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If you're lucky enough not to have a new car (there's a sentence I never thought I'd write!) you haven't experienced the annoyance of those touchscreens that are used for just about everything - including tuning your radio.
Yes, they're high tech and look uber-modern, but they're also not practical in a lot of ways. Whoever thought it was a good idea to have to make drivers scroll through menus while they're driving should be tarred and feathered. It is, without question, the one thing that drives (you should pardon the expression) me craziest about the modern automobile.
Before I could turn on the heat, change the station, turn up the volume or do a host of other functions simply by feel. That went out with those damn touchscreens, which require way more attention than anything in a moving car should.
But now there are hints that automakers have heard the complaints and at least two - Volkswagen and Hyundai - are bringing back the older style controls to augment their touchscreens. And according to one researcher, they may not be alone.
"I think they're hearing a lot of uproar from consumers that they really kind of want the buttons back in their telephone and computer interfaces and their car interfaces. I think a big reason for that, one, is just kind of touchscreen fatigue.
People are feeling a little bit tired of having to look at screens all day, every day. But also studies really do show that it's much safer when you're driving to not be constantly looking down at a screen.
I think we've seen a lot of negative effects from that. People realize that, hey, it's much easier to turn a dial or a knob or push a physical button when I don't have to take my eyes away from the road."
Amen. And the sooner they fix this, the better.
The rise of touchscreens pushed buttons out of vogue. But they're making a comeback
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I bought a 2017 Nissan Micra for (partially) this reason. No screens, no rear camera! Just a "car"
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Jody Thornton wrote:
I bought a 2017 Nissan Micra for (partially) this reason. No screens, no rear camera! Just a "car"
The rear camera comes in handy, but on my car, the so-called "safety features" - like a noise that happens if you're too close to something like another car or a curb, etc. - I'm finding annoying. They go off even when there's nothing there and it actually scares me worse than if there really was danger. It makes me crazy.
As for the radio, you were smart to get that car. I'm so jealous of people with older cars, I can't tell you. It's not that I don't know how to use the new technology, it's that it's extremely hazardous when it forces you to take your eyes off the road, even for a split second. In my old car, I knew where everything was without looking.
Change the radio station? Hit the third preset. Easy.
Go to a random station not on a pre-set? Reach for the knob and turn.
Turn on the heat/AC? Reach for the knob and turn it. No looking required.
I simply cannot understand why they did something that increases the distraction when driving in the name of so-called technological advancements. It's stupid - and dangerous. It's a classic case of improving something and making it worse.
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All my vehicles are old enough to still have preset buttons, 1994 Ford F150, 2010 Malibu and 2016 Kia Sorento. I retired from being a tilt 'n' load tow truck driver recently, the modern cars are so full of bells and whistles, they are so difficult to deal with, the majority don't have a neutral release for the transmission anymore. Electronic everything that costs a small fortune to repair. I recall a fellow telling me to change the headlight on his BMW was in the 1500$ range.
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RadioActive wrote:
If you're lucky enough not to have a new car (there's a sentence I never thought I'd write!) you haven't experienced the annoyance of those touchscreens that are used for just about everything - including tuning your radio.
Yes, they're high tech and look uber-modern, but they're also not practical in a lot of ways. Whoever thought it was a good idea to have to make drivers scroll through menus while they're driving should be tarred and feathered. It is, without question, the one thing that drives (you should pardon the expression) me craziest about the modern autom
Before I could turn on the heat, change the station, turn up the volume or do a host of other functions simply by feel. That went out with those damn touchscreens, which require way more attention than anything in a moving car should.
But now there are hints that automakers have heard the complaints and at least two - Volkswagen and Hyundai - are bringing back the older style controls to augment their touchscreens. And according to one researcher, they may not be alone.
"I think they're hearing a lot of uproar from consumers that they really kind of want the buttons back in their telephone and computer interfaces and their car interfaces. I think a big reason for that, one, is just kind of touchscreen fatigue.
People are feeling a little bit tired of having to look at screens all day, every day. But also studies really do show that it's much safer when you're driving to not be constantly looking down at a screen.
I think we've seen a lot of negative effects from that. People realize that, hey, it's much easier to turn a dial or a knob or push a physical button when I don't have to take my eyes away from the road."
Amen. And the sooner they fix this, the better.
The rise of touchscreens pushed buttons out of vogue. But they're making a comeback
You have often commented here about your frustrations in operating your new vehicle's "Entertainment System" For that reason alone, I intend to keep my boring beige 2006 Toyota Camry for as long as possible. It only has 110,000 km on it so a new car is not in my immediate future.
