• @[email protected]
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    31 year ago

    When I bought my Tiguan the dealer was pushing really hard for me to get a 2022 which has just come in. It was the first year to have capacitive steering wheel buttons. I told them to find a 2021 or I’m looking at something else. I think the car market was still a little slow at that time so they made it happen to get a sale.

  • NoThatNow
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    381 year ago

    Finally people are starting to see that touch screens or any other touch surfaces don’t belong into cars.

    • TheRealKuni
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      71 year ago

      As I’ve said elsewhere, touchscreens are fine in cars for functionality that isn’t something cars already had.

      I don’t need a dedicated button for the Now Playing screen on my podcast app. Or for Points of Interest in my Maps app. But I would still like to use those things in my car the way I have become accustomed to.

      But I do want physical buttons for everything I’ve always had physical buttons for.

      My current car (a 2022 Ford Escape PHEV) has actual buttons and dials for climate control, media controls, etc. Everything you want to be able to do without looking. But it also has a nice touchscreen to support Apple Car Play/Android Auto.

      This is the proper balance, I think. Let the car continue to function as a car without the touchscreen, but the touchscreen should be available for the luxury elements a car can provide.

  • @[email protected]
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    1 year ago

    Infiniti not updating their interior since 2014 is starting to feel like a good thing as other brands abandon buttons.

    Nice to know VW is returning to sanity

    • netburnr
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      21 year ago

      Everyone else is going to start putting analog clocks in the dash again.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        God I fucking need that. One of my cars didn’t use a big enough variable to hold the GPS time adjustment. So it’s off by an hour randomly about 9 months out of the year. My other car is just old enough that they don’t have an update for the radio to fix the time since the last time they moved daylight savings around.

  • Margot Robbie
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    931 year ago

    Replacing the buttons with a tablet has always been a cost saving measure on Tesla’s part that was marketed as “futuristic”, physical switches and dials made of plastic and metal as well as the underlying components will never be as cheap or as easy to wire as a simple touchscreen control. Other car companies followed suit, because Tesla made a method of reducing their own manufacturing costs hip, so many of them jumped on it.

    But, Tesla tablets were designed with the belief that this cost saving is possible because of the delusion that full autonomous self driving is possible with existing hardware through software updates. When self driving didn’t happen after a decade of trying, people realized how inconvenient and dangerous it is that the only way to adjust the AC, stereo volume, and sideview mirrors while driving is through a tablet with no tactile feedback. So now, we are finally seeing that trend reversing.

    • @[email protected]
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      11 year ago

      In practice though Tesla has buttons for the controls you need while driving.

      Cruise control/lane keeping/cancel is a lever

      Indicators, flash high beams is a lever

      Park is a button

      Windscreen wiper single wipe is a button, same button is window wash

      Set speed is a scroll wheel, volume is a scroll wheel (and a touch control on the passenger side)

      Navigation is on screen keyboard, but you should stop to change navigation, or have a passenger do it

      Climate control heats or cools towards your target temperature, heated seats and steering wheel are automatic or touch screen, but you know you need them before you get in the car

      What more would you want physical controls for?

    • @[email protected]
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      1 year ago

      I had huge reservations towards Tesla’s control system, but in reality, I got used to it in a week. And I’m loving how clean and sleek the dashboard is otherwise. What I don’t understand is the car makers who include a huge tablet AND a dozen gadgets around the dashboard. That’s worst of both worlds.

    • @[email protected]
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      351 year ago

      Especially when the buttons move around in the GUI after an update so you accidentally press the wrong ones, or end up having to search the menus while driving.

      Perhaps this could change when we have mainstream tactile displays, but until then buttons will always be better.

    • @[email protected]
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      1 year ago

      I don’t think autonomous driving had anything to do with the initial choice. It might be a reason now, but I don’t think it was the initial driving factor.

      You left off it being marketed as clean and minimalistic. I think that’s different enough from futuristic. Some people love that aspect, some outright hate it. (Edit and I mean this in a looks fashion, not a functionality one)

    • @[email protected]
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      31 year ago

      Also, Tesla’s button replacements actually do work more or less reliably. The other manufacturers decided to save money by adding a potato instead of a potent CPU that powers the screen in the middle of the console.

  • @[email protected]
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    31 year ago

    Yet the model Y is the world’s most sold car. Maybe it’s not the touch screen that is the problem.

    • @[email protected]
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      31 year ago

      As a Model 3 owner of 5 years, it’s really a non issue, in my opinion. All the basic controls you need while in motion are on the steering wheel. The touchscreen is responsive and intuitive.

