Consumer Reports lambasts Cadillac's new Cue system
11-21-12, 11:38 AM
#16
Lexus Champion
Give me ***** and buttons over touch screens any day in a car. I can't believe they let these engineers build cabins where you have to take your eyes of the road to perform simple functions.
I think Honda does a good job of making controls very easy to use. Although it's not the most elegant presentation, it's functional and more importantly safe. I love the big dial on the middle of the dash which controls the volume on the stereo. Make what you use the most the easiest thing to find. Pretty basic stuff in user interface design.
In the age where technology is used to improve safety, I think the car industry is making things overly complicated with interior innovations that are more creating more distractions and will increase the likelihood of getting into an accident.
Me? I find a good CD or playlist before I put my car into gear and just focus my attention on driving. 20+ years of driving and at least a couple hundred thousand miles under my belt and not a single accident. Lots of tickets, however. :P
I think Honda does a good job of making controls very easy to use. Although it's not the most elegant presentation, it's functional and more importantly safe. I love the big dial on the middle of the dash which controls the volume on the stereo. Make what you use the most the easiest thing to find. Pretty basic stuff in user interface design.
In the age where technology is used to improve safety, I think the car industry is making things overly complicated with interior innovations that are more creating more distractions and will increase the likelihood of getting into an accident.
Me? I find a good CD or playlist before I put my car into gear and just focus my attention on driving. 20+ years of driving and at least a couple hundred thousand miles under my belt and not a single accident. Lots of tickets, however. :P
11-21-12, 12:18 PM
#17
Lexus Champion
11-21-12, 02:11 PM
#18
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I specifically ordered my 335i without iDrive, because I could, and didn't want to be distracted by all of the "computer crap" in modern cars. Seeing first hand how truly easy to use and non-distracting the latest i-Drive system is in our X5 though, I might as well have just ordered it in my own car. It's very nice, easy to use, and doesn't distract you from the road either. Taken them nearly 10 bloody years to get there but it's seriously not bad at all now! Even MY WIFE likes it, and she has admittedly bad hand-eye coordination... The "touch" systems out there would not be the least bit workable for her.
11-21-12, 02:24 PM
#19
Lexus Fanatic
I specifically ordered my 335i without iDrive, because I could, and didn't want to be distracted by all of the "computer crap" in modern cars. Seeing first hand how truly easy to use and non-distracting the latest i-Drive system is in our X5 though, I might as well have just ordered it in my own car. It's very nice, easy to use, and doesn't distract you from the road either. Taken them nearly 10 bloody years to get there but it's seriously not bad at all now! Even MY WIFE likes it, and she has admittedly bad hand-eye coordination... The "touch" systems out there would not be the least bit workable for her.
11-21-12, 02:37 PM
#20
Out of Warranty
Let's face it, buyers want to be able to fool with gadgets as they drive. We are now able to control more than temperature and entertainment selection, which pretty well limited competition for the drivers' attention in the past, and we are going to pay dearly for it.
Military aviation came up with the Heads-Up-Display for fighter pilots as early as the '50's to allow a pilot to keep his pipper on the target by sighting the output blip of the radar-controlled gunsight over the target. Looking through that rudimentary display allowed the pilot to maintain some degree of situational awareness as to what was happening outside the cockpit without having to divide his attention. As more instrumentation and control supervision were required, displays for speed, altitude, spatial orientation, and weapons data migrated up to the HUD where they could be monitored without distraction.
At the same time, all kinds of critical controls migrated to the throttle and stick, resulting in a control side-stick that bristled with buttons, switches, and controls for weapons, flight controls, and radar targeting, while the throttle became the residence of a number of engine controls and defensive systems. It became known as HOTAS, hands-on throttle and stick. The basic controls began to look like spiny cucumbers. The idea was to move critical controls to the immediate area of the pilots hands when resting on the throttle and stick. Whether an A-10, and F-22, or a video game, all of your primary controls are within a finger's reach without taking hands and eyes off of your primary flight controls.
All of this happened by 1970, and the pilot, with his new graphic displays and ability to monitor hundreds of systems in real time became task-saturated - he was unable to absorb and react to ALL of the data streaming into him. Perfectly good aircraft and skilled pilots were being lost to what the services term, a "helmet fire", a situation in which the pilot became so overloaded with "critical" systems data in a developing situation, that he could no longer simply fly the aircraft. It happened to a local kid I knew and watched grow up to become a test pilot at Edwards. Flying a NASA research aircraft (Mitsubishi MU-2) - a high-performance executive turbojet, to investigate the known evil performance characteristics experienced during landing (discovered to be the fault of a supercritical wing that simply stopped flying under certain unexpected conditions), he and his copilot became so flooded with data that they smacked the runway a good bit harder than the aircraft was designed to deal with, turning it into aluminum scraps.
