Physical buttons in cars for radio and environment settings.
There used to be a time when I could have my hand on the gear shifter and just reach out with my fingers to change radio stations or adjust the heat or a/c without needing to look down at all.
Now with modern touchscreens in cars, you can’t do any of that. I have gotten used to playing with the radio via the steering wheel buttons, but anything else requires hunting around, looking for the correct spot to touch the screen.
And yet they say, “don’t take your eyes off the road!”
Yeah you can preview this cycle by looking at Cadillac. They were among the first to go touch-only with Cue in the early 2010s, started fading back in physical buttons with new models in the late 2010s, and on their newest models now have a full set of very nice custom buttons not shared from the GM parts bin.
Physical buttons do everything better and are safer for drivers since they require less attention to be taken off the road.
I will continue to refuse to buy any car that has internet connectivity or touchscreens. They’re unsafe and unnecessary, only allowing for more tracking of our personal lives
Im with you on the always online automobiles and the importance of tactile feedback for important and commonly used buttons, but a small screen for a back-up camera is very nice.
Im not against screens entirely, just ones that are touchscreen and hide critical buttons behind menus.
A screen that does nothing more than GPS, Music and Backup cameras is pretty much the extent of what I’d need, and there’s a bunch of 3rd party accessories that do that.
Some car companies are going back to physical buttons. A screen for everything is still my most hated thing about modern vehicles. I wanna look like I’m operating the millennium falcon or a Gundam when I’m driving, gimme back muscle memory.
My 2021 VW GLI is mostly buttons. There’s a big touchscreen for the infotainment, except volume. There’s a “tuner” knob but it doesn’t really so anything (I don’t listen to am/fm radio). HVAC controls are all buttons and knobs. Steering wheel controls are also buttons and switches.
My CX5 is similar, buttons for all things not entertainment. There’s only one out of place design on the car that irks me - it doesn’t have a setting to change whether the mirrors fold or not. Why is this useful? I’m in the Midwest and in the winter they can get stuck overnight due to ice. So they have a convoluted process (without an audible or visual confirmation mind you) to disable or enable. Ignition on, lock the windows. Press all three passenger window buttons on the driver’s door down for 3 seconds. This would have been so much nicer to be in a menu off of the entertainment system, similar to say the lighting timing upon exit etc.
I just got a 2018 Honda Odyssey and it’s great. It has the touch screen, but also has physical buttons for almost all of the climate and radio stuff. That’s how it should be IMO. Just give us both!
You’re lucky (or smart) to go with the 2018, my gfs 2016 Honda Accord does have physical buttons for the climate, but for some reason has a weird touch pad thing instead of a volume knob. It drives us both up the wall. The car is near perfect besides that but that one issue is enough to convince me to never buy a Honda of that generation.
Our 2021 Hyundai Kona has physical buttons for most things, and some advanced functions are accessible through the touchscreen. Maybe it’s an exception
I’m a school bus driver and some modern buses have the switches for operating the doors and the 8-ways (the amber and red flashers at the top corners) on the steering wheel and they drive me up the fucking wall. The problem is that you often have to stop for kids after making a sharp turn one way or the other, so the wheel is not in its normal position and you have no idea where the switches are and have to look down to see them. If they’re on the left fixed panel (their “normal” location) you can reach for them without having to look.
That’s just terrible design, the only buttons that should be on the steering wheel are ones you are likely to use while at speed and there should always be backups on the dash. It’s more expensive to run wires to the wheel and they’re more likely to break.
Can second the replaceable batteries and extendable storage.
However I don’t mind the lack of a headphone jack, because they make affordable dongle dacs now. I think instead of a headphone jack phones should just have 2 usb c ports
Dacs are great, I have one for my IEMs and love it. But only when im sitting. As soon as any movement happens I am occasionally punished when the cable moves 1mm out of its port with noise or complete sound stoppage. I can use my TWS but sound quality and reliability suffers.
Replacement batteries should be a legal requirement. My 5 year old android phone needed a new battery and people kept telling me to get a new one as the phone is old anyway. It still does what I need so why should I get a new one just because of a battery.
I ended up taking the phone apart myself and replacing it. Wasn’t easy and took me over 2 hours.
I’m up for anything which keeps phones working for longer. Such a waste of money and resources for what should be a simple job.
To be fair, expandable storage as we’ve had it sucks. MicroSD cards cause a lot of issues, and a good chunk of Android apps block the ability to use them. Connecting an SSD to your phone is a much better experience.
With OLED screens its kind of crazy that simulated notification lights aren’t a thing. You could have all the other pixels off except for a dot on the screen which would act as a notification light when the display was off.
My wife had a super cool phone that would slide up to reveal a full keyboard. Really slick. Her favorite phone to this day, her Nexus 5 was a close second.
The ultimate social media site, in my perspective, would probably have the simplicity and functionality of Side 7, the content execution methodology of TV Tropes, the expandability of Discord, the rule enforcement of ProBoards, the fanbase of YouTube, the adaptability of Hypothesis, and the funding of Pogo (classic Pogo, not modern Pogo, and no I don’t mean Pokémon Go).
Rootable modable phones, with a 3.5mm headphone jack, SD card slot, and an ultrasonic fingerprint reader cherry on top. Maybe some heart rate monitor sprinkles if you are so inclined. My S10 that I still use checks all of the boxes minus root. It feels like I have a sundae with all the high quality toppings I could want… but no proper ice cream. And I want the whole custom sundae, which these days seems impossible to find.
It’s important to remember that even if a company did that and the customers who said they wanted it all went and bought one it would still likely be a tremendous waste of the manufacturer’s money. And then there are all the people that say it’s important to them while they only use it to point at while shouting at iPhone users despite not using their phones any differently.
These still exist, for now at least. Just not any flagship phones. My Oneplus nord n30 has all of this (well idk if the fingerprint sensor is ultrasonic, it’s on the side and fast though). And I’m pretty sure a lot of Motorola phones have these as well. Only downside is not the best processors or cameras, but are good enough for me at least.
Ooh I’d have to say an IR blaster, before switching to an S23 Ultra, my Huawei P20 Pro had one and a notification light. Didn’t realise how much I used the IR blaster until it was gone.
Was really nice to be able to throw your phone on when you didn’t have access to a device with Bluetooth. At an Airbnb, in an older car, on the beach with a portable radio, etc.
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