Tesla Owners, Let's Talk: Touchscreen vs. Physical Buttons - What's Your Take?

[tangible1]

Except you’re not using an iphone while driving a 5000 lb rocket at 60 MPH dealing with merging traffic and trying to get the damned defroster to turn on so the windshield doesn’t fog up.

Not sure why wanting something that works well for its intended use makes people luddites. It seems that labeling them luddites because they have a rational argument with which you disagree makes you more of a fanboy sycophant.

the young and inexperienced are so worldly

 

[kpanda17]

Hey Tesla enthusiasts! We all love the sleek touchscreen of our Teslas, but do you ever miss the good old physical buttons? You know, the kind that gives you that satisfying click feedback. Sometimes, while I'm driving, I find myself longing for the simplicity of a button I can press without taking my eyes off the road.

What about you guys? When you're cruising in your Tesla, do you prefer the high-tech vibe of the touchscreen, or do you sometimes wish for the tactile feel of physical buttons? And what if there was something that could strike the perfect balance between the two?

I'm excited to hear your thoughts and experiences on this! Maybe together we can figure out what makes the ultimate driving experience.

Don’t miss buttons
Auto and voice control also help forget buttons

 

[sleepydoc]

Zoomer0056 gets it.

In the scenario you describe, I accomplish that without taking my hand off the steering wheel by pressing the right scroll wheel and saying, “Turn on defroster.”

*sigh* And you don’t. Yet another poster who doesn’t get why speech recognition isn’t a substitute for a good interface. I’m too tired to explain again - go back and read my previous posts, then come up with a real excuse for a poorly designed interface.

Why in the world would I want to take my hand off the wheel, lean over and reach out for a button, taking my eyes briefly off the road, to accomplish the same end but less safely?

Because I can do that without taking my eyes off the road. Also, see above. Trying not to roll my eyes here…

 

[sleepydoc]

I believe the point is that those people are no longer complaining, rationally or not, because that tech is now the norm.

And I believe my point that just because one technology works well for one use case doesn’t mean it works well for all use cases. I love how people try to say “you’re just a luddite!” or “this is the future!” To try and justify change. Being against all new technology makes you a luddite. Being against technology that doesn’t make things better just makes you smart and being for technology simply for technology’s sake makes you naive.

 

[legendsk]

Which voice command is associated to a critical function?

Every. Single. One. Driving a car means functioning in an environment where everything has the potential to become critical in 1/2 second, even if it isn't at the moment.

I'll give you that I had to think about it for a while to come up with why, "Screaming Goat Noise", could be a critical function.

 

[zroger73]

Sometimes when I say, "bug report", my Tesla hears, "hoverboard" and I have to submit another bug report to report the bug report bug.

 

[father_of_6]

Sometimes when I say, "bug report", my Tesla hears, "hoverboard" and I have to submit another bug report to report the bug report bug.

You don't have to make excuses just to try out "hoverboard mode" every once in a while.

 

[father_of_6]

Yeah folks... this argument is settled. Tesla is clearly not going to add more controls when they're happy to remove the stalks. Furthermore, third-party solutions exist for those that really want their buttons back.

I'm in the camp of "the Model 3 controls are perfect, but don't take away my stalks". I'd add that I wish they'd get rid of the seat controls and provide those onscreen instead. One of mine just broke.

 

[sleepydoc]

Yeah folks... this argument is settled. Tesla is clearly not going to add more controls when they're happy to remove the stalks. Furthermore, third-party solutions exist for those that really want their buttons back.

I'm in the camp of "the Model 3 controls are perfect, but don't take away my stalks". I'd add that I wish they'd get rid of the seat controls and provide those onscreen instead. One of mine just broke.

Well, yeah - it’s clear that touch screens aren’t always better. It’s also clear that Tesla doesn’t always make smart interface design decisions.

Fortunately after trying to foist the joke on people they realized their mistake and brought back a steering wheel as the standard, so they have shown some capacity to admit their mistakes and revert back to a better design.

I like my Tesla but it will be my last Tesla if they take away the stalks.

 

[Calliope]

Why in the world would I want to take my hand off the wheel

You wouldn't want to, but what do you do if the voice command doesn't work (as it sometimes doesn't)? Or if you're driving back from the dentist and half your mouth is still frozen and your speech is slurred? What if you use an incorrect word or phrase because you haven't memorized the exact language it wants (try using voice commands to "phone mom" instead of "call mom")?

Voice commands - as the technology exists now - are an unreliable alternative. They're nice to have, but don't rely on them being available and responsive.

