This Is What Happens When You Over-Think Basic Stuff... (alarm, driver, gas)

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

The newest one GM has is really stupid. Forward and to the left for reverse, pull down for drive, and push a button for park. It's just a dumb design, and I can see a lot of older people getting confused with it.

Sounds like it was designed by a lawyer not an engineer lol

[ocnjgirl]

Originally Posted by unit731

Why do they change things ? For what practical reason.
Some of us remember push button shifters on Chrysler, Plymouth, and Dodge.
The Edsel had buttons on steering wheel.

But all of those went away.

Now we have round dials. For what reason? Just to be different ?

I have to blame the young designers just out of college. Then the young out of college inexperienced marketing people. Then all the way to top management.

I was at a gas station at dusk - getting dark. A nice elderly lady in a brand new fancy expensive sedan rolls window down and asks me for help. She can't figure out how to turn on the headlights of this brand new car that her husband just bought for her.

That sounds like me. I once spent 20 minutes on the shoulder of a rainy Florida freeway trying to figure out how to turn the windshield wipers on in my rental.

[ocnjgirl]

Originally Posted by leadfoot4

That lawsuit is &^%$#@@ insane. The plaintiff thinks that the rotary knob, in use in both Jaguars and Land Rovers, for about the last 10 years is "defective"??? He ought to see the (*&^%$#@!!!#$%) abortion of a shifter my 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee has!

There have been Jaguars, with that shifter, in my family for over 10 years, and we've never had any issues. But had I had some time, other than a short test drive, in the Jeep before I bought it, I NEVER would have bought it.

Furthermore, what far too many people, in this day and age, fail to understand, is that driving a vehicle takes attention and concentration. You can't effectively drive, while yakking on a phone, disciplining your children, putting on your make-up, shaving, or gulping down your latte. And secondly, as the controls of most cars have gone electronic, the old fashioned, column mounted gear shift, that actually was mechanically attached to the transmission, is now a relic of the past. (and believe me, I'm NOT saying it was a change for the better)

I agree that it requires concentration. But then they make cars with more and more features that are distracting in and of themselves. Everything is digital and requires reading, from playing music to turning on the heater.

[wawa1992]

My opinion on automotive technology is that it's good - if it serves a purpose. I like my navigation system. My heated seats. 6 airbags. ABS and stability control.

But I like my technology functional, not tech for tech's sake. Why do I need to be able to use my smartphone as a key? Why would I want everything controlled by a touch screen?

And yes, the 1992 in my username is my birth year.

[KO Stradivarius]

Originally Posted by Dane_in_LA

That's a fair point. If the gear selector is just an electrical switch, it can be anywhere and look like anything. Not that I want to give anyone any ideas...

Too late, they've already figured it out without you. As many have stated, the auto trans rotary knobs, buttons, etc, are just electric switches, not mechanisms. This allows for a lighter, smaller, and more efficient system with less moving parts. They could still use the old type stick shifters with electric (some cars surely do this, w/o linkage) but using smaller controls enables smaller/narrower consoles or same size with more storage, better armrests, new features or switches in the console & I/P, etc. (Fun fact: the Instrument Panel is the "I/P", not the Dash Panel. The Dash Panel is actually the "firewall" sheetmetal panel, part of the Dash and Cowl system).

Steering systems are also going to this method ("drive by wire"), so there is no need for a steering shaft connecting the steering wheel to the front axle (rack and pinion steering gear). This allows for speed sensitive steering, and other advancements.

If you think that safety isn't considered above all else, you are foolish. Auto companies get sued constantly, recalls are very expensive, and they want to avoid bad PR & get the good PR for being safety-minded, so that is always a big deal.

I have to laugh at the comments about car companies. Most people have no idea about what it takes to put a vehicle on the road. I've worked in the business for 35 yrs and I only know a portion. Cars are hard, and the engineers aren't idiots. Sure there are some hits and some misses. But the technology in a car is amazing. They are much safer, more fuel efficient, lighter, more reliable and capable...Remember Henry Ford's famous quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

[thedwightguy]

Originally Posted by Dane_in_LA

The desire to reinvent the wheel, particularly in user interfaces, is something that needs to be beaten out of young developers. (I was one, before I moved to networks, a decision I do not regret. At all.) Granted, it took some reinventing to get from a Sumerian ox cart wheel to a modern car wheel with inflated tires, wheel bearings, suspension and steering. On the other hand, most attempts at reinventing the wheel ends in some sort of trapezoid with an offset axle.

