this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2023
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Interior of ID 2All concept shows how Volkswagen is responding to criticism about over-reliance on touch controls

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (2 children)

push pause to brake. play to go.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

that big round one in the middle of the console must be to post to your blog.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Wordpress can post to the Kbin now, so this is officially the first Kbin enabled vehicle.

[–] DoomBot5 0 points 11 months ago

Honestly, genius way to get with modern times. Very simple symbols with very obvious meanings.

[–] MataVatnik 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Why do companies push for stuff when they clearly know it's a bad idea? Where they gonna save money with touch screens?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yes, they actually save a significant sum with touch screens. Not only are the components cheaper (1 ~$150 touchscreen is cheaper than 15x $2 buttons w/ associated hardware + 10x $10 dials w/ associated hardware), but the wiring and electronics get significantly reduced.

[–] MataVatnik 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Plus, people liked the idea of touchscreens before they found about the actual downsides of touchscreens. So they were both meeting demand and doing cost savings at the same time.

[–] Skanky 7 points 11 months ago

Hyundai truly has this figured out (2023 Sonata N-Line)

Physical buttons for everything related to what you would need while driving. Everything else on the touchscreen.

[–] ArcaneGadget 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Whoop-dee-fucking-doo! Are we supposed to cheer for what looks like 9 lousy buttons and 2 tablets glued to a couch-back? If this is peak automotive interior design; you guys can keep it...

Also; the "joystick-thingie" just makes the problem worse! Now you have to navigate a cursor on a screen instead of "just touching the thing". That takes your eyes off the road for longer yet!

[–] RGB3x3 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Bro, clearly you've never used the rotating joystick because it's WAY WAY better than a touchscreen.

You take your eyes off the road far less because it's quick, tactile, and right near where one of your hands rests anyway. Mazda has been doing them for years and the system is far and away the best mechanism for interacting with car infotainment.

A touchscreen is incredibly difficult to use while driving. I can fly through menus so fast with the rotating joystick that would take ages tapping a touchscreen.

[–] grue 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Bro, clearly you’ve never used the rotating joystick because it’s WAY WAY better than a touchscreen.

Sure, in the same way that merely having the shit beaten out of you and being left with life-long debilitating injuries is "WAY WAY better" than being murdered. It's damning with the faintest of praise.

You know what's an actually-good interface? Having buttons that do only one thing each so that you don't have to look at them at all!

I can fly through menus so fast

The speed at which you can navigate a menu is entirely beside the point. Having menus exist in the first place is the kind of shit that belongs on one of those "they have played us for absolute fools" memes, except unironically. User interfaces designed to be used while driving simply shouldn't be modal!

Car UIs peaked in the '90s and have been getting more and more unsafe ever since.

[–] PP_BOY_ 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Funny, because I still see a fuckhuge ugly tablet in the center. How anyone likes or even tolerates those things is beyond me.

[–] breadsmasher 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The new interior has a row of physical (and backlit) buttons for the climate and a rotary controller on the centre tunnel to control the screen on the dashboard above, much like with BMW’s iDrive.

Reading the article you are replying to tends to be helpful

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Exactly and in the modern world today, you can't just expect them to put a fm radio and an anolog driver cluster. Although the center infotainment tablet could be a little bit smaller. They could have also designed the cockpit better around the screens rather than just sticking the tablets.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

I like the one in my car.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

My 9-year-old Subaru has physical buttons. The car still ignores them when it's busy "thinking", like leaving the sound blasting at whatever volume setting it was on previously, but now with a different song, and there is nothing I can do to shut it the hell up for like a minute or two while it finishes booting up the OS.

Pro-Tip: "Physical buttons" don't have to mean a damn thing.:-(

Edit: I do like the tactile feel of them though.:-)

[–] CheeseNoodle 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Feel is the main part really, means you don't have to take your eyes off the road.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I suppose... but when I tell it to mute, and it ignores me entirely, that does not "feel" good either:-).

Though fortunately it's only the first minute or so after starting up, and after that I do very much appreciate them:-D.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Mazda does it right. Not only are there plenty of physical buttons for everything you would commonly use, the infotainment screen is not a touch screen. There is a knob in the center console which acts as a sort of "mouse" to operate the screen options.

[–] The_v 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

You mean the knob and buttons that is right in front of the the cupholder in some models. A little turning knob to control stuff that any drink you have is going to interfere with access and potentially spill on. The salesman was trying to point it out as a feature. I laughed and left the dealership when I saw that little bit of stupidity.

Seriously, a touch screen isn't a big deal as long as you have physical buttons for the most frequent actions in an easier location.

[–] Bytemeister 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've got a 2016 Honda, and although the infotainment system is noticeably showing it's age, you can do any of the functions using either the touchscreen, or the buttons around the edge. My only complaint is that you can only do things like typing in a destination or connecting a phone if the vehicle is stopped. It would be nice if that feature was disabled when a passenger was in the front seat, since they can safely operate the controls independently from the driver.

Also, only the Audio and navigation are in the infotainment system, still have physical controls for climate. It's in the Goldilocks zone of automotive infotainment technology.

[–] The_v 1 points 11 months ago

I ended up purchasing a '22 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport for my teenager for those reasons. The infotainment center was "dated" according to the reviews. Lots of buttons for most things and a basic touchscreen that ran auto/carplay.

[–] RGB3x3 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's behind the cupholders, what are you talking about? Your arm doesn't cross the cupholders to get to it.

[–] The_v 1 points 11 months ago

Look at the interior of the CX-3. They swapped it around with the CX-30.

[–] DoomBot5 0 points 11 months ago

Yeah, probably the worst design possible. Having both options is a maybe. Having no touch screen makes everything a multi step process you need to watch the screen for to know is working.