Since that time, more systems have become available but the solution has been to prioritize them via the computer. Sub-systems reporting data are dumped to the computer where they are stored to evaluate trends. You don't need to see your engine temperature so long as it isn't climbing dramatically, you don't need to monitor your ground targeting pod when you have your air-to-air missiles on line, and you sure don't need a nanny voice in your ear informing of you that won't prove fatal in the next ten seconds. Filtering and storing data to present trends when you aren't engaged in high-stress maneuvers has been the way to prevent those helmet fires.
Obviously, there has to be some refinement made to the data coming into your car's "cockpit". There are plenty of instruments and controls that are now available, GPS navigation, route planning, alternate routing, traffic displays, weather radar overlays, entertainment options like radio, satellite, iPod, Pandora, and still CD players just to start. DVD and live streaming TV are available in some models and aftermarket accessories. Even if they don't distract the driver as entertainment, simply selecting and switching between sources becomes a distraction. Don't even mention the cell phone, text screens and even e-mail that now compete for the driver's attention.
Then we add the automotive systems, we can control the response of our engine, transmission, even the suspension through the touch screen, to select "modes" of operation, down to whether we want ABS, stability control, both or all to step between our inputs and the brakes. We have climate controls to tailor the temperature and intensity of the breezes within the cabin, and from just where they will originate. We can warm or cool our seat cushions, adjust them to a wide variety of angles and memorized settings. We can turn lights, wipers, and signals on and off, easily - as we always have, and most of these functions have already been automated, to switch on with rain or dusk. Of course now we can wash our headlights and wipe our rear windows at the touch of a button, as well as set the temperature of the rear glass to prevent icing or fogging. But NONE of this has any bearing on your getting to where you are going quickly and safely. They are simply toys to amuse us.
A few controls have migrated to the steering wheel and the shifter, but not all are direct. I-Drive and a variety of other systems still require the use of menus to access deeper functions. Until such time that we develop and on-board computer that will give us control of ONLY mission-critical aspects of our journey, that won't let us tinker with suspension settings, braking systems, or shift-points while underway, maybe we could concentrate on a little self-discipline. If you're busy tinkering with the GPS or the sat radio, you're not going to be prepared for that guy cutting into your lane and slamming on the brakes ahead of you. If you're responding to a text, you may run over a bus bench full of people, and there is no way you can do any of this while maintaining a proper amount of situational awareness as to what's in front of you, what's crossing your path, or what's gaining on you at a high rate of speed from behind. Quick, right NOW are you clear to move one lane to your right? Your left? You don't have time to look, you should have kept your scan going so that you know if you can duck right or left if something happens directly in front of you.
If you're looking for New Year's resolutions, you can start now. Between that time you get in, buckle up, start the engine and you put the car into gear, take a few seconds to check your instruments, controls, and adjustments to assure they are set to your liking. Suspension and braking program, check. Cabin temp control, seat heat/cool selection, check. Wipers, check. Lights, check. Entertainment system, check. Navigation, destination and route, check. Phone messages, e-mail, texts, check. Now you are ready to get underway. If you have to make changes in these settings beyond what you can do with your steering wheel controls, pull off the road, stop in a safe area, and fiddle with the telematics. When you are happy, get back into traffic and proceed.
Automakers are being required by law to lock out certain functions of your car's electronics when the transmission is in some position other than Park. Look for more of this as technology expands to the cockpit. There's a good reason manufacturers are concerned for your safety beyond meeting federal law: you can't buy another car from them when you're dead.
Military aviation came up with the Heads-Up-Display for fighter pilots as early as the '50's to allow a pilot to keep his pipper on the target by sighting the output blip of the radar-controlled gunsight over the target. Looking through that rudimentary display allowed the pilot to maintain some degree of situational awareness as to what was happening outside the cockpit without having to divide his attention. As more instrumentation and control supervision were required, displays for speed, altitude, spatial orientation, and weapons data migrated up to the HUD where they could be monitored without distraction.