    • @[email protected]
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      31 year ago

      Not sure where you get that data but according to Statista the top selling car is a Toyota corolla. Tesla model y is on the list but at #4.

      Touchscreens probably aren’t the deciding factor in a purchase but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t a problem for users. People just have to decide what features they are willing to compromise on (assuming they have a choice, and touchscreens increasingly are unavoidable).

  • @[email protected]
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    451 year ago

    I’m reading this as “VW is putting buttons back in cars because they reckon the EU is going to slap them for making dangerous cars”

    • @[email protected]
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      131 year ago

      That would be funny, but it’s more likely because they are about to go under if they don’t change something up. Doing one of the most requested this seems like a good start in that direction.

      • @[email protected]
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        211 year ago

        Where with “going under” you presumably mean “doesn’t overtake Toyota and stays the 2nd biggest car company world-wide”. That’s by number of cars, by revenue VW is in first place.

        I’d say it’s more a case of “yeah we should’ve guessed that how Tesla does things is just hype”.

  • @[email protected]
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    2411 year ago

    Good. Touchscreens are the most unsafe feature added to vehicles in decades. It’s honestly mind boggling how it was allowed in the first place.

    • @[email protected]
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      31 year ago

      They are a lot safer now that we have LKAS and ACC and FCW systems. But that’s moreso in spite of the touchscreens.

    • @[email protected]
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      1161 year ago

      Easy, because regulations don’t mean anything anymore.

      Headlights that blind you in the day and literally block all vision of the road at night, road legal trucks which bumpers that START at the hood of my car, all around limo tints on literally every car, people disabling their rear lights for some idiotic reason…

      And that doesn’t even begin to mention the drivers themselves, so fucking self absorbed, tailgating, cutting you off for fun to get to the same light.

      I’ve literally had a stream of cars going around me on street roads and so many dumbasses just follow the stream that I literally cannot safety accelerate because they’re all cutting me off bumper to bumper.

      You should start carrying a gun if not already. The conservatives have successfully rotted western society.

      • @[email protected]
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        141 year ago

        Had me until the politics, but I agree. These fucking headlights nowadays are incredibly dangerous, especially on these lifted garage queens.

      • @[email protected]
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        11 year ago

        It sounds like you too, might live in a heavily populated metropolitan area of Nevada, USA. Lol

      • @[email protected]
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        11 year ago

        people disabling their rear lights for some idiotic reason…

        That might be people with daytime running lights not turning on the lights. My car will turn on the headlights as soon as I take the parking break off (MT, an auto would likely do it when put in drive), but the dash and rear lights don’t turn on unless I turn the dial.

      • @[email protected]
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        191 year ago

        While you have some good points, it seems you may be missing one in that if you are constantly getting passed in that manner, you are causing a problem, regardless of what is posted. Most western law systems have a provision against impeding the flow of traffic.

        • Pelicanen
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          91 year ago

          Problem is when you get passed because other people aren’t driving legally. Even if it’s the flow of traffic, you’re still technically not allowed to break the law.

          • @[email protected]
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            71 year ago

            Even if the people overtaking you on the Autobahn break the speed limit (yes those exist), you still have to keep to the right as much as possible. Hogging the left lane at exactly the speed limit is vigilantism.

            • Pelicanen
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              51 year ago

              I’m confused, did I miss someone mentioning staying in the left lane on the highway?

              • @[email protected]
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                21 year ago

                You mentioned getting passed which should only ever happen, in civilised countries with sane traffic laws, on the left. (modulo countries which drive on the left where it’s the right).

                Like, breaking the speed limit gets you a ticket over here. Overtaking on the right can easily mean losing your license and having to undergo a psych exam as they take such things as an opportunity to accuse you of racing on public roads.

                • @[email protected]
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                  31 year ago

                  They’re in the right lane and getting passed by cars on the left. I’m really confused by what you’re trying to say. What makes you think they’re blocking traffic?

          • @[email protected]
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            11 year ago

            Yes, exactly. So try to realize that not keeping out of the lane to pass is still an infraction on your part and let traffic enforcement do their job. It’s actually easier for them to witness you impeding multiple vehicles and pull you over than to track down everyone passing you, so don’t get yourself into a completely avoidable situation. Nobody passes you and later on reflects on the point you were trying to make.

              • @[email protected]
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                11 year ago

                Can you differentiate staying out of the lane to pass from staying out of the passing lane? Don’t try to bring your petulant road anger to me, silly goose. You have even less power and impression here than on the road. Allow me to demonstrate with my next reply.

