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Bad example. Look at musical instruments, particularly synthesizers. This world went from menu-diving and screens to a full-blown knobfest (for digitally-cont

Bad example. Look at musical instruments, particularly synthesizers. This world went from menu-diving and screens to a full-blown knobfest (for digitally-controlled equipment, mind you). Specifically, no gear has ever not had the volume knob/slider; but now, there's a knob for everything else. Also go figure, my $200 Sonicware digital synth made in 2021 can have 15 reliable, precise knobs that will last decades, as well as analog and digital I/O on the front panel, but my $20,000 car can't have either because of cost savings/reliability? Please. And my Fostex 4-track recorder from 1995 has 24 knobs and 5 sliders, perfectly functioning, and if you think that musicians are gentle on their gear, you haven't seen many musicians. Knobs and sliders on my Korg, Casio, and Yamaha digital synths from the mid-1980s work well too, never a problem with them. Let's not pretend that lack of knobs is anything but a UX/aesthetics choice — and for cars, a particularly awful one.

Karrot_Kream 5y ago
Presumably your car will be in places with more demanding climate conditions than your knob-filled synth. And areas of high humidity or with lots of dust/gunk are the places that break down knobs the most. But I agree that I think it's probably largely a UX/aesthetics choice. Low cost touch screens are usually pretty terrible at handling varying climate conditions, especially compared to some decent knobs/encoders. I'm hoping once the manufacturers are done broadcasting how "modern" their interfaces are, that they'll start adding knobs back in for the common operations (volume, climate control, etc) I also wonder if the fear stemmed from back when knobs and buttons required extra wiring instead of using buses like most cars do now.
- romwell 5y ago
  >Presumably your car will be in places with more demanding climate conditions than your knob-filled synth. And areas of high humidity or with lots of dust/gunk are the places that break down knobs the most. Yeah, you wish. Have you ever been to a music studio, or a live show? You'd be lucky if nobody spills beer on your gear :) Dust, gunk, smoke, humidity, and temperature are usually way worse than in the interior of a car. Not to mention, I've never had an issue with knobs in any of my cars (particularly, the 2000 Honda Civic that I drove until 2017, or the 2010 Honda Fit that I'm driving now, or my partner's Toyota's from the same years). Knobs breaking down is a hypothetical problem. The knobs are fine. >I also wonder if the fear stemmed from back when knobs and buttons required extra wiring instead of using buses like most cars do now. The fear comes from the need to sell "modern"-looking interfaces. If the new car looks like the old one, why buy it? Yet another good UX killed in the name of marketing. Again, synthesizers went through the same cycle: knobs -> buttons and menus -> touch screens -> KNOBS. There was never a good reason to not have any knobs, especially on high-end gear. It was all about style.
  - Karrot_Kream 5y ago
    > Yeah, you wish. Have you ever been to a music studio, or a live show? You'd be lucky if nobody spills beer on your gear :) Haha touche. You're right, the amount of alcohol I've seen in my friends' synths when performing is uh not the way I treat my keyboards or synths that stay home lol. > The fear comes from the need to sell "modern"-looking interfaces. If the new car looks like the old one, why buy it? Agreed. I hope they snap out of their collective delusion sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I wonder if you can make your own knobby panel that interfaces with Android Auto to paper over the crappy UX of flat surfaces.

Karrot_Kream 5y ago

Presumably your car will be in places with more demanding climate conditions than your knob-filled synth. And areas of high humidity or with lots of dust/gunk are the places that break down knobs the most. But I agree that I think it's probably largely a UX/aesthetics choice. Low cost touch screens are usually pretty terrible at handling varying climate conditions, especially compared to some decent knobs/encoders. I'm hoping once the manufacturers are done broadcasting how "modern" their interfaces are, that they'll start adding knobs back in for the common operations (volume, climate control, etc) I also wonder if the fear stemmed from back when knobs and buttons required extra wiring instead of using buses like most cars do now.

romwell 5y ago
>Presumably your car will be in places with more demanding climate conditions than your knob-filled synth. And areas of high humidity or with lots of dust/gunk are the places that break down knobs the most. Yeah, you wish. Have you ever been to a music studio, or a live show? You'd be lucky if nobody spills beer on your gear :) Dust, gunk, smoke, humidity, and temperature are usually way worse than in the interior of a car. Not to mention, I've never had an issue with knobs in any of my cars (particularly, the 2000 Honda Civic that I drove until 2017, or the 2010 Honda Fit that I'm driving now, or my partner's Toyota's from the same years). Knobs breaking down is a hypothetical problem. The knobs are fine. >I also wonder if the fear stemmed from back when knobs and buttons required extra wiring instead of using buses like most cars do now. The fear comes from the need to sell "modern"-looking interfaces. If the new car looks like the old one, why buy it? Yet another good UX killed in the name of marketing. Again, synthesizers went through the same cycle: knobs -> buttons and menus -> touch screens -> KNOBS. There was never a good reason to not have any knobs, especially on high-end gear. It was all about style.
- Karrot_Kream 5y ago
  > Yeah, you wish. Have you ever been to a music studio, or a live show? You'd be lucky if nobody spills beer on your gear :) Haha touche. You're right, the amount of alcohol I've seen in my friends' synths when performing is uh not the way I treat my keyboards or synths that stay home lol. > The fear comes from the need to sell "modern"-looking interfaces. If the new car looks like the old one, why buy it? Agreed. I hope they snap out of their collective delusion sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I wonder if you can make your own knobby panel that interfaces with Android Auto to paper over the crappy UX of flat surfaces.