A trivial thing - like the interface for entering time and date - has been done so many times, it shouldn't be a space for creativity. And yet, someone invariably feels the need to tweak it, somehow.

When the US space program progressed to docking in orbit (Gemini), some clever engineer designed the pitch control to elevate the target in the reticule by pulling back on a joystick and lowering the target by pushing forward. Aviators will realize that that's the exact opposite of pitch control on every aircraft in existence. The astronauts - all of them test pilots - weren't having it. But it took actual wrangling to get the design changed, the engineers were so proud.

An interface for putting your cars transmission in the desired mode? It has been done. Many times, and quite well. Build a more efficient transmission, if you need to leave your mark.

good for the test pilots; it's just their LIFE they're saving, that's all! an excellent analogy.

[bfrabel]

Originally Posted by KO Stradivarius

Steering systems are also going to this method ("drive by wire"), so there is no need for a steering shaft connecting the steering wheel to the front axle (rack and pinion steering gear). This allows for speed sensitive steering, and other advancements.

[/u][/b][/i]."

I don't believe anyone has actually done this yet, at least not completely. From what I've researched, Nissan has come closest by putting out a system that has video game-like steering in it's Infinity Q50, but it also still has a mechanical connection between the steering wheel to the rack and pinion. Only there is some type of electric clutch in the steering shaft that 100% disengages the mechanical connection unless there's a power outage or emergency situation.

I'm pretty sure actual mechanical brakes and steering will be here for the foreseeable future. Of course they can be electronically assisted, like they have been for a long time already (so the computer can take control if it deems needed), but humans will need to have the ultimate control. If you turn that wheel, the wheels NEED to move. That's hard to guarantee with just a video game steering wheel that talks to a computer.

[KO Stradivarius]

Originally Posted by bfrabel

I don't believe anyone has actually done this yet, at least not completely. From what I've researched, Nissan has come closest by putting out a system that has video game-like steering in it's Infinity Q50, but it also still has a mechanical connection between the steering wheel to the rack and pinion. Only there is some type of electric clutch in the steering shaft that 100% disengages the mechanical connection unless there's a power outage or emergency situation.

I'm pretty sure actual mechanical brakes and steering will be here for the foreseeable future. Of course they can be electronically assisted, like they have been for a long time already (so the computer can take control if it deems needed), but humans will need to have the ultimate control. If you turn that wheel, the wheels NEED to move. That's hard to guarantee with just a video game steering wheel that talks to a computer.

Yes, the technology is so detailed that you cannot be an expert at everything. I am in the body area and I am not exposed to much chassis stuff, so I defer to you.

[TheGrandK-Man]

Originally Posted by KO Stradivarius

Too late, they've already figured it out without you. As many
have stated, the auto trans rotary knobs, buttons, etc, are just electric
switches, not mechanisms. This allows for a lighter, smaller, and more
efficient system with less moving parts. They could still use the old type
i've stick shifters with electric (some cars surely do this, w/o linkage) but
using smaller controls enables smaller/narrower consoles or same size
with more storage, better armrests, new features or switches in the
console & I/P, etc. (Fun fact: the Instrument Panel is the "I/P", not the
Dash Panel. The Dash Panel is actually the "firewall" sheetmetal panel,
part of the Dash and Cowl system).

Steering systems are also going to this method ("drive by wire"), so there
is no need for a steering shaft connecting the steering wheel to the front
axle (rack and pinion steering gear). This allows for speed sensitive
steering, and other advancements.

If you think that safety isn't considered above all else, you are foolish.
Auto companies get sued constantly, recalls are very expensive, and
they want to avoid bad PR & get the good PR for being safety-minded,
so that is always a big deal.

I have to laugh at the comments about car companies. Most people have
no idea about what it takes to put a vehicle on the road. I've worked in the
business for 35 yrs and I only know a portion. Cars are hard, and the
engineers aren't idiots. Sure there are some hits and some misses. But the
technology in a car is amazing. They are much safer, more fuel efficient,
lighter, more reliable and capable...Remember Henry Ford's famous quote: "If I
had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

With all you have stated in mind, I keep repeating: I don't have to buy it. My model year cutoff is 2010-11. The last year, as far as I'm concerrned, of the 'automotive common sense' era. If some people consider that time period - and my 2010 Honda - it the horse-&-buggy era, so be it.

[Veritas Vincit]

This thread feels a bit like old people raging about change in principle. Simple fact is that if you purchase a piece of machinery you should familiarize yourself with its basic functions before operating it.