Give me a car radio with the two knobs for volume and tuning like the old days. The screen in my car doesn't even work in the hot weather. I HATE THOSE DAMN TOUCH SCREENS.
Exactly. It is absoltutely stupid. People be like : oh cool! Its a screen! Its luxurious! No more stupid buttons!. But, they don’t understand analogs have ALWAYS worked. Plus they look better.
FINALLY! Someone on here is putting this out there! I don't mind a screen as a DISPLAY. Let a screen SHOW details of vehicle functions. (If you really have to) But there MUST be buttons, switches, levers & knobs to actually control those functions. You nailed one of my counterpoints dead on! Muscle memory. I just reach over and push the button for defrost, and I get defrost ('90 Dodge B250 Van) I slide the lever for warmer air. I don't have to find "menu" then try to touch the word "Menu" while my hand bounces around due to rough roads, then find "temperature" and tap tap tap tap to get it warmer. Nope! Just slide the damn lever that is already there and be done with it. Same with the stereo. (older stereos) Volume, tuning, fader, balance, bass and treble, as well as preset buttons are present and ready to use! Hell even repalcement Non-screen head units these days you have to fuck around in some menu to lower the bass on a bass-heavy track. The best stereos were the GM ETR units of the late 80's early 90's. Especially the ones with the 5-band EQ. Again trying to touch a picture of an imaginary "button" made out of photons on the back of a hunk of glass is a apain in the ass when there is nothing to facilitate tactile feedback. Like I said, if the road is rough you hand is going to be waving above the screen trying to tap this tiny picture. So you must look, and concentrate on steadying your hand and focus on that fake "button" to do it. THAT BLOWS! With physical controls, there is somwhere to essentially rest your other fingers so that your index can poke a button. Thus steadying your hand on that bouncy road. A knob or lever can be gripped during adjustment. A switch has a definite positive feedback and a click when flipped. Screens can not do any of it. People want to piss and moan, cops want to give tickets, billboards shame drivers for using their phone while driving... We all know it's HORRIBLE to do it! But along come automakers.. "Hey, lets put in a GIANT cellphone instead of a control panel.." As much as I like the Rivian R1T and R1S, They went way overboard with the screens! You HAVE to use a screen to MOVE THE FREAKIN' VENTS! W.T.F??? And then.. on 99% of these cars, these screens look like hammered shit! Very rarely do they actually fit into the dash. Most of them look like a cheap tablet that someone hot-snot glued to the facia, or jammed into some cheap-ass mount at the last minute before rollout. It sticks up over the dash, it's usually vertical in the horizontal-oriented car interior. They just look like shit. You like buttons AND Screens? Check out the Vector W8. It has screens but it's the buttons that do stuff! It's trip of a car! Bring back real buttons, switches, levers and knobs. Lose the overinflated cellphone tacked to the dash!
Yes and I own a Subaru Outback 2010 my car has radio. Not that dangerous touchscreen and I get annoyed with morans on the road especially Tesla drivers. People need to understand that having a big touchscreen on the dashboard is VERY DANGEROUS!
the absolute worst thing that has happened to the automotive industry. why why WHY do you need a fkn touch screen in a car after spending the entire day at work on your touchscreen phone and laptop. cars have NEVER needed touchscreens. cars are NOT spaceships and do not need to be. another instance of fatal attraction with technology.
Exactly. If there was a point I would understand but it honestly makes simple tasks like lowering the volume sooo complicated for nothing. Instead of rolling an analog which takes litterally 1,2 seconds, you have to put your finger on the right spot in the touchscreen and then wiggle your finger around. So stupid I hate it.
Sadly you are kinda right, given that MK8 Golf, new Benzes, Teslas, etc. have capacitive buttons, which in a sense that they don't give tactile feedback, are like a touchscreen.
