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I have owned both a shitty beginner car without any extras and two more or less fully equipped ones. I would love a car that does not have a single display and

I have owned both a shitty beginner car without any extras and two more or less fully equipped ones. I would love a car that does not have a single display and just connects to my phone or pad for setting things up and streaming audio. All controls should be haptic buttons, switches, whatever. Minimal software required to run the car. No internet connection, no subscriptions. The only extras that I would keep are: * Heated seats * Automatic air conditioning * Hill hold control * Automatic transmission (not standard in Europe) That’s it.

dragontamer 3y ago
One of the reasons why cars are so much cheaper today is because of electronics. The creation of the "CANbus", two-wire protocol that wraps around the car to communicate, and the movement of all portions of the car to the CANbus, is what has lead to incredible reliability. It turns out that these two wires can be made incredibly reliable, and that communications across it (steering wheel, accelerator, brakes, tire pressure, speeds, A/C, etc. etc.) just makes sense. -------------- All those haptic buttons are "just" CANbus interfaces in practice. Now don't get me wrong, I prefer buttons too. But the next leg of "cheapness" naturally was to shift to an iPad-like capacitive screen, since one-tablet connected to the CANbus is far cheaper (and more reliable) than 20 individual buttons (each of which has a set life and dies on their own). That being said: physical buttons are clearly more intuitive than an iPad-like floating-moving button that is inconsistent and stateful.
- starbugs 3y ago
  I get your point, but I don’t believe it’s gonna make cars cheaper for me. All the software and connectivity tends to be misused for extracting more money via subscriptions, controlling me and in extreme cases even holding me hostage by updating the software, and making repairs uneconomical by locking me in to one vendor or pairing parts. Not to mention the various privacy and security risks involved with permanent connectivity, escalating software complexity and questionable ownership of the devices built into the car.
elwebmaster 3y ago
If only we could make the car and most of its parts from a material which doesn’t rust, we could use it forever and just keep replacing parts as they break. I would be happy with such a vehicle without any extras except AC.
- acomjean 3y ago
  I’m old, and live in a snowy salty area. Car body rust is much less a problem that it used to be. I think they’re all galvanized now. Some parts still rust, but having had some 80s vehicles rust out… plus they always tried to sell some “undercoating” to protect that was snake oil as far as I can tell.
maerF0x0 3y ago
That's part of why I bought a late CX-5 . While there is a touch display, it can be fully controlled with the physical controls. Also has all the features you mentioned.
bamfly 3y ago
> I would love a car that does not have a single display and just connects to my phone or pad for setting things up and streaming audio. You need a big screen for cameras and such, because visibility in a lot of modern cars is about the same as the driver's seat in a Sherman tank. Unfortunately.

dragontamer 3y ago

One of the reasons why cars are so much cheaper today is because of electronics. The creation of the "CANbus", two-wire protocol that wraps around the car to communicate, and the movement of all portions of the car to the CANbus, is what has lead to incredible reliability. It turns out that these two wires can be made incredibly reliable, and that communications across it (steering wheel, accelerator, brakes, tire pressure, speeds, A/C, etc. etc.) just makes sense. -------------- All those haptic buttons are "just" CANbus interfaces in practice. Now don't get me wrong, I prefer buttons too. But the next leg of "cheapness" naturally was to shift to an iPad-like capacitive screen, since one-tablet connected to the CANbus is far cheaper (and more reliable) than 20 individual buttons (each of which has a set life and dies on their own). That being said: physical buttons are clearly more intuitive than an iPad-like floating-moving button that is inconsistent and stateful.

starbugs 3y ago
I get your point, but I don’t believe it’s gonna make cars cheaper for me. All the software and connectivity tends to be misused for extracting more money via subscriptions, controlling me and in extreme cases even holding me hostage by updating the software, and making repairs uneconomical by locking me in to one vendor or pairing parts. Not to mention the various privacy and security risks involved with permanent connectivity, escalating software complexity and questionable ownership of the devices built into the car.

elwebmaster 3y ago

If only we could make the car and most of its parts from a material which doesn’t rust, we could use it forever and just keep replacing parts as they break. I would be happy with such a vehicle without any extras except AC.

acomjean 3y ago
I’m old, and live in a snowy salty area. Car body rust is much less a problem that it used to be. I think they’re all galvanized now. Some parts still rust, but having had some 80s vehicles rust out… plus they always tried to sell some “undercoating” to protect that was snake oil as far as I can tell.

maerF0x0 3y ago

That's part of why I bought a late CX-5 . While there is a touch display, it can be fully controlled with the physical controls. Also has all the features you mentioned.

bamfly 3y ago

> I would love a car that does not have a single display and just connects to my phone or pad for setting things up and streaming audio. You need a big screen for cameras and such, because visibility in a lot of modern cars is about the same as the driver's seat in a Sherman tank. Unfortunately.