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There is one benefit - you can update the UI of a car with a touchscreen but not one with buttons. Tesla's first touchscreen [1] now looks slightly dated, but t

There is one benefit - you can update the UI of a car with a touchscreen but not one with buttons. Tesla's first touchscreen [1] now looks slightly dated, but they're able to just update the entire fleet. No doubt it'll get to the point where you can't update it any more - either due to hardware incompatibility, lack of processing power, or some new technology being added. But it has meant that a 2013 Model S looks more modern today than it would have otherwise. Equally, tech tends to look dated much faster than physical buttons do. It's too early to really say which has more long-lasting appeal. [1] https://youtu.be/TZ0HsN-tblo?t=124 https://youtu.be/TZ0HsN-tblo?t=124

dncornholio 4y ago
I've never been in my car and thought the buttons could use an update.. It's hardly something that you should trade safety for.
grishka 4y ago
Updatability is not a good thing. I want my UIs to never change without a good reason, and there can't be a good reason to change car controls.
- jrockway 4y ago
  The change is important during product development, though. I think touch screens are a reaction to PMs at car companies wanting to make last-minute changes, and being told "no, we already spent 10 million dollars on the injection molds". Put it in software, then your lazy engineers just have to stay late for a month. And if they don't finish in time, hey, just fake it in Photoshop for the ads and update the UI later!
  - grishka 4y ago
    I feel like the contribution of project managers to the humanity is net negative. UIs, whether on screens or as hardware controls, need to be built to suit the human body and to not require thinking to operate once one develops muscle memory. Every other concern — including aesthetics — is secondary. Touchscreens in cars are very contrary to that because they require visual feedback.
- twic 4y ago
  > there can't be a good reason to change car controls "UI revision 1.23: move the Passenger Seat Blender switch further away from the air conditioning controls"
HidyBush 4y ago
>you can update the UI of a car with a touchscreen but not one with buttons A car is a dependable tool. Changing the UI during a car's lifetime is dangerous and unprofessional. I'd say the same is true for smartphones and computers but I guess the majority of people think of them as simple "cool entertainment devices"
- throwaway98797 4y ago
  let’s never improve, let’s bifurcate development to support old systems this is a unproductive conservative attitude no I won’t get off your lawn I’ve been burned by changing UIs but it’s the price we pay for progress
  - donatj 4y ago
    Progress for progress sake is worse than worthless, and in the case here it’s distracting and dangerous. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
  - HidyBush 4y ago
    >unproductive tell me more about how updating your car's UI overnight can make you more productive
    - throwaway98797 4y ago
      my point was broader, any one update won’t make you productive it will be likely be regressive all updates taking together will allow for progress
  - WickyNilliams 4y ago
    Not all movement is progress
- jen20 4y ago
  Speak for yourself. My car gained the ability to display directions from CarPlay in the heads-up display overnight, while parked in my garage, increasing the value to me massively.
Silhouette 4y ago
There is one benefit - you can update the UI of a car with a touchscreen but not one with buttons. This is a bug, not a feature. If I'm driving then I'm driving. I want any non-driving controls to be as simple, consistent and reliable as possible. I don't want any non-essential controls at all. I don't want anything I might want to use while driving that requires me to take my eyes off the road at all. I couldn't care less what some flashy touchscreen UI looks like because I should never have to look at it. The physical controls on the dash of every vehicle I drive regularly still work as well and feel as comfortable to use as they ever did. In some cases those vehicles are over a decade old. I'll take that over the modern touchscreen junk any day.
kylecordes 4y ago
It's interesting to see a parade of people object to the updatability. Sure, on a minute-to-minute timescale, anyone must obviously agree. But over the long term of owning a car, it is an immensely valuable feature. My 2018 car still feels quite new and fresh - much less reason to replace it than if it were falling behind.
- gjm11 4y ago
  You'd buy a new car because the UI feels a bit dated?
  - kylecordes 4y ago
    Not with any urgency of course; it's one factor among many. We have a 2015 car that feels like 2005, and a 2018 car that feels like 2022. The terrible map/etc. experience will certainly be a motivator when replacing - and makes old car worth much less on the used market than one that updates.
  - nordsieck 4y ago
    > You'd buy a new car because the UI feels a bit dated? There's a substantial group of people who lease cars, and just get a new car after the lease is up. For that group of people, that's probably a substantial reason along with the exterior styling.
    - lupire 4y ago
      The main reason for leasing cars is (a) wanting to prove how rich they are, and (b) being irrationally afraid of maintenance.
- bsagdiyev 4y ago
  It absolutely is not. I do not want my 2 ton moving vehicle updated on a whim. My 2019 has a screen I can never really turn off that is bright at night, my 2008 has a slow laggy UI that an update will never fix. The 2000 Miata sitting in my garage has the best interface of them all. Push buttons and dials for climate control, two window switches in the middle tombstone area and that's really it outside the typical steering wheel controls for signals, lights and windshield wipers. It's amazingly simple and should continue working even when my newer cars are dead and gone.
mizzack 4y ago
Just waiting for the day some enterprising MBA decides it's a good idea to add ads.
- datavirtue 4y ago
  Already in the works.
- Cthulhu_ 4y ago
  I've seen ads show up on a (analog) radio's display a long time ago already, it'll be coming soon enough.

