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birdguy

Why technology frustrates me so...

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Yesterday I got into my car after not driving it for a few days and the touch screen looked different as did the icons and graphics at the upper portions of the dash.

I had no idea how to get it back to what I was familiar with so I took it to the dealer.
 
Three salesmen, all of whom were supposed to be knowledgeable on the Prius were unable to get it back to the way it was.  They called the technician from the garage and he was able to get it back to a semblance of what it was after about 10 minutes of fiddling around.  The main thing I wanted back was the graphic that showed the power train so I could glance up and see if I was running with the engine, the battery, or both and the battery charge level and when it was charging from the motor or the dynamic braking.
 
There's about 50 things or more that touch screen has besides the GPS that have nothing to do with driving.  I suppose they're nice to have for some people who are addicted to this stuff but I discovered I'm not the only one confused by it all.
 
I think they load stuff on there just because they can.  Technocrats think everyone thinks like they do and the more tech features you have the better even though they are not germane to the product.
 
Noel
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The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

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Give me physical buttons and switches for every single function.  I can feel for the button without taking my eyes off the road.

With these idiotic screens, some functions are only accessed via the screen and they are buried 2 or 3 layers deep in their convoluted UI.  (Ford...I'm looking at you)

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14 minutes ago, Greggy_D said:

Give me physical buttons and switches for every single function.  I can feel for the button without taking my eyes off the road.

With these idiotic screens, some functions are only accessed via the screen and they are buried 2 or 3 layers deep in their convoluted UI.  (Ford...I'm looking at you)

Porsche did it too...  My cockpit is akin to the 918 with two rows of buttons down either side of the shifter.  I know every one by touch.  The new models are all digital touch with that gimmicky shifter that you don't even know if you are in park anymore.  sigh.... 


Have a Wonderful Day

-Paul Solk

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In my last car, the virtual keypad wasn't properly aligned so if I touched a character, I would get the character to the left of it. I had to aim about halfway towards the next character on the right.


Dugald Walker

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I fear it will only get worse in the future.  The technocrats have us by the pawn broker symbol with 1 ball missing.

Noel

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The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

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3 hours ago, birdguy said:

I had no idea how to get it back to what I was familiar with so I took it to the dealer.

 

Did you try googling it?

 

3 hours ago, Greggy_D said:

Give me physical buttons and switches for every single function.  I can feel for the button without taking my eyes off the road.

 

I don't mind the less important stuff on the touchscreen, or accessible with a controller on the centre console. But the important stuff you are likely to need while driving should indeed be physical switches.

What I find ridiculous is how some cars, mainly EV's, have a forward and reverse switch or buttons. Madness! if its a good old fashioned lever you don't even need to look.  

Its technology for the sake of it because some people are attracted to cool new gadgets, thus, its a selling point. 

Car makers do weird things. My daughter has just picked up a car. A Fiat 500 hybrid. The brake pedal is offset to the left, which is weird and the accelerator pedal is too high for me, so at minimal throttle my foot is cranked back uncomfortably. She's learning in one, so used to it and happy with it, but to me is a bit stupid. 

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It all started going downhill when they made us use those newfangled and impersonal telephones instead of a good old fashioned handwritten letter.

Cheers!


Luke Kolin

I make simFDR, the most advanced flight data recorder for FSX, Prepar3D and X-Plane.

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I could be wrong but I seem to remember in the late 60s a car, possibly American Motors, which had a vertical set of push button gear selectors on the left side of the dashboard.


Dugald Walker

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57 minutes ago, dmwalker said:

I could be wrong but I seem to remember in the late 60s a car, possibly American Motors, which had a vertical set of push button gear selectors on the left side of the dashboard.

Chrysler Products had that. https://www.allpar.com/threads/chrysler’s-brief-foray-into-pushbutton-automatics.230024/

 

Edited by Bobsk8

 

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I will never, ever, and without all doubt buy anything with a touch screen. My first car was a chopped and channeled 1951 Mercury Monterey (thank you Darryl Starbird) and I'll go back to that before I'll use a touchscreen (God I miss that car. I'd give anything to have it back now).  Both my wife and I have no, or almost all no, fingerprints. Just imagine either of us trying to use a touchscreen. We can't even use an iPad. It took me three tries at the local Sheriff's office to get an electronic set of prints good enough for a concealed carry permit. Just imagine how long it would take me to increase the fan speed in a car with a touch screen.

Edited by W2DR
kant spel

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What needs to happen is fully natural voice communication to EVERYTHING.

I predict, when that happens, tech, productivity and industry will go at least 10x faster than things currently are.

Unfortunately none of us will be here to see this happen cause we will destroy and consume the planet with our pollution and material harvesting before hand.

Or not.

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Have a go in a Citroen 2CV - we have three buttons, two which you can see to the right of the speedometer (which is in km/h, not mp/h! and incorporates the fuel gauge (bottom left) and battery charge indicator (bottom right).

The little arm-like lever which ends in the silver ring is used to flash the headlights. Then there are

1. Control button to see if the bulb for the low brake fluid warning light still works

2. Windscreen wiper (on / off - no newfangled intermediate speeds)

3. Hazard lights (out of sight on the left of the casing

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The bumpy thing below the two buttons is used to pump water to the windscreen - it works mechanically and just like a kid's toy water pistol.

(OK, so then there's still the indicator (the stalk to the left of the steering wheel) and the headlight control stalk which you twist once to get the parking lights on, a second time to get the headlights on, and then you can push it forward for high beam. You can also push the headlight stalk towards the steering column - and that's how you sound the horn. Just behind the head of the light stalk you can also make out the orange choke. And then there's one simple mechanical slider for cold/"warm" air, and another for guiding that up or down. And finally a twisty wheel, which opens the ventilation flap to let the air in below the windscreen (that bright area behind the grill just above and to the left of the speedo - there's another opening on the passenger side. Smaller passengers are sometimes grateful for that, as it means that they can look straight through, underneath the actual windscreen itself)).

Who needs anything more? 😉

Our driver- and passenger side front windows are in two parts, the lower half hinges upwards. The little nipple that you can see on the lower part of the window frame slots into a receiver on the top of the door frame. To close the window you simply pull it out and let it fall into the catch that you might just about be able to make out at the centre of the lower door frame - it's operated by gravity (down) and muscle power (up), so no buttons there either.

3610140_index_1.jpg

 

The back windows don't open at all.

 

And to think that Citroen built that model with only a handful of changes from 1948 right up to 1990...

Quite often I get people marvelling at how little there is to that car, and yet it still gets us from A to B.

Cheers

 

Mallard

 

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I'm leasing my Prius.  I've a year to go one it.  When the lease is up I'm going to try and find a lower mileage 7 or 8 year old Camry.  Back to my personal future as far as automobiles go.

I'm seriously thinking of putting Widows 7 on my older computer and installing FS2009 and MSTS Train Simulator on it.

Noel

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The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

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Just noticed that the original picture of the "dashboard" did not come up properly - here's a retry

 

5451484.jpg

Cheers

 

Mallard

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11 hours ago, W2DR said:

Both my wife and I have no, or almost all no, fingerprints. Just imagine either of us trying to use a touchscreen.

 

Touchscreens don't work that way. It's usually resistive or capacitive. 

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