Here's a couple of examples of displays. One that is very limited but works simply and very well, and another that does the same job but is vastly more powerful, shows tons more data, and requires a lot of care and study to
not lead you into the cumulo granite.
I flew behind this simple localizer glideslope head (two of them, plus an RMI actually), for many years. The bars show
precisely where the airplane is relative to a narrowing signal cone (defined by the up/down glideslope, and the side-to-side localizer) that's transmitted from an airport runway. Keep the bars centered and you can land in zero zero conditions and never see the runway until the wheels are about to touch. That's no exaggeration, though it's only to be done in an emergency. But I have done it. It's simple, and it works.
Now, that display head is simple and elegant, but it won't show your position on a moving map (you needed an approach plate on your lap for that), or countdown distance to the airport (you needed a separate radio- the DME), or when civil twilight begins, or how you should fly the missed approach procedure, or where the nearest airport with better weather might be found. This box does all of that and far, far more:
Kind of looks a little like the Model 3 display, doesn't it? Only it has way too many buttons that must be operated in
precisely the correct sequence in order to work at all. It's a fantastic- not elegant and not simple- resource that can easily lead you straight to the runway, or, if you've invoked one procedure while thinking you called up another, to anywhere
but the airport.
I know. I did that once or twice early on. Fortunately, you could channel all the blizzard of data you see up there onto the old, reliable ILS head and fly on unbothered by the pretty twinkling lights (unless you needed them).
Kind of like the setup on the Model S. Tons of stuff on the big screen. But the vital elements right in front of your eyes.
Now cars are a lot simpler, or should be. My long-winded point is just this: adding layers of data, adding tons of features, throwing up different tasks onto a single screen with multiple menus and options, can seem like great engineering solution. You have one screen. One box. One electrical connection to power, another to ground, a third to an antenna. What could be simpler?
But that leaves the user entirely out of the equation. And when your need for a specific piece of information is vital and immediate (speed limit, how fast am I going, is there a car in the adjacent lane about to overtake me when I'd like to change lanes), it should be
instantly available at a glance. Not enmeshed in maps and entertainment, videos and environmental controls and who knows what all.
Seems that way to me, anyway.
Robin