 

[TomServo]

My wife and I are 71+ years old and on our second Model Y. We have adapted. I set everything to AUTO and just drive the car. But I am getting better at using VOICE commands. But feel goofy doing so.

 

[zoomer0056]

Or if you're driving back from the dentist and half your mouth is still frozen and your speech is slurred?

Don't drive impaired.

 

[father_of_6]

Don't drive impaired.

But that creates a new category of impairment. "Inability to issue voice commands". No other car gas historically required that ability.

What if the driver permanently can't talk? Has the ability to speak become a new requirement for driving, without which one is now considered to be driving impaired?

I find voice commands woefully inept for vehicle controls that should be a tap of a button or turn of a dial. On the other hand, I find them fantastic for requesting directions and interacting with my phone.

 

[Calliope]

Don't drive without diction: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8-Uvb0vPcNY

 

[sleepydoc]

Don't drive impaired.

Don't drive an impaired car.

 

[drtimhill]

I have lived with the touch screen for 5 years. It was the thing I liked the least about the car when I got it, but I like the rest of the car so much it compensates. I hate the screen even more now. Yes, tactile controls are far better than touch controls (screen or capacitive 'buttons'). I would fully endorse regulations that mandate in-car screen touch functionality lockout when a car is in gear actually. I fundamentally believe they are unsafe, just like texting while driving. I know the fanbois will down-vote me, but I suspect most of them are also the kind of people who think that they personally can text and drive safely. This does not mean giving up the minimalism of a Tesla at all, it just means better driver controls design (and about 10% more physical controls). I really hope the paradigm in 10 years will be: things you need while driving on physical controls (by law), settings on the screen.

But that logic would also lock-out all entertainment and climate functions, INCLUDING physical buttons. Besides, pretty much anything you need to do while driving you can do with voice commands or the steering wheel buttons. As for mandating this, you will NEVER stop stupid people doing stupid things, all you will do is block sensible people from being sensible.

 

[sleepydoc]

But that logic would also lock-out all entertainment and climate functions, INCLUDING physical buttons. Besides, pretty much anything you need to do while driving you can do with voice commands or the steering wheel buttons. As for mandating this, you will NEVER stop stupid people doing stupid things, all you will do is block sensible people from being sensible.

True, but the purpose of such mandates isn’t to stop stupid people from doing stupid things, it’s to stop stupid corporations from making dangerous or unsafe designs [in the interest of saving money.]

Elon famously said ‘the best part is no part.’ That applies to manufacturing and costs, not usability.

 

[drtimhill]

True, but the purpose of such mandates isn’t to stop stupid people from doing stupid things, it’s to stop stupid corporations from making dangerous or unsafe designs [in the interest of saving money.]

Elon famously said ‘the best part is no part.’ That applies to manufacturing and costs, not usability.

Not sure I agree. His argument is you should not HAVE to click and press dozens of buttons, on-screen or physical. Sure, he's way off from realizing that vision, but a mandate that says "every driving function should have a button" is sure to stifle that kind of innovation, and ultimately ITSELF lead to the very safety issues it was claiming to solve. Right now, Europe has cars with cameras instead of wing mirrors, and they work a HECK of lot better than peering at an antiquated mirror (especially at night). Why doesnt the US have these? Safety regulations.

 

[sleepydoc]

Not sure I agree. His argument is you should not HAVE to click and press dozens of buttons, on-screen or physical. Sure, he's way off from realizing that vision, but a mandate that says "every driving function should have a button" is sure to stifle that kind of innovation, and ultimately ITSELF lead to the very safety issues it was claiming to solve. Right now, Europe has cars with cameras instead of wing mirrors, and they work a HECK of lot better than peering at an antiquated mirror (especially at night). Why doesnt the US have these? Safety regulations.

If you read my posts above, you’ll see I agree with you. There are some things for which a touchscreen works well and other things for which physical controls work better. If you have a feature, it has to have a control, how you implement that control determines usability.

Elon’s statement was made in the context of manufacturing simplicity and cost (with perhaps a secondary thought to reliability.) From a manufacturing cost perspective, putting everything on the screen is cheaper but not necessarily better.

Regarding your example of mirrors vs cameras, I’ve seen some cars in The US that offer a camera based rear view mirror, so they’re coming here, too. That’s as bit different as the only interaction is to look at it, so there is no real control. (one could also argue that goes against Elon’s philosophy since there are actually more parts in a camera based system.)

 

[kpanda17]

Guys
Grok will be added to our cars and we will have full sentence commands to get the S3XYT2 to do what we want