People are getting fed up with all the useless tech in their cars — For the first time in 28 years of JD Power’s car owner survey, there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in satisfaction, wit…::People are dissatisfied with the technology in their cars, according to a new survey from JD Power. They especially don’t like the native infotainment systems.

  • fubo@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Some proposed design principles:

    1. It’s a car.
    2. It’s not a goddamn TV.
    3. It’s not your goddamn ads platform or subscription service.
    4. It is, however, a piece of life-safety-critical equipment.
    5. Because it’s a car, the driver wants to deal with car stuff like driving, navigating, fuel, roads, obstacles, and not killing people.
    6. They also want to make it passably comfortable by messing with the heat or AC, the fans, the windows, and the fucking moon roof.
    7. Messing with your phone while driving is Actually Illegal these days in civilized parts of the planet. This is for good reason: people get killed that way.
    8. If the car requires messing with your phone, or messing with something that is basically your phone, then you have failed.
    9. There should be a big knob with a fan icon on it. Turning this knob all the way to the left causes the fan to turn off all the way. Turning the knob all the way to the right causes the fan to turn on all the way.
    10. If I ever have to use a touchscreen to control the side mirrors, I will become an extremely unhappy ape.
    • zxo@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      I would pay more to get a car with more buttons than you can comprehend and a small little infotainment system that allows you to play music than a super futuristic car with a iPad in the center and nothing else in the center console area.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        physical buttons for the important stuff; stuff like setting interior RBG lighting color and intensity? that can go on soft buttons.

      • crossover@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Mazda. They’ve brought back physical buttons and have support for CarPlay if you want it.

        • zxo@sopuli.xyz
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          1 year ago

          I’ve also heard they are decent cars, at this point I’ll just keep driving what I’ve got and hope that in a couple years, more manufacturers will return to making most things controllable by physical buttons.

      • nbailey@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Get a 2004-2009 car, yank the stereo out and throw an aftermarket headunit with android/carplay in. Best of both worlds!

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          Ugh one of our cars needs a new head unit, as its mid-2000s aftermarket unit has gone bad. But I can only get the dang thing halfway out. I can’t even get to seeing the wires in the back. No idea how it was put in, but it seems the wires are too short, maybe I have to remove the whole dashboard front thing?

        • Calcium5332@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          2010-2012 will work as well if no tech package. My 2010 Lexus RX350 has no touchscreen, but still has knobs and a backup camera on the back mirror. It’s wonderful.

    • FireWire400@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      No. 9 but for media volume, touch controls are garbage and gestures are even more garbage.

      Looking at you, VAG.

      • mawp@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        A special place in hell is reserved for whoever the hell keeps putting capacitive buttons on cars, ESPECIALLY when they put them on the steering wheel!

      • derpysmilingcat@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        …who tf…which car maker has gestures? If you’re gonna gesture how about you gesture your damn hand over to the button?

        • FireWire400@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I think mostly VAG (VW-owned brands) and BMW, maybe Mercedes as well. VAG uses them to sense your hand approaching the touchscreen to hide additional items “when you don’t need them”, BMW uses full-on hand waving to navigate menus.

      • Thadrax@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        No. 9 but for media volume

        Thankfully, all cars I’ve driven that had a touch screen also had some media buttons on the steering wheel. I’d prefer to have good old physical buttons in the center console, but at least you didn’t have to use the touch screen.

      • b34k@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Agree… but I live in America… so there’s basically no reasonable alternative

        • Kalkaline @lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, I hear you. I wish I had better bike infrastructure and a decent rail system in my city.