                • Pelicanen
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                  21 year ago

                  What? What are you talking about? I’m confused, are you having an episode?

      • Herbal Gamer
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        21 year ago

        Headlights that blind you in the day and literally block all vision of the road at night, road legal trucks which bumpers that START at the hood of my car, all around limo tints on literally every car, people disabling their rear lights for some idiotic reason…

        pretty sure all of those are illegal around here, with exception of the giant compensators.

      • @[email protected]
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        51 year ago

        Headlights that blind you in the day and literally block all vision of the road at night,

        Illegal in the EU, Xenon and later LEDs always needed automatic height adjustment (it doesn’t suffice to do it once because cars change angles continuously). Lots has changed in the last 20+ years, though, speaking of VW: How about high beams all the time unless there’s something that could be blinded, then switch them off locally but keep the rest bright.

        road legal trucks which bumpers that START at the hood of my car,

        Like this?

        all around limo tints on literally every car,

        Illegal.

        people disabling their rear lights for some idiotic reason…

        Illegal.

        And that doesn’t even begin to mention the drivers themselves, so fucking self absorbed, tailgating, cutting you off for fun to get to the same light.

        See the thing is that if you build your infrastructure in a way that requires people to drive cars you can’t just take licenses away from asshats.

  • Cyber Yuki
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    581 year ago

    Seems the novelty VW engineers had to be reminded of the first item in the Unix philosophy:

    Make each program do one thing, and do it well.

    Buttons already had this. Each single button did one and only one thing: Turn a feature on or off, or in the case of the radio, switch stations.

    We didn’t need complicated menus to navigate. Press the appropriate button, and voilá. It was simple. It worked.

    Who the fuck came up with the idea of having to use touch menus? I have no idea, but I really hope they got fired.

    • @[email protected]
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      61 year ago

      I get what you’re saying, up to a point. But you really don’t want the dashboard to look like the average TV remote either.

      • @[email protected]
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        91 year ago

        Have you ever seen an airplane cockpit? Those things are crowded and confusing. A car, on the other hand, is simple enough that the average person gets used to all of the button, knobs, switches and dials in a few days.

      • @[email protected]
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        31 year ago

        Why? It’s not an art peice hanging above your desk. You’re putting from over function.

        • @[email protected]
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          21 year ago

          Not that airliners don’t have a lot of things to press (and two people to press them), but the majority of the controls in that image are the navigation, radio, and autopilot controls.

        • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️
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          171 year ago

          I would be down with that, 100%.

          My car doesn’t have nearly that many functions, though. Nor do I want it to. Owners of modern cars would shit a brick if they saw the dash on my '99 Silverado and how simple it is. It has a grand total of about 12 buttons on it, and three dials. That’s it.

          Somehow it manages to drive down the road just fine, heat or cool the interior, twiddle all the lights, change all the radio stations, play or rewind the tape. (Yes, tape.) Just with those few controls, all of which only do one thing. Except the turn signal stalk, and technically I guess the shifter lever because it has the tow/haul button on the end of it.

          The amount of bullshit that’s built into modern cars is astounding. The majority of that crap doesn’t need to be in a car. Which is, you know, a transportation machine. If the passenger wants four touch screens, that’s fine. I don’t need one. I don’t want one.

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          I really just need the “fix” button

          Edit: “legs” could also work of adequately sexy

      • @[email protected]
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        181 year ago

        would take TV remote over touch display any day, those things are horrible in so many ways, lack of tactile feedback and having to confirm it registered the input is literally a lethal hazard because it’s another reason people aren’t looking on the road while driving

      • @[email protected]
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        11 year ago

        I mean, I get a bit jealous when I see the cockpit of an F1 car. So many knobs, buttons, and switches and they don’t even have climate control or entertainment systems.

        That level isn’t necessary with daily drivers, but I’d rather have physical buttons for any action I’ll want to do while moving and zero latency for any action that physically positions something like my seat or mirrors.

    • @[email protected]
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      401 year ago

      the more important thing here is that you can find and press a button without looking at it

  • JackbyDev
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    111 year ago

    and to add insult to injury, I couldn’t turn the heater on countless times because the climate portion of the OS was unresponsive. Other times, it would simply say that the function couldn’t be performed at the time. Why? No idea.

    This is the main problem, not something about the UI being wonky. That my AC can freeze not because of the radiator but because of a shitty UI system? That’s insane.

  • @[email protected]
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    531 year ago

    You want buttons back because they’re easier to use

    I want them back because I think car interiors look bland without them

    We are not the same…alright I also want them back for the first reason aswell.