Well said 👍

 

I'm not following how Touch Screens are more dangerous than touching a **** in the center console? Also the I Drive 7 In the BMW is excellent, it works perfectly for me.

 

You can't tell by feel where you are pressing on a touch screen - you have to look. But depending on the ****, it might have a distinct feel so you don't have to look.

But you are right - there are plenty of controls that require you to take your eyes off the road, and it's not a new development. Like before tape decks had auto reverse, you had to look down to eject your tape and flip it over (not to mention fast forwarding to get to the next song).

 

Yes but the screen is literally on the dash and you can see everything in your peripheral. It's not like you're looking down in your lap to change anything. It's also the same thing whether touch screen or not, if you're navigating in the Screen with the "****" you have to look at the screen anyway to see what you're selecting. I think people are just *****ing to ***** at this point. It's so much easier to just use the touch screen , I've never used that **** once.

 

I'm with you. I have a Mazda with the stupid **** and its way more distracting than my Tesla touchscreen which is in my periphery and waaaay easier to use. I also have a wheel for volume on steering wheel. Both are way better than the stupid mouse/touchpad on the older Lexus infotainment though.

 

100% this.

 

we are too ****ing stupid. maybe if parents didnt just hand their 3 year old an iPad to become their new ai parents the new millennial marketing teams wouldn't have added touch screens to "modernize" the car. also mute point as well because most of the time your just changing music volume or a/c. some of these cars have you go deep in the settings to change the temp and fan speed or a music screen to adjust the volume, you are most definitely looking at the screen longer than spinning a **** left or right or pressing a button where you know the location to increase or decrease fan speed. sorry bro but the touchscreens are not easier. & bmw is trash now I heard the new ones use a plastic oil and trans pans... lol. with how we know boomers are so skilled with tech, it could very well become a problem especially the 70& up crowd.

this could just be learned behavior and overtime you get better at it. kinda like how drunk drivers are actually really skilled at drink driving because they learned to do in another altered state of consciousness.

 

Really doubt babies with iPads had anything to do with it. iPad was launched in 2010 and by then touchscreens were already commonplace.

People want screens not for the sake of screens, but as a substitute for a mobile office where they have to schedule appointments and make calls as they drive, while they get heated and massaged and cooled. All these extra features necessitated screens because it would be physically impossible to fit them on one dash given the sheer level of customizeability and features of modern cars.

By and large the public doesn't give a baboon's bottom about driving experience or being "connected with the road"- they want their mobile office to help them with work and sorting out their daily lives. It wasn't until Tesla came along with its fart cushions that anyone even considered infotainments as a source of "fun".

 

Okay I agree with you @Motorola but iPod touch came out in 2007 and that was the starter for the whole thing. so almost 15 years ago! so some 15 year olds who got that are now 30 and could be on the marketing teams. not trying to get into semantics but yeah 2007. I did exaggerate... a little lol.

 

Still completely wrong though. Our 2007 RX350 had Toyota's 5th-generation touchscreen navigation, and as we all well know, Toyota/Lexus is nowhere near the cutting edge on infotainment. It was already widespread well before that.

The first car with a touchscreen display was the 1986 Buick Riviera, which came out in 1985. Yes, 32 years before the ipod touch that you think started the trend.

 

Hard to prove that *all* touchscreens are bad, but the tesla 3/Y has to be the worst, by having just about EVERYTHING controlled through that huge screen that is not in line of sight. Obviously tesla's goal is to take actual human driving out of the equation entirely, at which point people can just use the screen for social media.

 

I don't think I can agree that its not in line of sight. Its pretty high up and speedometer is right next to the line of sight on the road. Also, the hands are at 10 and 2 and its a short reach to hit the main functions on the bottom of the screen. If you look at Audi's touchscreens, its way more out of sight than Tesla's implementation.

 

Someone has perfected computer interface with the modern iteration of a keyboard and a mouse. Then apple has perfected the laptop interface with their magic touchpad. Also apple perfected the touchscreen interface across their phones and tablets.

I credit BMW with perfecting the automotive infotainment interface with their iDrive 2-6. I had a BMW with every generation of iDrive from 1 through 7, and starting with the 2nd generation it was absolutely great. Touch screens just feel cheap in comparison, and far more distracting. With the **** I can glance at the screen without taking my hands of the road, and I know how many menus I need to scroll, then with my eyes on the road I can turn and press the ****, which provides tactile feedback for every scroll/click. With touchscreens you have to have your and and eyes away from the road at the same time. Also, BMWs have great HUD system, where many functions can be controlled with the buttons and scroll wheels on the steering wheel.

Unfortunately iDrive 7 is a step in the wrong direction, it is still very functional but bloated with too many useless gimmicky features. If they take away the know and make their interface solely touch screens, I probably won't buy another BMW. I do not like the direction they have been heading for the last few years. I seriously prefer driving my nearly 10 year old E70 over my wifes brand new F96.

 

I hope this whole crisis will learn us to be less extreme with the amount of electronic and connection we put in everything.
For the moment, I doubt the lesson is learned. We will probably need a whole structural crash and 30% of the builders completing their trip to Valhalla, before something changes.
But I'm confident that we are on the right path to that.

 

It is cool that people here don't want touchscreens, but general population does and this is pretty bad for them.

These cars might be worth less in the future too.