Automobile Controls: Touchscreen vs Manual

(Image courtesy of Apple.)

Greetings all, hope you’re well.

It’s getting close to the time I need to leave for work. I’ll do the usual, hop in the ride and hit the highways and by-ways to head in. Often times, I like listening to podcasts on the way in, which are usual streamed from my iPhone to my car’s infotainment system. Many times I may start listening to an episode and decide I want to change to another one or the radio, as I’m driving

My car is a late model vehicle that has a fairly large information screen in the middle of the dashboard, but not so late that it’s a touchscreen, nor is it a new enough model to have something like Apple CarPlay as a standard feature. For as long as I’ve been driving, there is one reason I prefer it not to be a touchscreen for various operational features – you end up taking your eyes off the road at times to change things you need IF your only way to do so is via touchscreen. I prefer the old tactile approach of turning knobs or pressing buttons by “feel” while I’m driving for it lends to greater concentration.

Well, you might say, “What about the iPhone, that’s all touchscreen, yes?” True, it is, and I’d have to do the opposite while I’m driving – take my eyes off the road to fiddle with the phone’s screen – something I try not to ever do (unless I’m at a complete stop).

Speaking of which, here’s a pertinent article on the subject: Apple Embraces the Ever-Expanding Dashboard Touchscreen

Eventually, I believe the tactile controls of buttons and knobs will disappear from an automobile’s cabin, especially as autonomous vehicles become ubiquitous (heck, I still use my rear view windshield and door mirrors over my back up camera!). I’ve not looked in the lastest models that really use a lot of touchscreen technology, maybe I’ll make some time to check them out but , until then, I’ll keep pushin’ and a-turnin’ vs tappin’ and a-slidin’!

Thanks for the read.

Fresh

About Fresh

Mac Fan/Sys. Engr - NASA planetary missions. guitarist/producer/AFOL/fitness fan/film+TV+sndtrk composer/podcast host/Python newbie coder. Music by me: http://SFTF.bandcamp.com. Mellowly Cool. Find me on X and Bluesky
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4 Responses to Automobile Controls: Touchscreen vs Manual

  1. darrenkeith3 says:

    I hear you. Yesterday I used my Aux port inside my vehicle to play my mindisc player. My vehicle has Apple CarPlay but I wanted to use my player and didn’t wan to use my phone as a multi-functional device.

    I love the new consoles but for me what comes to mind is the “cost” when it comes time for repairs but hey it is what it is.

    This post is very nice and yep I use both my rear view mirror and rear camera many days. LOL

  2. Soulcruzer says:

    Haha, I’m still pretty much all analog! I drive an old Jeep Cherokee that still has a CD player, if you can believe that! No touchscreens. No in-built bluetooth technology, just “pushin’ and turnin'” knobs and dials. haha.

  3. Fresh says:

    I definitely believe you, Clay…salute!!

  4. Fresh says:

    Hahah… yep I hear you. The make and model of my vehicle comes without an aux jack so the minidisc play is via an FM transmitter. We’re both making it work!

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