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If anything it reminds me of all the arguments on slashdot when iPhone was announced that it would never take off because full touchscreen phones without a phys

If anything it reminds me of all the arguments on slashdot when iPhone was announced that it would never take off because full touchscreen phones without a physical keyboard were a gimmick.

andrepd 4y ago
Fat fingering an instagram post rarely causes an accident which can delete a family from existence in half a second. The argument against touchscreens in vehicles is sound, not just contrarianism.
SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
Is the difference here is there is already long running expectations? The iPhone was charting a brand new course across undiscovered seas, how trucks drivers interact with their vehicle is an experience with literally generations of data.
- simondotau 4y ago
  That's how it looks with the benefit of hindsight. In 2007, there were plenty of people who thought the iPhone wasn't charting a brand new course across undiscovered seas. They thought it was an expensive, overly engineered toy. They thought the smartphone market of Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices was already mature.
- labcomputer 4y ago
  Keyboards go back a long way, and the iPhone was widely panned as "not a professional device" because "how could you type email on it?" After all, we all had experience with just how bad on-screen keyboards were. It was so bleeding obvious that Steve was an idiot. But then people actually used iPhones. While not as good as a physical keyboard, Apple's soft keyboard was vastly better than anyone anticipated. So good, in fact, that everyone basically forgot about physical keyboards and started typing their email on iPhones. A big part of it was two things: 1. Apple put an actually-good LCD in the iPhone (Apple's LCDs get brighter and dimmer than the competition) 2. Apple used a capacitive touchscreen (that didn't suck). I think the key thing is "is Tesla going to install good or shitty screens?" My guess is good screens--so I kind of laughed when the trucker complained about Mercedes touchscreens being too bright at night. Just like Apple's good screen enabled things you couldn't have before in a phone, I think Tesla's will too. They can show blind spot cameras, for example. That may mitigate most or all of the impact of the center driver position on visibility. The same cameras can potentially show a better view than the mirrors (who cares if they're hard to clean when you only have them installed for legal compliance). So the giant screens enable Tesla to offer a Semi with vastly better aero than the competition.
  - fomine3 4y ago
    "good screen" isn't enough in this case. They should invent something that doesn't exist now.
  - PhasmaFelis 4y ago
    The problem isn't just the quality or sensitivity of the displays (though that could also be a problem). The problem is that any interface designed for drivers that requires you to stare at the interface and not the road is a bad idea. Any control that you are likely to operate while the vehicle is in motion needs to be something you can find by touch alone. A fixed, physical button.
- ajmurmann 4y ago
  Even more to your point: We even have tons of data already on touch screens in vehicles.
- Too 4y ago
  They repeated exactly the same mistake early EV cars did, Prius, i3, Leaf, all ugly, quirky or just impractical for completely unrelated reasons to being an EV. Trying to reimagine what a car is, instead of just taking a good old proven chassis and slamming an electric drivetrain inside. Yes, there are enablers and constraints in EV platforms you both need to and should make use of, like more floor space, frunk, aero. Tesla finding the right things to change out of that pool is what made them successful. Today most other manufacturers have come to their senses and we today have great selection of good and non funky EVs on the market. This semi on the other hand is the i3 of trucks, judging by the Twitter thread.
TylerE 4y ago
Slashdot is the Jim Cramer of tech. (“No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame”).
- airstrike 4y ago
makeitdouble 4y ago
But then we also had the cybertruck that seems stuck because of its design, or the hyperloop. It wouldn't be Elon's first dumb idea.
- rrdharan 4y ago
  Or the tunnels..
alpaca128 4y ago
The Tesla semi design is the exact opposite of the iPhone's keyboard removal. It's larger but still less useful and flexible because its use of space is so inefficient. The smartphone's lack of a physical keyboard is a tradeoff that works well for most users who tend to consume a lot of media content and rarely write long texts on it. According to that truck driver the Tesla semi is not a tradeoff but a downgrade without any upsides.
runlevel1 4y ago
Here's that Slashdot thread: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/07/01/09/1857231/iphone-apple-tv-headline-macworld-keynote https://apple.slashdot.org/story/07/01/09/1857231/iphone-app... People appear pretty excited on average. Most of the naysayers seem to be metahumor about the community's bad take about the iPod.
Mawr 4y ago
Phones are toys, cars are tools. Completely different design requirements.
- Cipater 4y ago
  My phone is a tool that I use to communicate and store information.
ncr100 4y ago
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater: There are STILL lots of real UX issues with touchscreens. - Answer the phone without looking at it - Start sending a text message without looking at it - BLIND PEOPLE Etc, real concerns do exist.

