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Comment by save_ferris | Hacker News Reader

That trend is starting to change. Mazda and Honda are starting to phase out touchscreens in some cases[0]. Tangentially related, the US Navy is also phasing out touchscreen controls after they were determined to be a factor in the USS McCain collision in 2017[1].

0: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-geneva-motor-...

1: https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/11/navy-ditches-touchscreens-...

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It depends on the manufacturer. Both VW and Mercedes are doubling down on their touch-screen only interfaces. The new Golf, which is (historically) one of the top 10 best selling cars in the world, is entirely touchscreen for everything (and the early reviews are not positive about it). The Mercedes infotainment system which is also entirely touch-based is largely praised, although it is much more expensive and well-done.

If the safety and consumer satisfaction data backs up the companies that have decided to ditch the screens, I expect to see others follow suit. As others in this thread have pointed out, few automakers have really seemed up to the challenge of developing a touchscreen experience that is truly seamless.

Anecdotally, I bought a used 2019 Corolla recently and the "maintenance needed" alert that beeped and flashed while I was driving down the highway scared the crap out of me. It turned out that it was merely reminding me to get my oil changed, I couldn't believe it. It was so much less polished of an experience than I was used to with the 'Yota.

I was driving a Ford Fiesta for a while and it would hijack the stereo, mute the music and say something like "Please connect your phone to run a vehicle report" while driving once a week or so. The only way to get the radio back was dismiss the modal it popped up or presumably install the app and let it send data home.

It's very easy to do shitty touchscreen UI. Even more, it's possible to make it unusable. For example, mcdonalds screens. They use very bad, slow hardware - is it even capacitive? Paired with slow, unnecessary animations and having to go through 10s of screens to order something, using it is a real pain.

It's also possible to do great touchscreen UIs. I'd hate if my phone had t9 keyboard.

is it even capacitive

Resistive touchscreens are used because they can be manipulated by people wearing gloves, something that is certainly common in automotive scenarios.

Is there any way to layer both capabilities? That would seem to be ideal.

Probably, but that costs money.

Yes I have been following those stories and it is very promising, it’s nice to see folks who are able to course correct.

After they hit a container ship.

Course correct, after failing to course correct

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