VW introduced a touch screen about 10 years ago but did it well: it only controlled what was actually playing on the audio system and there were buttons to change the mode (radio, satellite, phone, input, info, settings). Everything else was tactile! I recently got a VW ID4 which is electric. It's a great car, but I'm just not getting used to the touchscreen controls for basically everything. You said the exact reason: there's no sense of where anything is on a touchscreen - YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT IT. Add to that how you have to navigate an OS to get to the "app" you want to use. Turning on the AC, for instance now takes at least two touches about 8" apart and taking your eyes off the road as opposed to a single button you could find by touch without breaking concentration in "less advanced" models.
Thanks for posting this, I've been thinking this ever since I seen the tesla GIANT touch screen. It looks great n all but jesus christ is it stupid.....I mean as you said , you HAVE to take your eyes off the road to use it!!... it's nuts!
Ist time coming across your videos, but you are 10000% correct. Perfectly said! It is my #1 gripe, among many, on new vehicles. Best years as far as tech and reliability are between 1996 and 2008, I can think of a handful of vehicles newer than that that I'd want to buy. Unfortunately, those 'best' automotive years are old, rusted, and have half-million miles, and we're forced to pay these ridiculous prices for these newer pieces of crap! Newer tech to avoid are these touchscreens (in which a little failure can leave many vehicles inoperable), gas-direct injection, cylinder deactivation, smaller turbocharged engines, extreme emissions on diesels, electric vehicles, electronic everything including gloveboxes and door handles, CVT and most dual-clutch transmissions, etc. Cars are ABSOLUTELY NOT getting more reliable, that's just a marketing myth!
You are totally right. Too much of a distraction. I don't need a screen for navigation either. I am okay with voice guidance. Cars should improve on soundproofing and audio systems, making the ride more pleasant.
Bro I agree with completely! Individuals can barely drive as it is and with all the distractions to me its even more dangerous to drive. I have an RDX with the 1:1 touchpad, I prefer that over the touch screen. Also cars also have voice command which I use. Once I am in motion I am focused on driving that’s it! My 2008 TL Type S had a Touch screen with voice command which I used for the functionality of the vehicle. Great Post and topic!
It's nothing but a cost saving measure, touch screens are cheaper to manufacture than knobs and buttons. All they need to implement is a simple program. In the end consumers are paying more for less, it's a gigantic scam. If anything goes wrong with them, (and we all know that computers have glitches) your car is useless. On top of all that they are distracting and dangerous.
@pyrodor Your opinion objectively makes sense. One could argue that the touchscreen is the modern day automotive distraction as compared to the built-in cigarette lighter of yesteryear. However, to play Devil’s advocate, one could argue that many common features on all cars across all price levels could be viewed as a distraction, like the radio and even cruise control. Even the automatic transmission exudes laziness and it’s very nature fosters an environment for texting and driving. Alternatively, modern technologies like additional airbags, sturdier crumple zones, lane departure/assist warnings and auto braking and back up cameras have only made cars safer. Ultimately, it is up to the discipline and maturity of the driver to not touch the touch screen while driving.
What I can't stand is when you have your finger aimed at the touch-screen button you need to press, but as you go to press it, you go over a slight bump and hit a different button. At least my car (2012 Dodge Journey) also has physical switches and knobs for climate control and stereo volume. Where I live it's illegal to use your phone while driving unless you put a phone mount on the dash and use it there. For me that's google maps.
Love my touch screen on both of my cars 2014 Chrysler 300 & 2019 Nissan Altima. Guess I’d call it half and half. I use the steering’s hands free buttons for changing stations and adjusting volume. I don’t consider it a distraction and it looks great. Even has the old school manual button in the event one would rather turn those old knobs. Love both of my cars and the touch screens that come with them. Great video though 💯
I agree, and have heard that some auto makers are dumping the screens soon. I don't recall all the brands, but I know VW was one and I also think Toyota. They make them like that because it's cheaper
You are 100% Right I always prefer buttons over the touch screen. Why do people like those touch screen so much? People don’t understand how distracting it is And I could not believe the 1986 Buick car use to have a touch screen. I own a 2010 Subaru Outback with buttons and no screen and I love it. I love Subaru cars but I don’t like what Subaru is doing with new cars with stupid ass touchscreen To me I’ll stick to older cars even the 1980’s civic cars with no touchscreen I always keep 2 hands on steering wheels and keep the eyes on the road. And I use turn signal all the time. My mom owns the 2013 Volkswagen Passat and it has a touchscreen but my mom refused to play with touchscreen while my mom drives and I’m proud of my mom and I agree with you as a passenger with my mom whenever I press the touchscreen it’s pain in the ass and Complicated. But my dad has a 2014 Ford Explorer and my dad sometimes dose something with touchscreen but I always keep in eye on a road and I got mad at my dad for playing with cellphone while driving. And my dad barely use a turn signal. I don’t like any more of new cars in this decade. And Tesla can kiss my ass.
