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Comment by thebruce87m | Hacker News Reader

> I borrowed a friend’s Tesla 3 yesterday. About 5 minutes into the ride, the windshield started fogging up. I couldn’t find the defroster on the large control screen Teslas are so famous for.

5 minutes and they don’t know where all the buttons are? Colour me shocked. Any new car needs human recalibration of muscle memory.

I want more buttons too but any new car has you scrambling in rain, fog for buttons. Even your muscle memory for looking at the speedometer is all askew.

I do think that the HVAC system could use permanent buttons, or at least persistent screen buttons.

Edit: My favourite bit about being irrationally downvoted is when someone comments about how I should “read the article more carefully” when they themselves have not read the article or my comment carefully.

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Please read the article more careful. The author compares v11 and v10 of the Tesla software. v10 directly displays the defroster button. v11 does hide it behind the temperature control (which is criticised).

I read the article carefully, especially the bit where they discovered after driving it that the UI had changed.

Their initial reaction was on not being able to find the button after five minutes of driving it, which is what my comment is about.

I have driven quite a few different cars, and I have never had trouble finding the button by simply scanning the actual visible controls, except in a Tesla.

(Some cars don’t gave have a defogger, in which case one will obvious never find the button. This is unlikely in a current or remotely recent production car…)

Do you know what kinds of cars exist where you don't have to inspect the UI before you begin driving to make sure critical features haven't moved?

All of them except Tesla.

The defroster button is commonly a physical button labelled with a common symbol.

> I do think that the HVAC system could use permanent buttons, or at least persistent screen buttons.

Um, this is exactly what the article is about: Tesla used to do this. There used to be a persistent "defog" button right at the bottom, but now it's hidden behind the Temperature indicator, which looks like it only lets you adjust up/down.

> Um, this is exactly what the article is about

The article is about being unfamiliar with a car after 5 minutes. If the button was a physical button you’d still have to look for it since you are still unfamiliar with the car.

Before downvoting, ask yourself:

* “Would this article exist if the person found the button within 5 minutes?”

* “Would this article exist if the person was familiar with the car?”

And they would've found it, because it wouldn't be hidden.

That's also, what's article is about.

> This is one reason why hard-buttons are so effective in old-school cars. They all use these same standard icons so it’s easier for new users to scan across them and find the one you want without any training.

That's not the point of the article, but we'll take a corollary of your statement.

Imagine a physical button for the demister that's hidden behind a temperature display LCD that hinges down.

There's no indication that the temperature display moves or reveals anything, no affordances, other than on a statement on page 3-11-A of the vehicle manual. Would it be acceptable to be confused in that instance even after many five-minute periods?

Of course it would be. That’s not what my comment is about.

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