She loves Tesla. It makes her money.
Just as they did the 5.4 star thing and the NHTSA got its knickers in a twist, Tesla will do what it wants until the NHTSA actually makes a rule. Guidelines are political cowardice.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
She loves Tesla. It makes her money.
Just as they did the 5.4 star thing and the NHTSA got its knickers in a twist, Tesla will do what it wants until the NHTSA actually makes a rule. Guidelines are political cowardice.
artsci
Sponsor
William13
Active Member
Not any more distracting than other interfaces while driving. We would have heard if accidents were occurring.
BTW the web browser is fast compared with dial-up or even cable internet from 2000.
BTW the web browser is fast compared with dial-up or even cable internet from 2000.
Download speeds are fair, but that's not the main usability problem. The hot points for clicking links are too small, so I always end up zooming the screen in before tapping. There's a lag when you do this; first the screen zooms in low res, then it shrinks back momentarily to where it was, then it repaints zoomed again and in higher resolution. Scrolling is painfully slow. I usually end up using my iPhone if I'm waiting in the car because it's so much easier to use.
I do find the touchscreen browser useful for a couple of things. I have favorites for the local weather, including one for the radar page (precipitation). And on occasion when I'm in the USA I don't have to pay extra for data roaming, whereas I do with my phone.
The center display replaces a bunch of functions - GPS Nav, phone, radio/media player. Each of the them is a distraction separately. In aggregate, I claim that the distraction of the center display is actually less than the sum of the distractions of the things it replaces. It's in a prominent location with easier to hit buttons. Making a phone call is easier through the display than with the phone. Mapping/Nav is a LOT easier than using a dedicated GPS - especially with the integrated directions on the drivers display panel.
There are a few places where it could be better, like an easy way to turn on headlights (kind of clumsy now) but over all, I find it fairly intuitive.
By the way, the "coming up to speed" comment completely ignores the fact that every car and every device has a learning curve. How is this any different? Ever try to do radio presets in a moving car? Yikes, that's an accident waiting to happen. If you want to argue the learning curve for the Tesla is longer or steeper, I will happily disagree.
There are a few places where it could be better, like an easy way to turn on headlights (kind of clumsy now) but over all, I find it fairly intuitive.
By the way, the "coming up to speed" comment completely ignores the fact that every car and every device has a learning curve. How is this any different? Ever try to do radio presets in a moving car? Yikes, that's an accident waiting to happen. If you want to argue the learning curve for the Tesla is longer or steeper, I will happily disagree.
its an interesting exercise to reach straight out while driving to try to hit a touch screen button in the middle of the very large screen. I too use a technique
where I anchor a finger along the side/corner of the screen "frame" and then reach by spanning my hand to reach the part of the screen that I want to touch.
I'm getting used to it but it is anything but intuitive.
where I anchor a finger along the side/corner of the screen "frame" and then reach by spanning my hand to reach the part of the screen that I want to touch.
I'm getting used to it but it is anything but intuitive.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I have the same problem with the tiny homelink button. I usually am tapping it just as my car goes over the curb to my driveway and my finger misses and hits something else! Rather than the tiny drop-down, it would be cool if Tesla could put a big button (maybe even make it look like a garage door clicker) right in the middle of the display.
I hope you do not have to turn the headlights on and off manually. I haven't need to do this since 1996. When I rent a car without auto headlights I will leave them on or off when they should not be.
GSP
It's not impossible that the NHTSA could make rules about touch screen interfaces, but it would be a hard thing for them to do. There are dozens of cars now with touch screen interfaces, phone interactions, etc, how could you draw the line? We have a car that appears to have less accidents than its peers, so how can you separate or calculate the danger of the touchscreen - maybe it's safer because you have a bigger map to look at.
But the author does seem to have a bone to pick with Tesla and perhaps progressives in general. This is the same writer (click on the more articles link) who had articles about how lithium batteries are really yucky and dirty, and also 2 articles about how to make money if and when obamacare is overturned. Her Tesla battery article is really misleading - yes, there is some lithium in the batteries, but it's not that much, there's a single mine opening in California that can supply the world's needs, rare earth minerals are not just in China. Steel also is made of extracted minerals - who knew?
But the author does seem to have a bone to pick with Tesla and perhaps progressives in general. This is the same writer (click on the more articles link) who had articles about how lithium batteries are really yucky and dirty, and also 2 articles about how to make money if and when obamacare is overturned. Her Tesla battery article is really misleading - yes, there is some lithium in the batteries, but it's not that much, there's a single mine opening in California that can supply the world's needs, rare earth minerals are not just in China. Steel also is made of extracted minerals - who knew?
Mobster
Member
The subject article is silly written by a sensationalist with no experience in real science or even fact checking. I am bothered because I was a big fan of the Motley Fool(s) in their early years when they had thoughtful analysis of the stock market and possible trends. NOW, they have pop up windows, paid advertisements, emails, pay for memberships and other onslaughts that, in my opinion come close to trying to AFFECT a stock price with innuendo. Dangerous ground. I have been following them on a number of issues (like their all out push for people to buy 3D printer stocks). IMHO the SEC needs to take a closer look at what they are involved in. Too many red flags. The subject article a good example. A lot of nonsense.