I have to agree. And here's my pitch. How about: Infotainment Screens in Train passenger seats? What do i mean by that? It's like In-Flight Entertainment System but on Trains instead of commercial aircraft. Keep our cars simple and reliable with the good old fashioned physical buttons, knobs and sticks.
I mostly share your opinion and my next car purchase will consider the amount of buttons for sure, but I disagree with you in one thing: For tuning setting while being parked (or having your passenger do it), touchscreens improve the interface greatly! I'd rather type in my GPS destination by touchscreen than I'd do by turn button. If I want to switch off the ambient light since I don't want it, I do it once after getting the car and it is fine by touchscreen. If I want to reset my trip computer - also fine by touchscreen. The important thing is that EVERYTHING YOU NEED WHILE DRIVING is available by buttons: Adjusting volume, zooming map, ALL climate functions, wipers and headlights (looking at you, Tesla), window controls, et. Things you do rarely and you only do while in park may be burried into a touchscreen submenu, that's fine and even convenient to me.
If you mean 'touchscreen-only' cars then I agree. However, at 1:30, you're incorrect, BMW's iDrive system did not have touchscreen up until 2016. Also, they still have buttons and control knobs for the infotainment system (on the central console, next to the gear shifter, which I believe is the best place to put them) and the climate control, although the latter does have some touch sensitive buttons I must admit but the most used buttons and knobs for the climate control are still physical. Let's just hope that the remaining car manufacturers don't jump on that touchscreen-only bandwagon...
iDrive was abominable. Trying to control everything via a single knob on the console that moved basically a cursor on the screen was orders of magnitude worse than a touchscreen. Thankfully BMW realized this was a problem so just doubled up the interface with buttons. Why is it that just doing what works isn't enough?
BMW's iDrive 7 and older has buttons for clinate controls. But their iDrive 8 switched to touchscreen, and iDrive 8 is phasing in rapidly. Never mind the controversial grille, iDrive 8 deserves 8x more controversy than whatever grille BMW is experimenting with
I've always liked cars just to be simple and Not come with more problems. I don't want a car to be a freaking computer and running on software. That's why I call a lot of these car companies now a bunch of try hards. Because they wanted to be the next big thing that's Reinventing the wheel. (no pun intended) And I have always said that if it's not broken then don't fix it. Meaning as in there's certain aspects you just need to leave alone.
I hate touchscreens too! So fun to find this rant! Even with haptic feedback a touchscreen is bullshit! I want knobs and buttons of different shapes and sizes! Perhaps a heads up display is what would make the car feel like “the future”…. Next touch screen is too bright at night and ruins night vision. Also, it’s cheaper to manufacture and requires way way less effort. All the wiring and just glue the screen to dashboard. Apple cartoon play looks so stupid, lame as car makers need to make their own software which looks cool and is unique. I hate the look of ugly giant app icons and bs Apple Maps which is terrible.. I’m not an ER doc. My phone doesn’t need to be in contact with me every second. Screw touch screens! Oh and now and now there is no mouse even in the center console so i have to reach over every time i want make a change to the volume. The Lexus I just got as a rental was terrible! Forced you to touch the screen with no other way of making adjustments! And finally it looks futuristic.. does the millennium falcon have touch screens? How about the Enterprise on Star Trek.. They all have buttons! It’s futuristic!
Honda/Acura and Mitsubishi went experimental with capacitive volume sliders and theg went back to real buttons after complaints about the slider. I hope Honda/Acura and Mitsubishi never go "experimental" with that again.
