4 ms·

I'd pay to just not have one, but I'm not even sure that's possible any more. I'm really not looking forward to when I'm forced to buy a new car - few things ma

by tomxor 3y ago

I'd pay to just not have one, but I'm not even sure that's possible any more. I'm really not looking forward to when I'm forced to buy a new car - few things make me more mad than smartphone tech with universally slow and terrible UX, duck-taped onto machines, let alone dangerous machines.

LAC-Tech 3y ago
Seriously. I have zero use for a touch screen in a car. Maps? When I drive I look at... the road. If I need directions, google maps can tell me to turn left etc by voice commands.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  I don't think I could live without it anymore, but I have a really tight parking situation at home and the parking sensors that are exposed through the head unit are really useful. Not to mention navigation and all that stuff. These features are really considered standard now by most (but definitely not all) people.
  - LAC-Tech 3y ago
    I had that in a car from 2008 or so. Camera feed switched on when you were reversing, but no touch screen.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      Radar parking sensor are very useful. Not sure if you had that in 2008. In my car, this all comes in via the head unit. Critical driving stuff isn't allowed to be in the head unit (wisely), parking display doesn't come up as critical although the sensors are technically available even if the head unit is fried, which I found out when my head unit failed (car was still drivable, but many nice things gone).
      - LAC-Tech 3y ago
        It wasn't radar, it was just a camera feed that activated when I put it in reverse.
- mnahkies 3y ago
  Eh I'm anti touch screen controls, but as a motorcyclist driving in a foreign country relying on voice directions I need the visual input too. There's a big difference between audio only directions for a spaghetti junction and being able to glance at the visual and combine that with the audio. You take your eyes off the road all the time doing head checks (blind spot checks), so long as you're not staring at the map I think the benefit of being sure about where you're going is safer
  - dizhn 3y ago
    Sounds like google maps, am i right? Almost any other navigation product will do a combination of zooming in and displaying actual road signs with clearly marked intersections etc. Maps is useless without also turning on voice.
  - geoelectric 3y ago
    My Ioniq 5 (ironically, a Hyundai...) puts turn by turn directions on the HUD, if you want--eyes stay on the road, but you get full visual feedback. To me that's the best of both worlds. Downside is it only works with the on-board nav and not CarPlay/AA.
- gambiting 3y ago
  ...people actually use voice commands? I've not used them in any GPS for like 10+ years nor do I know anyone who has audible navigation enabled.
  - LAC-Tech 3y ago
    what's the alternative - looking at a screen? I want to concentrate on driving.
    - gambiting 3y ago
      I personally find that having to pay attention to visual prompts(turn right in 1km) makes me far more focused on the road than listening to the prompts, which can come without any warning and don't allow you to appreciate what is going to happen with enough warning. I usually glance and see that in 10km I'm taking the 3rd exit at the roundabout, then I know for next 10km I can focus entirely at the road, take 3rd exit at the roundabout and then will glance for next instruction again.
RajT88 3y ago
> I'd pay to just not have one, but I'm not even sure that's possible any more. Yeah, some stuff makes you go through the head unit on some machines. Any replacement head unit would have to implement the same controls somehow. Wealthy will be the person who makes a generic 2 DIN head unit, where you have physical buttons which you can map to various CANBus messages.
- dotancohen 3y ago
  I'm working on a generic device that sends canbus messages, that can have inputs such as potentiometer, push buttons, toggle switches, and rotary encoders. My end goal is to have real hvac controls on my Tesla, but I'd like to abstract the device as much as possible. Fun project, and most of the hardware necessary is already out there.
  - Scoundreller 3y ago
    The dream: https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-CT87N1001-Round-Manual-Thermostat/dp/B000FCCZ5Q https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-CT87N1001-Round-Manual-Therm...
  - djbusby 3y ago
    Awesome! I demand links! Give me a GitHub I can watch and contribute too. My soldering iron is already hot! LFG!
  - freedomben 3y ago
    That is super badass and I'd love to have something like that. Does the factory display/controls use the canbus to do their work? How much stuff can you reasonably do through that? Do you know if it varies between manufacturers?
    - CamperBob2 3y ago
      The problem is, there's not just one "CAN/LIN bus." There are probably a dozen different segments. One device attached to one segment can only talk to the upstream gateway and whatever peripherals are on that bus segment. Of course this isn't a problem per se, it's good design -- but it has the side effect of making it harder to hack your own car through a single point of entry other than the main OBD2 port, which is connected to the top-level gateway.
plagiarist 3y ago
In previous discussions about how shitty touchscreen car interfaces are, people have been mentioning that new cars must provide a backup camera. I'd like to have just the camera, but why would manufacturers stop there when they can ship spyware as well? The screen is the expensive part.
- tomxor 3y ago
  Touch screens are actually incredibly cheap off the shelf components compared to all of the bespoke physical buttons and dials required to kit out a car.

