I miss my buttons from my pebble on my Apple Watch. A couple real buttons would have been far better than whatever it is Apple has.

And I ALWAYS thought the Palm PDAs with a few front-facing buttons were far better than a single 'home' button on an iPhone. And not sure FaceID is better than TouchID during COVID, so going to 'no buttons' is not always a step back (though I'm ok with FaceID).

But the latest Fitbit? Well, you guessed it - no more buttons! And how did it do? Read for yourself!

[www.theverge.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2021 05:38PM by sekker.

I thought this was going to be about cars. In my old cars I could do everything I wanted without taking my eyes off the road. Not anymore. Sucks.

---

Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

If someone could make a layer for lcd screens that could shape shift into buttons and ridges, that would be cool. You could also separate the big screen into several smaller screens, like a strip for Hot/Cold, fan speed, etc. I'm pretty sure most of the advantage of lcd screens is cost, not human factors.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2021 06:05PM by kj.

I have to agree with you re the Apple Watch and the Palm PDAs.

I also agree with Speedy. The 11" touch screen on my Prius is a DOG. Just a little bit of sunlight on the screen and said screen becomes unreadable. 99% of the time, I'm solo in said Prius. The touch screen is pretty much USELESS then unless I pull over in a shady spot.

PS: I've checked with at least THREE Toyota dealers hoping a "screen cover" or liquid application would make the screen readable in sunlight. NO joy.

......what about a button nose......???

---

_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Quote
Speedy
I thought this was going to be about cars. In my old cars I could do everything I wanted without taking my eyes off the road. Not anymore. Sucks.

haha - yup, I remember when I bought a new HR-V right around three years ago, and purposely stuck to the base model, because the sound system and climate controls are all still done via...round knobs and physical buttons. The salesman made a point of noting that I'd be stuck with just a "basic" interface screen, without touch controls, and have to use...gasp...knobs to control things. He thought the touch-screen interface on the higher end models would be a selling point, as if I was missing out in a big way.

Quote
kj
If someone could make a layer for lcd screens that could shape shift into buttons and ridges, that would be cool. You could also separate the big screen into several smaller screens, like a strip for Hot/Cold, fan speed, etc. I'm pretty sure most of the advantage of lcd screens is cost, not human factors.

well...the patent is out there - now just need someone to actually start building them...

Our touchscreen on our Tesla is fine.

But I think the touchscreen on our Volt is pretty poor by comparison. And don’t get me started on the crappy Bluetooth.

Quote
sekker
Our touchscreen on our Tesla is fine.

But I think the touchscreen on our Volt is pretty poor by comparison. And don’t get me started on the crappy Bluetooth.

Interesting. I’ve never ridden in a Tesla but I can make do fairly well with the touchscreen in our 2013 Volt. I guess after five years I just need to glance at it to know what it is showing. Plus there are a fair number of capacitive buttons on the center console to control climate and radio. Bluetooth is fine, too. So I look forward to something even better when we get a Tesla.

---

Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Touchscreens in vehicles for the driver to operate are an accident waiting to happen. We called it "Pilot Workload" when developing the F-5 radar interface. And we were talking about highly trained young men and women with phenomenal vision and reflexes.

Too many damn video game designers are developing stuff for vehicles.

I like the approach my Mazda takes. At speeds greater than 0 (maybe 5mph) the touchscreen is disabled. There is a joystick on the center console that I can use without taking my eyes of the road (much).

---

--------------

Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

My Apple Watch has two physical buttons.

And one physical knob.

Quote
Lux Interior
My Apple Watch has two physical buttons.

And one physical knob.

Of which Apple allows developers zero access to except for volume control.

Apple's form-over-function strikes again.

Quote
Speedy
I thought this was going to be about cars. In my old cars I could do everything I wanted without taking my eyes off the road. Not anymore. Sucks.

This. In fact, I predict that federal regulators will start mandating exactly this in future models.

---

Hurts like a bastid...

Quote
Speedy

Quote
sekker
Our touchscreen on our Tesla is fine.

But I think the touchscreen on our Volt is pretty poor by comparison. And don’t get me started on the crappy Bluetooth.

Interesting. I’ve never ridden in a Tesla but I can make do fairly well with the touchscreen in our 2013 Volt. I guess after five years I just need to glance at it to know what it is showing. Plus there are a fair number of capacitive buttons on the center console to control climate and radio. Bluetooth is fine, too. So I look forward to something even better when we get a Tesla.

My 2017 electronics has been the only major negative I have with this car. I've had to replace it already, and the first thing that completely failed was bluetooth (BT was always flaky from the beginning). Then all sorts of other issues cropped up, ending with the lack of functionality for the parking assist system. Had it replaced at the GM dealer for $800 with a new unit.

Bluetooth is STILL flaky with the new hardware, plenty of times I have to just unlink it with my iPhone to get audio out. True for two different iPhones (11ProMax and 12ProMax with latest and greatest BT) and two different modules. Almost surely bad choice of BT tech from GM. I've considered just unpairing and using the speakers on the iPhone or physically plugging in for longer trips via CarPlay.

Quote
cbelt3
Touchscreens in vehicles for the driver to operate are an accident waiting to happen. We called it "Pilot Workload" when developing the F-5 radar interface. And we were talking about highly trained young men and women with phenomenal vision and reflexes.

Too many damn video game designers are developing stuff for vehicles.

This! Just leave the damn buttons, they can play with their phone touchscreens.

The Tesla really has very few requirements of the driver to use that vehicle. So its touchscreen is far less demanding that it would seem at first.

To be fair, not all video game designers are targeting touch screens. There are lots of Xbox, Switch and Playstation controllers out there with tons of buttons getting mashed all the time.

Quote
mikebw
To be fair, not all video game designers are targeting touch screens. There are lots of Xbox, Switch and Playstation controllers out there with tons of buttons getting mashed all the time.

True. This is because when reaction time matters such as in video games OR when driving, controls need to be already in place, in the same place every time, ready to be used instantly, and able to be identified by location and feel alone.

---

WARNING- If I posted a link in the above message, assume it is at minimum "NSFW- Language". Occasionally you'll be wrong.

Lie to me if you must, but don't lie to me and insult my intelligence in the same sentence.

Resist the Thought Police: George Orwell's book 1984 was meant as a warning, not an instruction manual.

"Political correctness is just intellectual colonialism and psychological fascism for the creation of thought crime" - Steve Hughes

What's my "Super Power"? I can make active threads go stone-dead with a single post. I try to use this power only for good and not for evil but, you know... stuff happens.