use by feel (HINT: I'm NOT looking at it!!), than any flattened wall of pretty backlit buttons. I'm not lounging in a living room, idly caressing your damn panel, I'm driving a two-ton machine at speed.

dghughes 5y ago

The problem with that is digital controls are often made much smaller than its physical equivalent. Things like pill bottles have large diameter caps for people with dexterity problems. That same person may not be able to press a small flat "button" due to hand-eye co-ordination problems. Or they may not even be able to feel the surface with their fingertips. For myself I hate having to go tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap on a digital button when a quick twist of a knob does the same. At least have a slider digital control rather than discrete taps. Imagine instead of a doorknob to open a door you had to tap an electronic button 12 times.

reaperducer 5y ago
Things like pill bottles have large diameter caps for people with dexterity problems On a related note, if you have problems opening prescription bottles, let your pharmacist know. If the cap is put on upside down, it's much easier to open. It's no longer child-resistant, but there's a wide gripping area, and the cap top is threaded to screw into the inside of the bottle. A lot of people don't know this. Also, if you take a liquid medicine, every pharmacy I've visited can add flavoring to it for free, right there in the store. Things like grape or lime or bubblegum. It's supposed to help children take their medicine, but there's no reason life has to be artificially hard for adults.
pomian 5y ago
and none of those tap tap tap buttons, work with gloves.

markdown 5y ago

You don't make a UI worse (more dangerous) for 99.99999% of drivers in order to accommodate the .00001%. The radio isn't a necessity.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]