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I enjoy tech where it is a considerable improvement over the "non tech" version. But I despise tech that's just there because it's "cool" but doesn't add any co
by hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
I enjoy tech where it is a considerable improvement over the "non tech" version. But I despise tech that's just there because it's "cool" but doesn't add any considerable value, or actually makes the experience worse.
Case in point, auto windshield wipers. I live in a place that gets a lot of "misty rain", and the wipers don't turn on in this situation until it's well too late, so I have to turn them on manually in any case. The options for my wipers are only "auto high" and "auto low" and "manual high" and "manual low", but there is no intermittent setting, which is what I want half the time.
I basically don't understand the problem auto wipers are trying to solve in the first place. Who forgets to turn on their wipers if they can't see out their windshield? Is the tiniest tap to turn on the wipers really a burden that needs to be solved, never mind that I'm tapping that button way more with my auto-wipers than I ever did in older cars with normal intermittent wipers.
- pandaman 3y agoAuto wipers have two applications: for when you suddenly get water on the windshield, for example a splash from a puddle caused by another car, and for speed attenuation during a rain. Some people can panic when the visibility from the car suddenly goes to zero and might not be able to manually turn on wipers quickly, while still driving without seeing anything in front. The attenuation keeps driver from playing with the wiper speed control in an intermittent rain, thus not getting more distracted from driving.
- hn_throwaway_99 3y ago> The attenuation keeps driver from playing with the wiper speed control in an intermittent rain, thus not getting more distracted from driving. Except, at least in my experience, this never works well for my car, especially in a light rain, causing me to have to get more distracted just turning my "auto" wipers on manually.
- pandaman 3y agoLooks like it's a problem with your car and not with the concept of auto-wipers?
- yCombLinks 3y agoAuto wipers will never be able to know how well I, the driver, can see.
- pandaman 3y agoWhile this is true, I don't see how this is relevant. Auto-wipers detect the changes in optical properties of the windshield, not your ability to see.
- hn_throwaway_99 3y agoSure potentially, but I guess different people may have different desired settings for "how rainy" it needs to be to have the wipers turn on. Maybe other cars let you change this sensitivity level, but mine does not. But my overall point still stands, needing to turn on my wipers in the rain is never something I felt needed "fixing" in the first place, that's why I think the added complexity of auto wipers makes it all downside.
- pandaman 3y agoBut "turning on when rainy" is not the way auto-wipers are normally working.
- hn_throwaway_99 3y agoWhat does that mean? Of course auto-wipers work by turning on when they detect rain on your windshield.
- pandaman 3y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36470065 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36470065