dncornholio 4y ago

I've never been in my car and thought the buttons could use an update.. It's hardly something that you should trade safety for.

grishka 4y ago

Updatability is not a good thing. I want my UIs to never change without a good reason, and there can't be a good reason to change car controls.

jrockway 4y ago
The change is important during product development, though. I think touch screens are a reaction to PMs at car companies wanting to make last-minute changes, and being told "no, we already spent 10 million dollars on the injection molds". Put it in software, then your lazy engineers just have to stay late for a month. And if they don't finish in time, hey, just fake it in Photoshop for the ads and update the UI later!
- grishka 4y ago
  I feel like the contribution of project managers to the humanity is net negative. UIs, whether on screens or as hardware controls, need to be built to suit the human body and to not require thinking to operate once one develops muscle memory. Every other concern — including aesthetics — is secondary. Touchscreens in cars are very contrary to that because they require visual feedback.
twic 4y ago
> there can't be a good reason to change car controls "UI revision 1.23: move the Passenger Seat Blender switch further away from the air conditioning controls"

HidyBush 4y ago

>you can update the UI of a car with a touchscreen but not one with buttons A car is a dependable tool. Changing the UI during a car's lifetime is dangerous and unprofessional. I'd say the same is true for smartphones and computers but I guess the majority of people think of them as simple "cool entertainment devices"

throwaway98797 4y ago
let’s never improve, let’s bifurcate development to support old systems this is a unproductive conservative attitude no I won’t get off your lawn I’ve been burned by changing UIs but it’s the price we pay for progress
- donatj 4y ago
  Progress for progress sake is worse than worthless, and in the case here it’s distracting and dangerous. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
- HidyBush 4y ago
  >unproductive tell me more about how updating your car's UI overnight can make you more productive
  - throwaway98797 4y ago
    my point was broader, any one update won’t make you productive it will be likely be regressive all updates taking together will allow for progress
- WickyNilliams 4y ago
  Not all movement is progress
jen20 4y ago
Speak for yourself. My car gained the ability to display directions from CarPlay in the heads-up display overnight, while parked in my garage, increasing the value to me massively.

Silhouette 4y ago

There is one benefit - you can update the UI of a car with a touchscreen but not one with buttons. This is a bug, not a feature. If I'm driving then I'm driving. I want any non-driving controls to be as simple, consistent and reliable as possible. I don't want any non-essential controls at all. I don't want anything I might want to use while driving that requires me to take my eyes off the road at all. I couldn't care less what some flashy touchscreen UI looks like because I should never have to look at it. The physical controls on the dash of every vehicle I drive regularly still work as well and feel as comfortable to use as they ever did. In some cases those vehicles are over a decade old. I'll take that over the modern touchscreen junk any day.

kylecordes 4y ago

It's interesting to see a parade of people object to the updatability. Sure, on a minute-to-minute timescale, anyone must obviously agree. But over the long term of owning a car, it is an immensely valuable feature. My 2018 car still feels quite new and fresh - much less reason to replace it than if it were falling behind.

gjm11 4y ago
You'd buy a new car because the UI feels a bit dated?
- kylecordes 4y ago
  Not with any urgency of course; it's one factor among many. We have a 2015 car that feels like 2005, and a 2018 car that feels like 2022. The terrible map/etc. experience will certainly be a motivator when replacing - and makes old car worth much less on the used market than one that updates.
- nordsieck 4y ago
  > You'd buy a new car because the UI feels a bit dated? There's a substantial group of people who lease cars, and just get a new car after the lease is up. For that group of people, that's probably a substantial reason along with the exterior styling.
  - lupire 4y ago
    The main reason for leasing cars is (a) wanting to prove how rich they are, and (b) being irrationally afraid of maintenance.
bsagdiyev 4y ago
It absolutely is not. I do not want my 2 ton moving vehicle updated on a whim. My 2019 has a screen I can never really turn off that is bright at night, my 2008 has a slow laggy UI that an update will never fix. The 2000 Miata sitting in my garage has the best interface of them all. Push buttons and dials for climate control, two window switches in the middle tombstone area and that's really it outside the typical steering wheel controls for signals, lights and windshield wipers. It's amazingly simple and should continue working even when my newer cars are dead and gone.

mizzack 4y ago

Just waiting for the day some enterprising MBA decides it's a good idea to add ads.

datavirtue 4y ago
Already in the works.
Cthulhu_ 4y ago
I've seen ads show up on a (analog) radio's display a long time ago already, it'll be coming soon enough.