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I drive a 2021 Volkwagen Golf, and it was right on the edge where tech got too fussy and annoying, so I have a touch screen but I have programmed things so I can use controls on the steering wheel and don't have to touch the screen at all.
I find most of the tech on the car to be unnecessary, like a computer warning me that my fuel is getting low.
I know it also has a gas gage.
The backup camera is not particularly useful since many years of driving makes it just reflex for me to turn my head when I back up and look out the back window.
The one feature I do appreciate is the GPS.
it works really well, and when I want to go to an address I've never been before I can verbally command it and the computer voice then tells me how to get there, with a map that appears on the screen.
The car itself is great. It's a peppy 1,8 litre turbo charged.
And, it is a six speed manual. All the cars I have ever owned are stick.
I would not have it any other way.
Last edited by newsguy1 (January 19, 2025 1:59 pm)
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A manual shift car is a great theft prevention device, these days.😁
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When I start the car, a message comes on the screen telling me not to take my eyes off the road. I have to take my eyes off the road to cancel the message.
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How about this "car radio of the future" from 54 years ago?
PJ
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mic'em wrote:
All my vehicles are old enough to still have preset buttons, 1994 Ford F150, 2010 Malibu and 2016 Kia Sorento. I retired from being a tilt 'n' load tow truck driver recently, the modern cars are so full of bells and whistles, they are so difficult to deal with, the majority don't have a neutral release for the transmission anymore. Electronic everything that costs a small fortune to repair. I recall a fellow telling me to change the headlight on his BMW was in the 1500$ range.
By "neutral release" do you mean the inability to 'pop it' into neutral without having to press the side-button on the shifter? I found this to be the case in my wife's '20 Ford EcoSport when I wanted to take the drive wheels 'off' when coming to a stop on an icy approach to a 4-way stop.. Stupid, stupid idea to take that ability away.
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Deep Tracks, what I'm refering to is a small tab that allows the shifter to be put into nuetral without the engine running, that allows the vehicle to be winched or just moved at all . Not all vehicles have the tab in plain view. Some have to have the console removed and then there is a mechanism located under or beside the shift linkages. Also there are vehicles that don't have a release at all , meaning I had to crawl under the vehicles and disconnect the linkage at the transmission, or just hook and drag which I hated doing due to the possibility of damaging the customer's vehicle. All vehicles now with electronic shifters and electric E brakes have no way to put the vehicles into neutral with out power from the battery and the fob to turn the power on. Most tow operators that I am aware of just drag the vehicles onto the bed, or in the case of a wrecker unit, ,use the small dolly wheels to tow. I always strived during my 22 years in towing to treat a customers vehicle like it was my own. I don't think that sentiment exits much anymore with the new generation. This link shows the tab for a Kia Sorento...
Last edited by mic'em (January 18, 2025 9:08 am)
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Paul Jeffries wrote:
How about this "car radio of the future" from 54 years ago?
PJ
Speaking of weird British cars, this one had two radios in it - one in the front and one in the back, complete with different antennas. It was a one-off made for the Duke of Windsor, the former King of England who famously resigned to marry the love of his life, Wallis Simpson.
The article doesn't contain a lot of information about the dual radio oddity, beyond this:
"Two radio receivers – one for each row of seats – were put in the Windsors’ ride. The rear radio came with a vacuum-power antenna hidden in the trunk. The buttons were preset to New York stations from that era (two are still broadcasting today, by the way)."
I love that last bit in parenthesis! But imagine all the arguments you had with your parents way back when about wanting to listen to CHUM while mom and dad preferred CFRB. This would have solved the problem for good!
The Cadillac With Two Radios
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mic'em wrote:
Deep Tracks, what I'm refering to is a small tab that allows the shifter to be put into nuetral without the engine running, that allows the vehicle to be winched or just moved at all . Not all vehicles have the tab in plain view. Some have to have the console removed and then there is a mechanism located under or beside the shift linkages. Also there are vehicles that don't have a release at all , meaning I had to crawl under the vehicles and disconnect the linkage at the transmission, or just hook and drag which I hated doing due to the possibility of damaging the customer's vehicle. All vehicles now with electronic shifters and electric E brakes have no way to put the vehicles into neutral with out power from the battery and the fob to turn the power on. Most tow operators that I am aware of just drag the vehicles onto the bed, or in the case of a wrecker unit, ,use the small dolly wheels to tow. I always strived during my 22 years in towing to treat a customers vehicle like it was my own. I don't think that sentiment exits much anymore with the new generation. This link shows the tab for a Kia Sorento...
Thank you, Mic;em, for your description and provided video. I would never have guessed that you can't now always place a vehicle into neutral.
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Your welcome , I'm just here to educate.