The tyranny of touch screens may be coming to an end

[Dude]

A few key points.

“We want to touch type or operate cruise control without averting our eyes from the road”

“The hazards of burying many of a vehicle’s controls inside touch-screen menus that need drivers to look at them have become so obvious that the one European automotive safety body has declared that vehicles must have physical switches and buttons to receive its highest safety rating. Responding to criticism from drivers, Volkswagen has pledged to bring back physical controls for certain oft-used features, such as climate control.”

Full Article (need to have a subscription to WSJ or Apple New+ etc):
https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/touch-screens-are-over-even-apple-is-bringing-back-buttons-86fb9ea8

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[MJE]

I hadn’t quite thought about what even Apple is doing in this space until reading your headline. I just ordered an iPhone 16 pro. I’m not one of those who has to upgrade every year, it’s replacing an 8. Y’know the phone with a button still…. Having said that I’m hardly a Luddite, I like the new big screens.

But the seemingly most hyped feature of this new phone... a camera BUTTON… yep a physical control to do what you could already with a swipe. It seems to have its detractors (my phone isn’t due to arrive until next week so haven’t tried it myself yet), but it is a physical button returning to manage a function that previously went without.

 

[petegee77]

Bout time ! My 2016 Jeep Patriot , that I traded in on my 2022 BSBB did NOT have a screen at akkand I loved it. Anytime I needed to do something like put on the defrost I never had to take my eyes off the road. I just felt for the big knob and turned it accordingly. With my BSBB I'm constantly peering at the screen even when I need to do something like change the radio station. I WANT MY KNOBS AND BUTTONS BACK !!

 

[BigBadWolf]

I think my Bronco Sport has enough knobs and I just turn my screen off on longer drives.

 

[o0260o]

I am tech savvy and I hate screens in cars. They made it illegal to text and drive back when you could blind type on a T9 keyboard Nokia. But now it's ok to have a 30 inch touch screen right in front of you. I just feel like majority of people hate the act of driving and want to be distracted by something else while sitting in a car.

 

[Escape2Bronco]

Unfortunately, I don’t think they are going away anytime soon. They are too cost effective for everything they do in a single interface.

 

[Mark S.]

But the seemingly most hyped feature of this new phone... a camera BUTTON… yep a physical control to do what you could already with a swipe.

The "button" Apple is bringing back to the new iPhone is NOT just a button. It's actually just another, more complicated form of touch control.

 

[Major Kong]

I hadn’t quite thought about what even Apple is doing in this space until reading your headline. I just ordered an iPhone 16 pro. I’m not one of those who has to upgrade every year, it’s replacing an 8. Y’know the phone with a button still…. Having said that I’m hardly a Luddite, I like the new big screens.

But the seemingly most hyped feature of this new phone... a camera BUTTON… yep a physical control to do what you could already with a swipe. It seems to have its detractors (my phone isn’t due to arrive until next week so haven’t tried it myself yet), but it is a physical button returning to manage a function that previously went without.

all these years
couldn't find the right term
suppose I've always been one
well now
effective from this date forward
I have self declared the brotherhood of Luddites my new affiliates
may opt for new vanity plate

 

[davidg4781]

I'm good with the amount of buttons my BS has. I don't think I have to go into the touch screen to do anything on a regular basis. And I don't think they can convert any CarPlay features to physical.

What does annoy me is how they have the volume and track on different parts of the wheel. My Honda had them together on the left side and cruise control on the right. It was very easy to decide what to do. Maybe I was used to it but after 18 months, I still have to think about which side I need to press.

 

[Glamdring70]

You can bet none of the Apple users plugged in their headphones to listen to the article.
It's proven that BMW can provide physical controls for things e.g. Turn Signals, and the driver still won't use them.
I think the Bronco Sport has a pretty good amount of buttons. Most of the touchscreen controls duplicate existing buttons. I don't know that the buttons are laid out on the best possible way though. Even after three years, I still hit the "cruise off" button instead of the one to change follow distance. I vastly prefer GM's cruise buttons. There is a physical on-off toggle switch, i.e. the system is always on instead of having to activate it each key cycle.
Ford could really learn from a UX designer or a focus group. I think it is baffling that my Sport's headlight system has at least 5 icons on the DIC cluster. And they're spread out to three areas. They could all be in one common zone. Then, one screen has temp and direction, the other screen has temp and time. I feel like there is enough real estate at the top that all three could be common to both screens, or Heavens forbid, selectable options. Well, we already know some of that answer because it's the same reason we have these European imported HVAC panels with the wheel on the wrong side and a blank where the screen heater goes. Ka-ching!

 

[o0260o]

I'm good with the amount of buttons my BS has. I don't think I have to go into the touch screen to do anything on a regular basis. And I don't think they can convert any CarPlay features to physical.

What does annoy me is how they have the volume and track on different parts of the wheel. My Honda had them together on the left side and cruise control on the right. It was very easy to decide what to do. Maybe I was used to it but after 18 months, I still have to think about which side I need to press.

Mazda has android/apple integration without touch screens.

 

[davidg4781]

Mazda has android/apple integration without touch screens.

Really? How do you swipe between menus or use Maps? Or select Playlists?

 

[Jmuns]

Really? How do you swipe between menus or use Maps? Or select Playlists?

It’s horrible. You use a little dial that scrolls through all the icons/items and you push the button down to select them. I change vehicles when rental companies try and assign me one.

 

[Kamikaze9000]

I've had the unfortunate opportunity to experience that. It was... Frustrating to say the least. Feels similar to navigating a web brower and webpage without a mouse and only a keyboard on a non-touchscreen pc.

 

[MoFoCo]

all these years
couldn't find the right term
suppose I've always been one
well now
effective from this date forward
I have self declared the brotherhood of Luddites my new affiliates
may opt for new vanity plate

I've recently
had a desire
for a completely analog car
crank windows
5 speed transmission
and a key made of jagged brass
I may throw my iPhone into the sea
if I'm a Luddite
Let it be Known

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