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Comment by smeej | Hacker News Reader

My '07 Prius has a backup can, but there's no entertainment in its "infotainment" screen unless you count radio preset buttons.

I don't need to be entertained while I drive. I need to drive while I drive.

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I feel the same way. My car is 18 years old, also a Toyota, and besides the fact that I could rebuild it as long as anywhere it crashed was in dragging distance of a junk yard, the main reason I've kept it is because it doesn't have anything I don't need, and that somehow means I can trust it.

I see these integrated remote phone-home TV systems that help you parallel park but shrink your windows so it feels like you're in a submarine, and it gives me the willies. We couldn't adjust the AC in my partner's Honda when her screen failed one summer and I thought, "Why are those things connected?!"

I don't have Bluetooth in my car. I don't even have an aux jack. I do have an MP3 CD player, a Garmin, and an unbeatable stereo, and I can operate all of the buttons and dials blindfolded, and they respond with no latency!

I'd take a Yaris over a Tesla, and I wouldn't be caught dead in a Yaris.

You don't? Driving is boring as shit. If you're in city traffic that's one thing but if you're on the freeway with no one around that's another.

It's only boring because all the fun was removed for convenience. Just the third pedal makes it pretty much fun even at low speeds.

Third pedal's fun for the racetrack. In stop and go traffic it's extra work. Still, I'm a member of TMGPS for a reason.

I used to drive an old Prius - I believe they also had fuel economy tracking, a CD player, and some models had Bluetooth audio too.

then you are atypical. Most people listen to music, news, podcasts, etc while they drive. that doesn't add much complexity to the system. particularly if the car allows phone projection like CarPlay or Android Automotive.

I have a $15 device that plugs into the 12v socket and broadcasts on a radio frequency. My phone can connect to that by Bluetooth. My radio can be controlled by physical buttons. The only thing the screen displays about the radio is the presets, which I can totally live without.

I do not need an infotainment system. Heck, I don't even need as much as I have.

you think they are using screens with the same capabilities in modern cars as they did 16 years ago?

I think the point was to push back on the notion that a backup cam "requires" a huge tablet screen or an infotainment center.

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