QOTD: Screens or Knobs?
I wrote yesterday that we need a truce among car people when it comes to interior design -- specifically, knobs vs screens -- and I told you folks that, generally speaking, I prefer a mix of the two.
Now it's your turn.
Are you someone who loves screens? Someone who hates them and prefers knobs? Are you like me and prefer a mix? What about haptic touch?
Based on the comments from the op-ed yesterday, I think I know how this might go. But I wanted to ask anyway -- especially for those folks who missed the post yesterday and want to speak up here.
Sound off below.
[Image: Jeep]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
More by Tim Healey
Comments
Join the conversation
Touch screens make cars less expensive to manufacture.
So... we get screens. Car companies don't really care what consumers think.
Honestly, I find the system in my Mazda to be about perfect. Physical buttons and knobs for HVAC stuff, menus for lesser used functions and the rotary turny-button thing, with clearly defined detents, to navigate those menus. The duplications of common radio functions on the steering wheel are nice.
The common complaint that you can't choose a radio station from the steering wheel doesn't bother me because I hardly listen to the terrestrial radio. Instead I'm listening to podcasts or Pandora via Android Auto. The few things I need to say at Mrs. Google work well enough.
Being a retired USAF type, the planes now have a compromise: screens, but with real buttons along the edge so that the pilot can have a tactile sense when activating the function. One of the things we had to do before becoming fully checked out was a "blindfold cockpit check" where you had to locate important controls while blindfolded. Not doing that with a touch sensative screen only). I consider a "screen only" control (such as the Tesla - which is still a darned impressive car) to be an ergonomic low point. So much for my 2c worth.
Would prefer a knob of some type, especially for radio and A/C.
As for the transmission, I prefer a shift handle (hand shaker), not a turn knob .