Buy old cars then...?
I really dislike this current trend for tablet type interiors. It just smacks of laziness on the designers part. It’s almost like they forgot about something and put it on as an afterthought.
Mercedes are the worst, looks like a complete after thought. Why on Earth don’t they just incorporate it properly .
I have to say any touchscreen in a car is challenging when moving and more so in a trumpy motor, give me a knob anytime! (Que Sarcastic banter)
What do you run as your taxi Jay and are you looking to replace it?
Car makers seem to be making the same mistake that operating system and desktop environment developers made a few years ago: Mobile form factor is popular therefore we must make everything look like it is a mobile form factor, even when that is unsuitable for our use case.
This ended badly for operating system and desktop environment develops and it seems as ill thought out and implemented in cars.
It is lazy design - and I bet if one goes wrong, even though they look like a bolt - on device they probably need the whole dash taken out to fix the problem, involving hours of labour!
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I totally agree with you. Combined with the high gloss interior of Mercedes... totally ugly. I spotted the new (USA only for now) Honda CR-V last Friday in Orlando. Lo and behold: the same slap-on tablet-ish entertainment module! Grrrrr.
Menno
A pic from the internet:
Jag still has the old school approach...
Although the Sat Nav is pretty dumb
z
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I hate the design as well and I didn’t buy a Mercedes a few years back because of it. But loads are doing it now.
I’ve actually been browsing this afternoon and can’t believe how BMW STILL have the same dials from about 10yrs ago in most models. My last BMW was an X1 in 2011 and nothing has changed.
For me Audi have nailed it with their A3 model. The info screen mechanism enables it to rotate in/out the dashboard vertically. Audi really should have rolled this idea out to the rest of their range but I presume the bean counters put a stop to that
I dare say it's the bean counters leaning heavily on the designers to keep up with the Jones's 'cos "we don't wanna be left behind and lose sales".
I'm sure it's more than a few days work to knock out a fresh car model interior after watching your current one flop on it's arse sales wise because it doesn't have the equipment its peers have. (but I'm sure we all knew that anyway)
I agree re: modern interiors and a certain apathy towards design.
I've not got a 'tablet' in my car, how easy are they to operate while on the move given their lack of 'tactility'?
I have to say my favourite interior by far was my E85 Z4 interior. Sparse but purposeful. A world away from my TT RS interior!
Cars are for driving.
Who want's a tablet in their car?
Should be illegal to use one anyway
Won't buy a new car with a stuck on appendage in the field of view.
They'll all be obsolete in a few years anyway. Don't mind dumping a laptop after two years, but a car because the IT is obsolete?
I also hated the stick on approach but now having a bmw with a stuck on screen I actually now like it and what it does.
From a design point of view and to keep up with the my screen is bigger than yours brigade they really have no option but to attach it to the top. Imagine integrating it into the dash, might end up with a very high dash?
I work as a user experience and interface designer and often marvel at how wrong many car manufacturers have got it over the last few years.
Manufacturers such as Renault, VW, Tesla etc are moving away from restrictive and inappropriate landscape tablets installed in a position unsuitable for the driver. Audi/VWs virtual cockpit works very well with the steering controls being more intuitive than you would expect. However, speech recognition has made huge leaps ahead in the last few years in other devices and it won't be long before its the main interaction within a mainstream vehicle.
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Bmw's iDrive knob offers a 'tactile experience' as well: moving the iDrive around has the same effect as a properly shifting manual g/box: your brain is sure that your hands 'get the message across' (using '-' here because I have no idea how to put it differently). tbh, I don't know how other manufacturers have done this.
Menno
Previous company car was a BMW 320ed and their iDrive knob worked better than the new Mercedes GLA equivalent, although Apple Car Play works nicely (until you’re driving at night and the screen half blinds you)
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Has the same sat nav as my Range Rover I think. Always trying to take you down single track roads and nothing you change in settings makes any difference.
Complained to JLR and they said they needed examples of lots of routes and details etc. Like they weren’t aware of it! It’s just a piss poor system considering the cost of the cars they put it in.
Have a free app on my iPhone that works better!
Agree with the OP.
Plus I still find modern sat navs which manufacturers are charging circa £1500 for as an option are still generally worse than a £99 Garmin or TomTom out of Halfords. I mean when your phone has Google maps you have to question why you need anything else?
But that Lexus interior below is very nice indeed.
Surely it wouldn't be hard to integrate a 10-12" screen into the dash would it and just have it pre-installed with Google maps?
Yep - I hate the tacked on tablet look too.
The Golf's is much better integrated and you can put the sat nav on the dash right in front of you on the R which is a good feature.
M
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Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Yes the Mercedes one looks stupid. It stopped Mrs T-7 from buying one. I don't like screens in cars full stop. They're a death waiting to happen, but usually not the driver's.
Must agree with the Merc interior being just awful. I had an slk in the old days and loved it. Now having kids I have moved to Landrover, could not live with that Halfords look on the Merc dash.
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I don't like the Mercedes interior but their infotainment system has improved over the last generation of cars. The current JLR system however, is on of the most disappointing i've experienced. Ignoring the sat nav which several here say is rubbish, the interface itself is just awful and the information display on the dash is especially useless and limited. Considering their position in the market it should be a lot better.
I know what you mean about the stuck on screens, the pop up ones are worse imho. im quite pleased with my little R Design V40, all rather a pleasant place to be for hours on end. great hifi too.
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much prefer integrated and not pup tacked on tablet style thingies
It does look like that's the way the market is heading. This from CES 2018! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42599345
I agree with the OP. Aesthetics aside, what bothers me even more is that a touchscreen, unless done properly (ie large easy-to-hit "buttons") is surely more of a liability than physical switches, dials etc which I often find you can locate by touch without even looking. There's all this focus about speed, road safety etc but then they go and whack a 10" tablet on the dash which you need to look directly at in order to use. Don't try and tell me that isn't hugely distracting especially when there are menus, submenus etc. The i-Drive setup which at least uses a rotary dial is perhaps better in this regard.
Looks good to me
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Not sure I'm qualified to comment looking at my dash. Still have a tape deck!
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(1) Compatibility. Connectivity is one of the most important things nowadays, and that implies the need for upgradability over the life of a car.
(2) Isn't satnav enough of a justification in and of its own right when it is integrated?
(3) Sustainability. Systems break. Replacing them is part of maintenance. This implies long term compatibility and thus, in the world in which we now exist and function, upgradability. Indeed, reasonable-cost upgradability (which in turn implies standardised interfaces, both electronic and physical) is a potential profit centre.
Because the world has moved on.
As capabilities increase and improve, new corollaries become apparent. After a while people begin to expect them and feel they are basic.
See below.
Last edited by Dave+63; 9th January 2018 at 16:03.