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> During the recent home device project I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest supporters of a touchscreen-based solution was the team’s marketing specialist.

> During the recent home device project I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest supporters of a touchscreen-based solution was the team’s marketing specialist. Why am I not surprised?

mro_name 4y ago
I came to write my official paper letters with vi :hardcopy in 70ies RFC typewriter style. Helps to focus on the content. That's exactly what marketing dreads.
- mro_name 4y ago
  meanwhile found the template: https://darknet.mro.name/pub/brief-dina4.txt https://darknet.mro.name/pub/brief-dina4.txt
Gigachad 4y ago
I don't buy it tbh. Most home appliances are sufficiently complex that physical buttons are not intuitive. Ask someone to change the clock on their oven vs on their phone. Most could do it on the phone but not the oven. And there are countless more practical examples of this issue. My Breville coffee machine only has buttons and knobs, which works fine for the basic flow since everything has a dedicated button. But once you want to do something like run a cleaning cycle you will have to read the manual every time because there is nothing intuitive about holding double shot + single shot and then power for 3 seconds. Or holding program and then power to open temperature adjust then clicking one of the buttons to set a temp which isn't labeled and needs the manual to decipher. While on the touch screen model, the basic flow might be slightly less nice, but the most complex flows are also reduced to about the same complexity and can be intuitively worked out while using the device. Combining physical buttons for basic flow with a touch screen is the best of both imo. I have used some ovens which use a normal knob like it would on an older oven, but if you want to do something like start a self clean cycle or adjust steaming, its done via the touch screen.
- nicoburns 4y ago
  > Combining physical buttons for basic flow with a touch screen is the best of both imo This. But if I have to choose, then I'll have physical buttons over a touch screen. Why? Because I use the "basic flow" every damn day. Whereas I only need to set the clock every few months.
- bandie91 4y ago
  > change the clock on their oven it's really easy. grab the clock. turn the hands to the desired position. optionally wind it up. put back on the oven. the only thing i dont understand why would anybody put his clock on the oven?
  - Too 4y ago
    How else would you know if the clock on the micro is not correct if you don't have the oven to use as reference?
- cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  If one is going to go into the effort and cost to put an SoC onboard that can run a touchscreen, one should just have the device communicate with the touchscreen computer in your pocket instead. Common basic functions: knobs dials switches. Extended functions: there's an app for that, or suffer through modal button changes like you describe. Save on BOM costs, less points of failure, and does not require an SoC with display controller and a software stack running a (usually janky and slow and non-standard) UI.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    This does happen on a lot of devices. It’s ok for stuff you expect to last a few years but anything longer and the app stops working before the device does. I have a bike gps which has some functions as a phone app but the phone app no longer works.
    - cmrdporcupine 4y ago

> During the recent home device project I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest supporters of a touchscreen-based solution was the team’s marketing specialist. Why am I not surprised?

mro_name 4y ago

I came to write my official paper letters with vi :hardcopy in 70ies RFC typewriter style. Helps to focus on the content. That's exactly what marketing dreads.

mro_name 4y ago
meanwhile found the template: https://darknet.mro.name/pub/brief-dina4.txt https://darknet.mro.name/pub/brief-dina4.txt

Gigachad 4y ago

I don't buy it tbh. Most home appliances are sufficiently complex that physical buttons are not intuitive. Ask someone to change the clock on their oven vs on their phone. Most could do it on the phone but not the oven. And there are countless more practical examples of this issue. My Breville coffee machine only has buttons and knobs, which works fine for the basic flow since everything has a dedicated button. But once you want to do something like run a cleaning cycle you will have to read the manual every time because there is nothing intuitive about holding double shot + single shot and then power for 3 seconds. Or holding program and then power to open temperature adjust then clicking one of the buttons to set a temp which isn't labeled and needs the manual to decipher. While on the touch screen model, the basic flow might be slightly less nice, but the most complex flows are also reduced to about the same complexity and can be intuitively worked out while using the device. Combining physical buttons for basic flow with a touch screen is the best of both imo. I have used some ovens which use a normal knob like it would on an older oven, but if you want to do something like start a self clean cycle or adjust steaming, its done via the touch screen.

nicoburns 4y ago
> Combining physical buttons for basic flow with a touch screen is the best of both imo This. But if I have to choose, then I'll have physical buttons over a touch screen. Why? Because I use the "basic flow" every damn day. Whereas I only need to set the clock every few months.
bandie91 4y ago
> change the clock on their oven it's really easy. grab the clock. turn the hands to the desired position. optionally wind it up. put back on the oven. the only thing i dont understand why would anybody put his clock on the oven?
- Too 4y ago
  How else would you know if the clock on the micro is not correct if you don't have the oven to use as reference?
cmrdporcupine 4y ago
If one is going to go into the effort and cost to put an SoC onboard that can run a touchscreen, one should just have the device communicate with the touchscreen computer in your pocket instead. Common basic functions: knobs dials switches. Extended functions: there's an app for that, or suffer through modal button changes like you describe. Save on BOM costs, less points of failure, and does not require an SoC with display controller and a software stack running a (usually janky and slow and non-standard) UI.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  This does happen on a lot of devices. It’s ok for stuff you expect to last a few years but anything longer and the app stops working before the device does. I have a bike gps which has some functions as a phone app but the phone app no longer works.
  - cmrdporcupine 4y ago