by tomxor 3y ago

LAC-Tech 3y ago

Seriously. I have zero use for a touch screen in a car. Maps? When I drive I look at... the road. If I need directions, google maps can tell me to turn left etc by voice commands.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
I don't think I could live without it anymore, but I have a really tight parking situation at home and the parking sensors that are exposed through the head unit are really useful. Not to mention navigation and all that stuff. These features are really considered standard now by most (but definitely not all) people.
- LAC-Tech 3y ago
  I had that in a car from 2008 or so. Camera feed switched on when you were reversing, but no touch screen.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Radar parking sensor are very useful. Not sure if you had that in 2008. In my car, this all comes in via the head unit. Critical driving stuff isn't allowed to be in the head unit (wisely), parking display doesn't come up as critical although the sensors are technically available even if the head unit is fried, which I found out when my head unit failed (car was still drivable, but many nice things gone).
    - LAC-Tech 3y ago
      It wasn't radar, it was just a camera feed that activated when I put it in reverse.
mnahkies 3y ago
Eh I'm anti touch screen controls, but as a motorcyclist driving in a foreign country relying on voice directions I need the visual input too. There's a big difference between audio only directions for a spaghetti junction and being able to glance at the visual and combine that with the audio. You take your eyes off the road all the time doing head checks (blind spot checks), so long as you're not staring at the map I think the benefit of being sure about where you're going is safer
- dizhn 3y ago
  Sounds like google maps, am i right? Almost any other navigation product will do a combination of zooming in and displaying actual road signs with clearly marked intersections etc. Maps is useless without also turning on voice.
- geoelectric 3y ago
  My Ioniq 5 (ironically, a Hyundai...) puts turn by turn directions on the HUD, if you want--eyes stay on the road, but you get full visual feedback. To me that's the best of both worlds. Downside is it only works with the on-board nav and not CarPlay/AA.
gambiting 3y ago
...people actually use voice commands? I've not used them in any GPS for like 10+ years nor do I know anyone who has audible navigation enabled.
- LAC-Tech 3y ago
  what's the alternative - looking at a screen? I want to concentrate on driving.
  - gambiting 3y ago
    I personally find that having to pay attention to visual prompts(turn right in 1km) makes me far more focused on the road than listening to the prompts, which can come without any warning and don't allow you to appreciate what is going to happen with enough warning. I usually glance and see that in 10km I'm taking the 3rd exit at the roundabout, then I know for next 10km I can focus entirely at the road, take 3rd exit at the roundabout and then will glance for next instruction again.

RajT88 3y ago

> I'd pay to just not have one, but I'm not even sure that's possible any more. Yeah, some stuff makes you go through the head unit on some machines. Any replacement head unit would have to implement the same controls somehow. Wealthy will be the person who makes a generic 2 DIN head unit, where you have physical buttons which you can map to various CANBus messages.

dotancohen 3y ago
I'm working on a generic device that sends canbus messages, that can have inputs such as potentiometer, push buttons, toggle switches, and rotary encoders. My end goal is to have real hvac controls on my Tesla, but I'd like to abstract the device as much as possible. Fun project, and most of the hardware necessary is already out there.
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  The dream: https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-CT87N1001-Round-Manual-Thermostat/dp/B000FCCZ5Q https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-CT87N1001-Round-Manual-Therm...
- djbusby 3y ago
  Awesome! I demand links! Give me a GitHub I can watch and contribute too. My soldering iron is already hot! LFG!
- freedomben 3y ago
  That is super badass and I'd love to have something like that. Does the factory display/controls use the canbus to do their work? How much stuff can you reasonably do through that? Do you know if it varies between manufacturers?
  - CamperBob2 3y ago
    The problem is, there's not just one "CAN/LIN bus." There are probably a dozen different segments. One device attached to one segment can only talk to the upstream gateway and whatever peripherals are on that bus segment. Of course this isn't a problem per se, it's good design -- but it has the side effect of making it harder to hack your own car through a single point of entry other than the main OBD2 port, which is connected to the top-level gateway.

plagiarist 3y ago

In previous discussions about how shitty touchscreen car interfaces are, people have been mentioning that new cars must provide a backup camera. I'd like to have just the camera, but why would manufacturers stop there when they can ship spyware as well? The screen is the expensive part.

tomxor 3y ago
Touch screens are actually incredibly cheap off the shelf components compared to all of the bespoke physical buttons and dials required to kit out a car.