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by palmer_fox 1004 days ago
I see this argument all the time. Any data to support it? Has AC UI caused many accidents and worsened road safety? Personally I find most physical AC controls in cars awkward to use. At least in Tesla I can set the direction of fans very precisely with a single finger. And forget about it for the rest of my life.

We used to have physical cassette and CD players in every car that required - you won't believe it! - taking your eyes off the road.
1 comments
tharkun__ 1004 days ago
I adjust fans all the time. Sometimes I want ice cold air blowing in my face. Half an hour later I may be annoyed by that or getting too cold because it's no longer 35C in the car but 23 and the air is making me shiver. Reverse in winter. I want the warm air to blow on me when it's -20C but once it's heated up I don't.

A physical cassette or CD requires no taking your eyes off the road. I'd have a few of those around and would know which one is where and you can switch them by touch without looking. Just like I find buttons on the radio or other controls by feel. I know where things are from easy to find reference points like the edge of the middle concole.

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palmer_fox 1004 days ago
Guess you and I represent the opposite sides of the UX argument. I could never find the CD I wanted to listen to by touch (in a case of about 3 dozen CDs)! Seems like you mastered not only this task but could adjust the entirety of car controls without ever taking your eyes off the road. Which I applaud you for.

It's likely a pointless argument - I prefer a minimal design with as few physical knobs as possible and an intelligent self-adjusting system. Other people prefer more traditional physical controls. Just a matter of preference... I haven't seen any data to suggest that people in Teslas are getting into more accidents than people driving Hondas (in fact, the opposite seems to be true: https://motorandwheels.com/do-tesla-cars-crash-more-often/).

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tharkun__ 1003 days ago
At 3 dozen I wouldn't find these either. Absolutely agreed. 6 or 8 cassettes in the (waaay back) cassette thingie. So I'd know what was where. Same amount of music but less CDs when it was just regular CDs. And then just one or two MP3 CDs.

Most cars I have been in have abysmal automatic climate controls. Either too hot or too cold. Manual adjustment needed. For that I need knobs. If you give me a car that can actually keep me comfy without needing to adjust things I don't mind not having knobs. Yet to find such a car. Thus I need knobs for that.

For the music definitely need knobs. No car is gonna figure out my mood anytime soon. Thus I need knobs to switch to folder 3 that has my "calm me down music" or folder 5 for "I need Euro Dance now" etc.

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palmer_fox 1000 days ago
Oh I see your point. If I had a car with a horrible climate control precision controlled via a touch display - I would be furious. In my mind I am comparing Tesla's automatic climate control (in my view - excellent) to traditional cars where I had to twist these X/Y joystick-like plastic sticks to turn the fan in the right direction. For me personally - no comparison, Tesla beats that hands down.
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thrill 1004 days ago
If I had my way I'd adjust the vents when I first got into a car and then weld them into place.
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