Death of the Button? Analog vs. Digital 329
mattnyc99 writes "Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds is sick of navigating menus to turn up the heat—while he's trying to drive. His take in the article (as well as a a no-holds-barred podcast) is that modern tech product designers should get back to analog controls before iPhone users get sick of looking down at their touchscreen everytime they dial without a dial. It may be up to you: Whither dangerous auto technology, or long live the touchscreen?"
Re:Why is the IDrive confusing? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why is the IDrive confusing? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Who Cares What Wing Nut Glenn Reynolds Thinks? (Score:1, Informative)
Posting a topic that says Glenn Reynolds is sick of Computer Menus is like saying Ann Coulter is sick of iPods.
Who cares what either of them think about such things. They are totally irrelevant in the tech world.
I'm extremely disappointed that Slashdot has given a hate monger such as Reynolds credibility in anything having to do with tech.
Re:Good example (Score:5, Informative)
My parent's 1970's Canon is soooooooo much easier to use, it has knobs for the settings, it has a field-of-view diagram on the lens (I have to guess with mine), a split for perfecting focus on what you want in focus (I have to trust the autofocus or just eyeball it) and I know it's been dropped onto rocks in a flowing stream at least once and survived (I have not tested that with mine).
My camera's interface is a tiny LCD and microscopic buttons. You can see the settings more clearly when you look through the viewfinder, but then you can't see the tiny buttons you need to press. And the worst part: if stop pressing buttons long enough to arrange your shot (10 or so seconds) the camera times out and deletes all the settings you spent the last 5 minutes perfecting.
Re:Who Cares What Wing Nut Glenn Reynolds Thinks? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Why is the IDrive confusing? (Score:1, Informative)
I have to disagree with you. I have iDrive on my 2007 BMW 3 series, and I love it. Granted, it took a bit of getting used to because it's not the most intuitive thing I've ever used (it's not an ipod), but after a week or two I could navigate the menus quickly and without fuss, and while mostly keeping my eyes on the road. I've only had the car for a month, but haven't had any problems using iDrive beyond the first couple of days. These people should drive the car and use the system for a month before reviewing it, the negative reviews by people who use it for a few minutes and then criticize it are worthless and should be dismissed.
Why?
Firstly, the knob is tactile. It gives little vibrating pulses when you turn it, one pulse per selection that it scrolls past, and it will stop scrolling and apply tactile resistance when it reaches the top or bottom of a field. So you can let it scroll through options in a long list while you keep your eyes on the road and know by feel when you should glance at it.
Secondly, I don't have to use the knob that much. I can give the car voice commands, and only have to use the knob once I've reached a point in the menu where voice commands no longer apply. (E.g. when I get into a location search, it doesn't have voice recognition for all of the various addresses and businesses.)
Thirdly, about the criticisms that it's unsafe to use while driving? No shit sherlock. Neither is your cell phone. Or putting on makeup. Or shaving. Or eating lunch. But people do those without blaming the manufacturers or restaurants or stores that sell the necessary equipment. And when some dumbass kills another dumbass by ramming him at 90mph, we don't fault the manufacturer for building a car that can do 90. We should require some personal accountability from drivers before we lampoon BMW for providing a navigation system that (horror) might require a little driver interaction. It isn't the fault of BMW if the driver isn't responsible enough to interact with the system only when the car isn't in motion. Every time you power the car on, the first thing iDrive does is display a warning (for 10-15 seconds) that it's the driver's responsibility to operate the system only when safe to do so.
Overwhelmingly, my experience with the 2007 iDrive has been EXTREMELY positive, and I don't know how I lived without it.
-r
Re:Why is the IDrive confusing? (Score:2, Informative)
I recently got a Motorola phone, which has a voice control facility (e.g. via the SoundPilot Bluetooth gadget they bundled with it.) It lets you train your voice for numbers, which I did. However, to actually dial using numbers, you need to go into the voice control system and give the command "digit dial". When several attempts and yarmouthing fails, you just press the friggin' buttons like nature intended.
Note to UI devices: Just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should; K.I.S.S.
<flame>That said the iDrive is probably perfect for BMWs: "Bad Motorist, Wanker". Pissing about for 15 minutes in the carpark playing with their iKnob to select the ride comfort, air freshener scent or whatever to impress the "Blonde, Moronic Woman" in the passenger seat would be right up their alley. (Ob. Top Gear [topgear.com].)
Alarm clocks (Score:2, Informative)
haptic feedback for touchscreens (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Voice recognition (Score:1, Informative)
guages on planes are designed so that All at 12 O'clock is good
Not really. Look at the six-pack:
I can understand his point (Score:2, Informative)