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When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, he said there was a need for a new UI. The issue, as he said [1], was that the hardware of then-current smartphones was present and unchangeable whether or not that’s what the software in use called for. In the context of phones and the assorted software used on them, there’s a worthwhile logic to his point.

Car manufacturers (among others), didn’t seem to understand this logic. When it comes to in-car adjustments of vehicle capabilities—heating/cooling, music, etc.—touchscreens offer no benefits to users that exceed the simplicity of usability and the safety of dedicated hardware controls.

The irony, of course, is that Apple played a large role in popularizing touchscreens even if the logic the company used for choosing it was lost on so many, even though Jobs made clear the explicit value for smartphones.

https://youtu.be/efFvYXsI9og?t=306

2 comments

Yet, typing experience on smartphone is terrible.

I struggle to understand how as mature industry as smartphone's, how hugely resourceful R&D departments for those things are...

and this is the best thing they managed to figure out, or maybe cheapest?

I'd rather have something like blackberry's keyboard.

The same effects took place in mobile phones. They removed physical and capacitive buttons then promoted the new looks as sleek minimalism while reducing cost and rasing prices.

The difference that you're hinting at though is called human factors in design. For a mobile phone the all touch model is workable. In cars it ignores the key needs like safety and consistency which are different from phones.

Additionally, touch screens in cars are so hard to operate. The easy retort is that you should only operate them when perfectly still. I don't find that argument all that compelling, but even at that, I find myself needing to steady my hand to operate a car touchscreen with any precision (as with a phone when it's mounted - there's a reason why we steady it with our hand from the backside)

Somewhat related, a few years ago when the first spacex manned capsule was launched, I gave an audible gasp when I saw they used touch screens, rocket launch is a very vibrating environment. I bet the touch screens were unusable during liftoff. However those spacex touchscreens did have one redeeming feature I would like to see on car touch screens. A bar to steady your hand while using it.