At the same time, all kinds of critical controls migrated to the throttle and stick, resulting in a control side-stick that bristled with buttons, switches, and controls for weapons, flight controls, and radar targeting, while the throttle became the residence of a number of engine controls and defensive systems. It became known as HOTAS, hands-on throttle and stick. The basic controls began to look like spiny cucumbers. The idea was to move critical controls to the immediate area of the pilots hands when resting on the throttle and stick. Whether an A-10, and F-22, or a video game, all of your primary controls are within a finger's reach without taking hands and eyes off of your primary flight controls.
All of this happened by 1970, and the pilot, with his new graphic displays and ability to monitor hundreds of systems in real time became task-saturated - he was unable to absorb and react to ALL of the data streaming into him. Perfectly good aircraft and skilled pilots were being lost to what the services term, a "helmet fire", a situation in which the pilot became so overloaded with "critical" systems data in a developing situation, that he could no longer simply fly the aircraft. It happened to a local kid I knew and watched grow up to become a test pilot at Edwards. Flying a NASA research aircraft (Mitsubishi MU-2) - a high-performance executive turbojet, to investigate the known evil performance characteristics experienced during landing (discovered to be the fault of a supercritical wing that simply stopped flying under certain unexpected conditions), he and his copilot became so flooded with data that they smacked the runway a good bit harder than the aircraft was designed to deal with, turning it into aluminum scraps.
Since that time, more systems have become available but the solution has been to prioritize them via the computer. Sub-systems reporting data are dumped to the computer where they are stored to evaluate trends. You don't need to see your engine temperature so long as it isn't climbing dramatically, you don't need to monitor your ground targeting pod when you have your air-to-air missiles on line, and you sure don't need a nanny voice in your ear informing of you that won't prove fatal in the next ten seconds. Filtering and storing data to present trends when you aren't engaged in high-stress maneuvers has been the way to prevent those helmet fires.
Obviously, there has to be some refinement made to the data coming into your car's "cockpit". There are plenty of instruments and controls that are now available, GPS navigation, route planning, alternate routing, traffic displays, weather radar overlays, entertainment options like radio, satellite, iPod, Pandora, and still CD players just to start. DVD and live streaming TV are available in some models and aftermarket accessories. Even if they don't distract the driver as entertainment, simply selecting and switching between sources becomes a distraction. Don't even mention the cell phone, text screens and even e-mail that now compete for the driver's attention.
Then we add the automotive systems, we can control the response of our engine, transmission, even the suspension through the touch screen, to select "modes" of operation, down to whether we want ABS, stability control, both or all to step between our inputs and the brakes. We have climate controls to tailor the temperature and intensity of the breezes within the cabin, and from just where they will originate. We can warm or cool our seat cushions, adjust them to a wide variety of angles and memorized settings. We can turn lights, wipers, and signals on and off, easily - as we always have, and most of these functions have already been automated, to switch on with rain or dusk. Of course now we can wash our headlights and wipe our rear windows at the touch of a button, as well as set the temperature of the rear glass to prevent icing or fogging. But NONE of this has any bearing on your getting to where you are going quickly and safely. They are simply toys to amuse us.
A few controls have migrated to the steering wheel and the shifter, but not all are direct. I-Drive and a variety of other systems still require the use of menus to access deeper functions. Until such time that we develop and on-board computer that will give us control of ONLY mission-critical aspects of our journey, that won't let us tinker with suspension settings, braking systems, or shift-points while underway, maybe we could concentrate on a little self-discipline. If you're busy tinkering with the GPS or the sat radio, you're not going to be prepared for that guy cutting into your lane and slamming on the brakes ahead of you. If you're responding to a text, you may run over a bus bench full of people, and there is no way you can do any of this while maintaining a proper amount of situational awareness as to what's in front of you, what's crossing your path, or what's gaining on you at a high rate of speed from behind. Quick, right NOW are you clear to move one lane to your right? Your left? You don't have time to look, you should have kept your scan going so that you know if you can duck right or left if something happens directly in front of you.
If you're looking for New Year's resolutions, you can start now. Between that time you get in, buckle up, start the engine and you put the car into gear, take a few seconds to check your instruments, controls, and adjustments to assure they are set to your liking. Suspension and braking program, check. Cabin temp control, seat heat/cool selection, check. Wipers, check. Lights, check. Entertainment system, check. Navigation, destination and route, check. Phone messages, e-mail, texts, check. Now you are ready to get underway. If you have to make changes in these settings beyond what you can do with your steering wheel controls, pull off the road, stop in a safe area, and fiddle with the telematics. When you are happy, get back into traffic and proceed.
