3 ms·

Touchscreens in cars should have been illegal to begin with it. How can it be that operating a cellphone is not allowed but operating a “tablet” is a necessity?

vel0city 2y ago
I'm not playing Call of Duty mobile or watching YouTube on the screen on my head unit. I'm not scrolling TikTik or having a text message conversation on a head unit screen. If you think it's the same thing, you haven't actually driven a car with a screen before.
electriclove 2y ago
No, it shouldn’t be illegal. If it is inferior, they will lose sales and money.
- twobitshifter 2y ago
  It’s naive to think that cost cutting is leading to lost sales. People may in fact buy the inferior car because it’s more affordable and then end up driving something dangerous.
- runeb 2y ago
  I believe their comment was about safety, not usability
- dredmorbius 2y ago
  The automobile industry is one of the canonical examples of the market failing to deliver safety or efficiency until compelled to do so. Ralph Nader in 1967, 57 years ago, interviewed by Studs Terkel: <https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/ralph-nader-discusses-his-book-unsafe-any-speed https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/ralph-nader-discusses-...> Direct audio: <https://s3.amazonaws.com/wfmt-studs-terkel/published/11364.mp3 https://s3.amazonaws.com/wfmt-studs-terkel/published/11364.m...> (MP3) (The segment is excellent, and whilst in many ways a historical document also strongly informs the recent past, immediate present, and I strongly suspect the future.)
  - GrantS 2y ago
    This is an amazing archive of interviews. The audio quality is astounding — you would think these were podcasts from this week. I enjoyed the 1959 discussion with Arthur C. Clarke as well: https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/arthur-charles-clarke-discusses-science-fiction https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/arthur-charles-clarke-...
    - dredmorbius 2y ago
      It really is. To quote an earlier comment of mine, the interview archive is immense and diverse. It spans 45 years, from 1952--1997, ran 1 hour each weekday, and the interview guests range from the highly famous to street and school interviews. I've hit on a few gems in particular. The AWS back-end could be browsed or downloaded directly via AWS tools a ways back, and was about 600 GB last I'd checked. You'll have to sort out your own directory of content, however. Much of what's in there still isn't included in the official directory, again, at last check, though that includes numerous fragments and partial-tape interviews. <https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/ https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/> (Previous discussion: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39628701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39628701>.)
- dm319 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - dang 2y ago
    Could you please make your substantive points thoughtfully and avoid name-calling and ideological battle? We're trying for curious conversation here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- timeon 2y ago
  > If it is inferior, they will lose sales and money. I wish world would work like this. Unfortunately it does not.
CrimsonRain 2y ago
Because you're not thinking and blindly hating. Maybe try to learn and change how you use a car dash instead of trying to use a Tesla (or similar) like a car from 2005.. Teslas are best selling cars for many reasons and touchscreen dash is one of the most important ones.
- 7thpower 2y ago
  I love Teslas but hate that feature. Why would you want the most used features to be on a touchscreen?
  - Schiendelman 2y ago
    The most used features aren't only on a touchscreen. I feel like most of the people who make these comments have just not driven one.
  - CrimsonRain 2y ago
    Which ones? Gear change: drive/park/reverse. Always using when stopped. Music: has physical control to change + voice Volume: same Side mirrors folks: same + auto Climate: profile + voice The only thing that I found I need to fiddle with touchscreen (one physical button -> one touch button) while driving is rear fog light. It's neither auto nor supported by voice. It's an easy software fix; not sure why they didn't add it yet. The software even recognizes the command and says not available yet.
potato3732842 2y ago
I hate this take because it's just doubling down. Trying to legislate exactly what is and isn't in cars is exactly how we got touch screen everything in the first place. I have less than zero faith that doubling down and adding another layer on top will not cause more perverse 2nd and 3rd order consequences.

vel0city 2y ago

I'm not playing Call of Duty mobile or watching YouTube on the screen on my head unit. I'm not scrolling TikTik or having a text message conversation on a head unit screen. If you think it's the same thing, you haven't actually driven a car with a screen before.

electriclove 2y ago

No, it shouldn’t be illegal. If it is inferior, they will lose sales and money.

twobitshifter 2y ago
It’s naive to think that cost cutting is leading to lost sales. People may in fact buy the inferior car because it’s more affordable and then end up driving something dangerous.
runeb 2y ago
I believe their comment was about safety, not usability
dredmorbius 2y ago
The automobile industry is one of the canonical examples of the market failing to deliver safety or efficiency until compelled to do so. Ralph Nader in 1967, 57 years ago, interviewed by Studs Terkel: <https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/ralph-nader-discusses-his-book-unsafe-any-speed https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/ralph-nader-discusses-...> Direct audio: <https://s3.amazonaws.com/wfmt-studs-terkel/published/11364.mp3 https://s3.amazonaws.com/wfmt-studs-terkel/published/11364.m...> (MP3) (The segment is excellent, and whilst in many ways a historical document also strongly informs the recent past, immediate present, and I strongly suspect the future.)
- GrantS 2y ago
  This is an amazing archive of interviews. The audio quality is astounding — you would think these were podcasts from this week. I enjoyed the 1959 discussion with Arthur C. Clarke as well: https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/arthur-charles-clarke-discusses-science-fiction https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/arthur-charles-clarke-...
  - dredmorbius 2y ago
    It really is. To quote an earlier comment of mine, the interview archive is immense and diverse. It spans 45 years, from 1952--1997, ran 1 hour each weekday, and the interview guests range from the highly famous to street and school interviews. I've hit on a few gems in particular. The AWS back-end could be browsed or downloaded directly via AWS tools a ways back, and was about 600 GB last I'd checked. You'll have to sort out your own directory of content, however. Much of what's in there still isn't included in the official directory, again, at last check, though that includes numerous fragments and partial-tape interviews. <https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/ https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/> (Previous discussion: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39628701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39628701>.)
dm319 2y ago
[flagged]
- dang 2y ago
  Could you please make your substantive points thoughtfully and avoid name-calling and ideological battle? We're trying for curious conversation here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
timeon 2y ago
> If it is inferior, they will lose sales and money. I wish world would work like this. Unfortunately it does not.

CrimsonRain 2y ago

Because you're not thinking and blindly hating. Maybe try to learn and change how you use a car dash instead of trying to use a Tesla (or similar) like a car from 2005.. Teslas are best selling cars for many reasons and touchscreen dash is one of the most important ones.

7thpower 2y ago
I love Teslas but hate that feature. Why would you want the most used features to be on a touchscreen?
- Schiendelman 2y ago
  The most used features aren't only on a touchscreen. I feel like most of the people who make these comments have just not driven one.
- CrimsonRain 2y ago
  Which ones? Gear change: drive/park/reverse. Always using when stopped. Music: has physical control to change + voice Volume: same Side mirrors folks: same + auto Climate: profile + voice The only thing that I found I need to fiddle with touchscreen (one physical button -> one touch button) while driving is rear fog light. It's neither auto nor supported by voice. It's an easy software fix; not sure why they didn't add it yet. The software even recognizes the command and says not available yet.

potato3732842 2y ago

I hate this take because it's just doubling down. Trying to legislate exactly what is and isn't in cars is exactly how we got touch screen everything in the first place. I have less than zero faith that doubling down and adding another layer on top will not cause more perverse 2nd and 3rd order consequences.