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by TheLoneWolfling 4510 days ago
Until touch screen controls have haptic feedback, I'll much prefer physical controls.

Same reason why my phone has a physical keyboard.

2 comments

> I'll much prefer physical controls.

I generally agree. I just bought a car and one of the reasons that I skipped the nav system is that I didn't want a touch screen for things that work better as knobs.

That being said there is a balance to strike in today's smart-device world. Having a touch screen can save space and reduce control clutter when trying to cram bluetooth, gps, hd radio, playlist, and other controls onto the dash. They allow the car to only show me what I need when I need it.

Looking at most touch screen dashes, such as those in the article, show that they fail at this, of course.

What interfaces did you lose with touchscreen nav that you didn't have on the steering wheel already?
In a conference room at Sun in the 1980's, I saw a touch screen control panel on the speaker's podium for raising and lowering the lights, projector screen, controlling the projector, etc. It has a small solenoid with a rubber mallet at the tip which would go "thunk" against the back of the glass to provide haptic feedback for the virtual buttons. Pretty low tech, cheap, simple but effective.