Automakers are being required by law to lock out certain functions of your car's electronics when the transmission is in some position other than Park. Look for more of this as technology expands to the cockpit. There's a good reason manufacturers are concerned for your safety beyond meeting federal law: you can't buy another car from them when you're dead.
Last edited by Lil4X; 11-21-12 at 02:51 PM.
11-21-12, 02:53 PM
#21
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I went to one of Cadillacs track day events where you get to drive a couple CTS-V's and the ATS on a track. The thing I was least impressed with was the CUE in the ATS. But then again I owned a 335i, didn't like the i-drive at all. Test drove a Ford with Mytouch, didn't like it either. I don't mind the system in my wife's iS350 but the system I liked the most was in the 370Z.
11-21-12, 08:39 PM
#23
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Originally Posted by Lil4X
A few controls have migrated to the steering wheel and the shifter, but not all are direct. I-Drive and a variety of other systems still require the use of menus to access deeper functions.
11-21-12, 10:31 PM
#24
It's like anything else... If you drive one you'll figure it out soon enough and it'll be second nature.
To get to the map in my old 740 I have to go through a few menus, now I do it without even looking.
To get to the map in my old 740 I have to go through a few menus, now I do it without even looking.
11-22-12, 09:22 AM
#25
Lexus Champion
Why are you fiddling with it while you are driving? Are there not redundant (and traditional) controls for the audio and climate control systems so that you do not have to work with the Remote Touch while driving?
All modern cars are starting to offer such control interface systems, even if they do not offer the voice and/or capacitive touch capabilities of MyFord Touch / CUE. My wife's base 2013 Honda Accord LX has a large control dial in the middle of the audio control panel. It functions much as a computer mouse would to navigate through menus to change Bluetooth settings, automatic door-lock settings, automatic headlight sensitivity settings, etc. But all of those controls can -- and should -- only be fiddled with when the car is stopped; there are still redundant, traditional dials for the audio and climate control systems.
All modern cars are starting to offer such control interface systems, even if they do not offer the voice and/or capacitive touch capabilities of MyFord Touch / CUE. My wife's base 2013 Honda Accord LX has a large control dial in the middle of the audio control panel. It functions much as a computer mouse would to navigate through menus to change Bluetooth settings, automatic door-lock settings, automatic headlight sensitivity settings, etc. But all of those controls can -- and should -- only be fiddled with when the car is stopped; there are still redundant, traditional dials for the audio and climate control systems.
11-22-12, 09:27 AM
#26
Lexus Champion
Except the choice is going away as i-Drive is being made standard across BMW's lineup.
There are indeed a bunch of functions buried in menus on i-Drive. The beauty of the latest system is that you can use the 1-2-3-4-5-6 preset buttons on the dash to hit those functions. On our X5d I have it setup to completely turn off the screen (for night driving), random play, tone settings (balance, etc), trip computer, split screen. Best of all the switches are capacative also, so if you gently touch the button it will pop up what the function is at the top of the display, and only activate it once you give it a full press. Quite brilliant, and makes the whole thing very easy.
There are indeed a bunch of functions buried in menus on i-Drive. The beauty of the latest system is that you can use the 1-2-3-4-5-6 preset buttons on the dash to hit those functions. On our X5d I have it setup to completely turn off the screen (for night driving), random play, tone settings (balance, etc), trip computer, split screen. Best of all the switches are capacative also, so if you gently touch the button it will pop up what the function is at the top of the display, and only activate it once you give it a full press. Quite brilliant, and makes the whole thing very easy.
Look around you and see how many people are holding their cell phones to their heads in cars that you *know* have bluetooth. I'm sure some choose not to talk on the speaker, but I'll bet most just don't know how to program it. Ask your Lexus SA how many people come back to the dealer when the get a new phone to have the dealer program the bluetooth--again, I bet it's a pretty high number.
11-22-12, 09:56 AM
#27
11-24-12, 04:58 AM
#29
Pole Position
Whether consumers hate it, or love it, manufacturers must build it to remain competitive. Manufacturers are competing, here, to see who can develop a better mousetrap. Problem is, nobody seems to have a clue as to how to do it properly.
11-24-12, 10:29 AM
#30
Lexus Champion