If anything it reminds me of all the arguments on slashdot when iPhone was announced that it would never take off because full touchscreen phones without a physical keyboard were a gimmick.

andrepd 4y ago

Fat fingering an instagram post rarely causes an accident which can delete a family from existence in half a second. The argument against touchscreens in vehicles is sound, not just contrarianism.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago

Is the difference here is there is already long running expectations? The iPhone was charting a brand new course across undiscovered seas, how trucks drivers interact with their vehicle is an experience with literally generations of data.

simondotau 4y ago
That's how it looks with the benefit of hindsight. In 2007, there were plenty of people who thought the iPhone wasn't charting a brand new course across undiscovered seas. They thought it was an expensive, overly engineered toy. They thought the smartphone market of Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices was already mature.
labcomputer 4y ago
Keyboards go back a long way, and the iPhone was widely panned as "not a professional device" because "how could you type email on it?" After all, we all had experience with just how bad on-screen keyboards were. It was so bleeding obvious that Steve was an idiot. But then people actually used iPhones. While not as good as a physical keyboard, Apple's soft keyboard was vastly better than anyone anticipated. So good, in fact, that everyone basically forgot about physical keyboards and started typing their email on iPhones. A big part of it was two things: 1. Apple put an actually-good LCD in the iPhone (Apple's LCDs get brighter and dimmer than the competition) 2. Apple used a capacitive touchscreen (that didn't suck). I think the key thing is "is Tesla going to install good or shitty screens?" My guess is good screens--so I kind of laughed when the trucker complained about Mercedes touchscreens being too bright at night. Just like Apple's good screen enabled things you couldn't have before in a phone, I think Tesla's will too. They can show blind spot cameras, for example. That may mitigate most or all of the impact of the center driver position on visibility. The same cameras can potentially show a better view than the mirrors (who cares if they're hard to clean when you only have them installed for legal compliance). So the giant screens enable Tesla to offer a Semi with vastly better aero than the competition.
- fomine3 4y ago
  "good screen" isn't enough in this case. They should invent something that doesn't exist now.
- PhasmaFelis 4y ago
  The problem isn't just the quality or sensitivity of the displays (though that could also be a problem). The problem is that any interface designed for drivers that requires you to stare at the interface and not the road is a bad idea. Any control that you are likely to operate while the vehicle is in motion needs to be something you can find by touch alone. A fixed, physical button.
ajmurmann 4y ago
Even more to your point: We even have tons of data already on touch screens in vehicles.
Too 4y ago
They repeated exactly the same mistake early EV cars did, Prius, i3, Leaf, all ugly, quirky or just impractical for completely unrelated reasons to being an EV. Trying to reimagine what a car is, instead of just taking a good old proven chassis and slamming an electric drivetrain inside. Yes, there are enablers and constraints in EV platforms you both need to and should make use of, like more floor space, frunk, aero. Tesla finding the right things to change out of that pool is what made them successful. Today most other manufacturers have come to their senses and we today have great selection of good and non funky EVs on the market. This semi on the other hand is the i3 of trucks, judging by the Twitter thread.

TylerE 4y ago

Slashdot is the Jim Cramer of tech. (“No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame”).

airstrike 4y ago

makeitdouble 4y ago

But then we also had the cybertruck that seems stuck because of its design, or the hyperloop. It wouldn't be Elon's first dumb idea.

rrdharan 4y ago
Or the tunnels..

alpaca128 4y ago

The Tesla semi design is the exact opposite of the iPhone's keyboard removal. It's larger but still less useful and flexible because its use of space is so inefficient. The smartphone's lack of a physical keyboard is a tradeoff that works well for most users who tend to consume a lot of media content and rarely write long texts on it. According to that truck driver the Tesla semi is not a tradeoff but a downgrade without any upsides.

runlevel1 4y ago

Here's that Slashdot thread: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/07/01/09/1857231/iphone-apple-tv-headline-macworld-keynote https://apple.slashdot.org/story/07/01/09/1857231/iphone-app... People appear pretty excited on average. Most of the naysayers seem to be metahumor about the community's bad take about the iPod.

Mawr 4y ago

Phones are toys, cars are tools. Completely different design requirements.

Cipater 4y ago
My phone is a tool that I use to communicate and store information.

ncr100 4y ago

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater: There are STILL lots of real UX issues with touchscreens. - Answer the phone without looking at it - Start sending a text message without looking at it - BLIND PEOPLE Etc, real concerns do exist.