| I really wish we could buy a new car these days without some insane infotainment system. I don't even want a screen or backup cam. I know DOT requires a backup cam, but they cause more trouble than they're worth and are there largely to compensate for the beefier pylons they also require now (less likely to get crushed if you roll, but more likely to get in an accident from reduced visibility). I've owned or rented about four cars of different make and different software bases that would occasionally freeze up when you switch out of reverse into forward, but the cam would still be up, preventing you from accessing important car functions (and distracting the driver). I've had to look up how to reset infotainment systems on youtube because it just wouldn't turn on at all. There was also a report of an infotainment system which would glitch out if a radio broadcasted certain characters in their station or track info, causing it to stay stuck on that radio station, even across reboots (IIRC this was traced to an ancient js lib, I may be wrong though). How much help do you think the car manufacturer offered? It was likely asymptotic with 0. But even if infotainment systems didn't suck for all these reasons, I still wouldn't want one. They seriously just suck ass by their very nature. Just give me a vehicle. |
Backup cams are mount lower and have a wider field of view than people do. They are really effective at keeping drivers from running over children. They are incredibly effective at this. Even in my low to the ground compact car, my backup cam sees things I cannot out my back window.