And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Monday, January 27, 2025
Touch screens are too easy to mess up on. Prefer the switches and buttons.
Agree. My car has a 'touch screen' to use the radio, etc. Half the screen no longer senses 'touch', so I can't update the presets, or do half the things the radio is supposed to do. Engineers really failed when they did not program in a 'button' system in addition to the touch-screen. I can perform some functions w/ the buttons on the steering wheel, but not all of them.
That dam touch screen is why I won't buy a new car. Every dam one of 'em has that abomination, except for the Hyundai Venture and that pos has a CVT transmission. Keep 'em all. Plenty of used offerings on the market.
I see that Thierry Métroz, one of the chief designers at Citroen (Stellantis Group) has said that he wants to get rid of ALL screens in cars because they are "stupid" and "not very sexy". So maybe there is hope. Steve_in_Ottawa
"Touch screens are too easy to mess up on. Prefer the switches and buttons."
They don't actually fly the craft, it's piloted autonomously or remotely. They just monitor things and could intervene in an emergency situation. That said touch screen interfaces suck.
My experience as an engineer of products used by the military: switches are always better. Also, it is kind of a crap shoot which fails first, the switches or the connectors. If you buy the best possibly switches and connectors, and keep the mate-demate cycles low on the connectors, life is far better. As a class touchscreens generally don't have any better reliability than a switch, except there are effectively thousands/millions of switches on a touchscreen, each of which has a quantifiable probability of failure that is greater than zero.
The reasons to use displays, programmable or otherwise: 1) When the user absolutely needs graphical feedback. 2) When the user language needs customization.
We take such displays for granted because we are used to them in a no-stress and imprecise operating environment. As discussed above, add some turbulence and stress into the operating environment and require some kind of precision as well, and the touch screen is way less favorable.
Worse than the touch screen was the joystick. Using the little nub or scroll wheel to spell out a name, while bouncing down the road was a real “joy”. Long live the button/switch!
With my fingers being as large as they are, touchscreens are a challenge just sitting still, gets worse and worser :-) the more motion you / the screen is subject to.
While I side with those who favor the analog, you're overlooking the obvious: Those touch screens just saved you literally tons of weight and hundreds to thousands of miles of wiring, eliminating months to years of man-hours to build, and cutting the thrust necessary to reach or escape orbit, and saving you millions of dollars before you even light the candle.
Yes, a touch-screen is problematic when you're vibrating or hitting 3G-6G, but leaving a metric f**k-ton of metal scrap on the pad before you set out is a positive boon to the whole enterprise.
Apollo 4: Need a closeup for the switch to call Kubrick.
ReplyDeleteButtons and switches are much better while you're flying thru heavy turbulance.
ReplyDeleteTurbulance or enemy fire.
ReplyDeleteAgree. My car has a 'touch screen' to use the radio, etc. Half the screen no longer senses 'touch', so I can't update the presets, or do half the things the radio is supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteEngineers really failed when they did not program in a 'button' system in addition to the touch-screen. I can perform some functions w/ the buttons on the steering wheel, but not all of them.
That dam touch screen is why I won't buy a new car. Every dam one of 'em has that abomination, except for the Hyundai Venture and that pos has a CVT transmission. Keep 'em all. Plenty of used offerings on the market.
DeleteAnalog for me
ReplyDeleteOne of the last of a dying breed the "analog animals' ! Me too.
DeleteWait until some guy with a Linux/Unix background decides to change how everything looks without telling anyone, and of course not document it.
ReplyDeleteI see that Thierry Métroz, one of the chief designers at Citroen (Stellantis Group) has said that he wants to get rid of ALL screens in cars because they are "stupid" and "not very sexy". So maybe there is hope. Steve_in_Ottawa
ReplyDelete"Touch screens are too easy to mess up on. Prefer the switches and buttons."
ReplyDeleteThey don't actually fly the craft, it's piloted autonomously or remotely. They just monitor things and could intervene in an emergency situation. That said touch screen interfaces suck.
My experience as an engineer of products used by the military: switches are always better. Also, it is kind of a crap shoot which fails first, the switches or the connectors. If you buy the best possibly switches and connectors, and keep the mate-demate cycles low on the connectors, life is far better. As a class touchscreens generally don't have any better reliability than a switch, except there are effectively thousands/millions of switches on a touchscreen, each of which has a quantifiable probability of failure that is greater than zero.
ReplyDeleteThe reasons to use displays, programmable or otherwise:
1) When the user absolutely needs graphical feedback.
2) When the user language needs customization.
We take such displays for granted because we are used to them in a no-stress and imprecise operating environment. As discussed above, add some turbulence and stress into the operating environment and require some kind of precision as well, and the touch screen is way less favorable.
Worse than the touch screen was the joystick. Using the little nub or scroll wheel to spell out a name, while bouncing down the road was a real “joy”. Long live the button/switch!
ReplyDeleteWith my fingers being as large as they are, touchscreens are a challenge just sitting still, gets worse and worser :-) the more motion you / the screen is subject to.
ReplyDeleteGive me switches...
While I side with those who favor the analog, you're overlooking the obvious:
ReplyDeleteThose touch screens just saved you literally tons of weight and hundreds to thousands of miles of wiring, eliminating months to years of man-hours to build, and cutting the thrust necessary to reach or escape orbit, and saving you millions of dollars before you even light the candle.
Yes, a touch-screen is problematic when you're vibrating or hitting 3G-6G, but leaving a metric f**k-ton of metal scrap on the pad before you set out is a positive boon to the whole enterprise.