Not far enough indeed.
I dont need all my entertainment as physical controls but I do at least want volume - and that is totally justifiable as a safety consideration too. Sometimes you need to mute it quickly if you think you heard something of concern on the road - or if you are like me, just to concentrate on driving when things get tricky…
There are so many other items you can apply similar safety arguments for:
Blowers and demisters - you shouldn’t be messing around in a touchscreen when you see your windows starting to fog
Cabin temperature - Uncomfortable driver = distracted driver
In my opinion, the place to draw the line should be this:
If the driver always has the luxury of choosing when to engage with the feature, then it can be fully touchscreen. (example - entertainment except volume, fuel economy settings, electric seat position)
If the need to interact with the feature is triggered by external conditions and will happen in motion, it MUST be physical. (Example: wipers, heating, blowers, all headlight and fog light controls, enable or diasable lane assist, cruise control)
Ulrich@feddit.org 1 year ago
Suposedly it’s to cut costs but I find it very hard to believe a few buttons add much cost at all. Much less at the expense of customer satisfaction. Tripping over a dollar to pick up a dime, in my opinion.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 year ago
The button might be 1c, but you gotta wire it, install it, warranty it etc etc. It’s not as inconsequential as you might think.
A screen is the screen and the wiring to the computer.
It’s a couple skus to maintain instead of dozens. It’s 1 warranty item instead of dozens.
It might not be a good idea, but it absolutely will save a noticeable amount of money per vehicle.
Ulrich@feddit.org 1 year ago
I don’t believe that.
Monroe has talked about how they removed some bolts that weren’t absolutely necessary from the vehicle, saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars. In that case, it’s fine. In this case I think it’s the same situation except they don’t care about driver safety. If the driver is fucking with touchscreens and crashes, that’s gonna be on the driver.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You’re contradicting yourself LOL
Its okay if you don’t like it, but come on dude, a screen is going to be cheaper by 10s or maybe a hundred dollars a car. Were talking 10s of millions saved with any company doing this at scale.