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VW Is Putting Buttons Back in Cars Because People Complained Enough
(www.thedrive.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I was with you up until the climate controls.
Any control you can find in a 1997 Hyundai Accent should be physical.
Anything else can be hidden behind a touchscreen because I'm not going to use it while driving anyway.
My big request would be to drop the USB cable. I don't know why I need to connect both USB and Bluetooth. I'd love to just leave my cell in my bag where it belongs instead of advertising yet another reason why someone should smash my windows in!
Yeah climate control is where he lost me. My wife’s Honda odyssey has that.
I’m okay with the soft-buttons for memory, or to toggle input, since they are always in fixed locations. In fact soft-buttons are slightly better because they are labeled with the station….though my 2013 Passat has the better compromise of a physical button with the station printed above it.
But HVAC is where I draw the line. I guess the trade off would be that a thermostatically controlled digital systems are probably more simplistic, in their operation and maintenance, than the vacuum-and-linkage systems of yore, and this gives way to multi-zone climate systems in mass market cars. But I still hate that I have to utilize the touchscreen to change which blowers are on or to change the temperature in the rear zone, which blocks GPS if you’re using CarPlay/Android Auto/Nav (I’d assume, I don’t have nav).
Really the only thing on my Tesla I ever need to access on the touchscreen while driving is the climate controls (assuming I don't want to use voice, which is a pain as it hears you wrong)
The other used to be fog lights, but I just keep those on now for extra visibility, like another day time running light.
Everything else including wipers I can do from the wheel now without having to touch the screen.
I only use voice to choose a new song/artist, I'm not trying to navigate spotify by hand while driving.