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> I am old school and I prefer the analog style; however, it is fairly easy to simulate analog instrumentation on a digital display and some manufacturers are d

> I am old school and I prefer the analog style; however, it is fairly easy to simulate analog instrumentation on a digital display and some manufacturers are doing it very well. I'm old school as well and although I love the feel of a real indicator, screens can be effectively used as really good output devices if well designed, but touch screens? Just no: they're fragile, slow, and don't give any feedback; if I had to pick one between fully mechanical and fully digital (therefore with touch screen), I'd pick the former without hesitation.

jqpabc123 3y ago
Almost all cars that I have seen still have analog controls for driving *inputs*. Digital/touch screen is mainly limited to entertainment, phone, setup, and GPS/mapping. A lot of touch screen functions are often intentionally made inactive while the vehicle is moving.
- galenko 3y ago
  BMW XM is a great example of how not to do this. Want to turn on your fancy seat vents? 3 taps on the large screen in the middle. Want to change some temps/fan speed? Swipe(not as nice as iOS) right, look through 10 identical looking icons and arrows, to find the right one. Honestly, I thought people were exaggerating how bad it was until I got to experience it for myself. As a long term fan of the brand, it’s utterly disappointing.
- BenjiWiebe 3y ago
  That motion-deactivation "feature" is extremely frustrating to the passenger.
- moqmar 3y ago
  It depends, many cars put things like windshield wipers behind a touch menu, which I'd argue is a security-relevant feature when you drive your car into sudden heavy rain at 120 km/h. It seems to depend more on what's regulated, and less on what makes sense.
  - jqpabc123 3y ago
    windshield wipers behind a touch menu Are you sure you didn't mean a *safety* relevant feature? Sometimes I have to wonder if some of the designers actually drive. If they did, I would think some of the worst mistakes would be blatantly obvious. When in doubt, see Hyundai/Kia. They ain't fancy. For the most part, they just seem to take a consistent, practical, subdued, utilitarian approach that gets the job done on an everyday basis.

jqpabc123 3y ago

Almost all cars that I have seen still have analog controls for driving *inputs*. Digital/touch screen is mainly limited to entertainment, phone, setup, and GPS/mapping. A lot of touch screen functions are often intentionally made inactive while the vehicle is moving.

galenko 3y ago
BMW XM is a great example of how not to do this. Want to turn on your fancy seat vents? 3 taps on the large screen in the middle. Want to change some temps/fan speed? Swipe(not as nice as iOS) right, look through 10 identical looking icons and arrows, to find the right one. Honestly, I thought people were exaggerating how bad it was until I got to experience it for myself. As a long term fan of the brand, it’s utterly disappointing.
BenjiWiebe 3y ago
That motion-deactivation "feature" is extremely frustrating to the passenger.
moqmar 3y ago
It depends, many cars put things like windshield wipers behind a touch menu, which I'd argue is a security-relevant feature when you drive your car into sudden heavy rain at 120 km/h. It seems to depend more on what's regulated, and less on what makes sense.
- jqpabc123 3y ago
  windshield wipers behind a touch menu Are you sure you didn't mean a *safety* relevant feature? Sometimes I have to wonder if some of the designers actually drive. If they did, I would think some of the worst mistakes would be blatantly obvious. When in doubt, see Hyundai/Kia. They ain't fancy. For the most part, they just seem to take a consistent, practical, subdued, utilitarian approach that gets the job done on an everyday basis.