Hacker News Reader

Comment by Kaibeezy | Hacker News Reader

This is an 80/20 problem if there ever was one, maybe even 95/5. In my car I really want the audio volume, heater fan speed, and wiper control to be tactile. But beyond that, I can probably deal, and even the heater fan speed might be negotiable.

In my 2003 car, the fan speed is buttons, oh well. In my 2013 it’s a paddle and I like it a lot better.

The newer car also has a knob for navigating the touchscreen, which isn’t perfect but is way better than touching a screen. The older car has no touchscreen and I like that better.

I didn’t rtfa because it’s a Twitter thread, and I didn’t see any comments on this in the 250 or so below. What else really needs to be a tactile control on a truck?

(Edited for clarification. I said “touch-based” when I should have used “tactile”.)

View on HN

Could you please explain more about why you would prefer those specific controls to be touch based? Is it to have the possibility of finer-grained adjustment?

For me, wipers and audio volume are controls I want to be able to access immediately and without taking my eyes off the road, as they sometimes need to be used with urgency. (For example, turning down high volume to reduce distraction or activating wipers to clear a sudden downpour.)

or when another vechicle splashes you with a mass of mud or snow from a puddle or slush pile from plowing, or snow blows off the top of another vehicle etc, suddenly blind, at highway speeds with other vehicles, maybe with no barrier seperating the oncoming lanes, and your wipers require navigating menus on a tablet???

Even non-critical controls still need to be tactile, and not change from one day to the next, don't move location or change behavior from updates, because even if you don't need them in a hurry to avoid crashing, you still can't be hunting around in a multipurpose interface while driving just to change which direction the air vents point. Not a hyperbolic example, the Rivian actually has that.

Teslas have a button on the stalk to run the wipers, and you can use voice commands, is there a company that requires menu nav?

It's so you don't have to look at them to use them while driving. Screens offer no tactile feedback that guides you, you have to look, which is dangerous.

Right, tactile was the word I should have used.

I think his wording is off, and he means touch based as in tactile feedback. Not touch as in a touch screen.

I think "touch based" is used here to mean knobs and buttons, not a touch screen.

I think tactile controls should be those things you would want to change while driving:

* Climate control heating/ac/defroster temp up/down fans higher/lower

* windows up/down

* signal left/right

* windshield wipers

* volume up/down

* audio basics (next track/previous track)

This allows you to keep your eyes on the road and rely on muscle memory to make the changes quickly. It's an important aspect of auto safety. Things like gps route selection, loading music into vehicle or configuring playlists can be done with touchscreens as these are complex tasks that are unlikely to be done while driving.

That’s a tidy list. Thanks. NO2 boost? ;)

Do trucks have additional tasks?

He's a basic switch and gauge cluster:

https://weaverauctions.com/assets/auction/105/34610-9.jpg

I get anxious even thinking about volume touch control. Got a higher pulse and everything :-D

Even Tesla knows this is a bad idea. They have a volume dial on the steering wheel, for your thumb.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com