TurboSnail Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 I wish touchscreens would fall out of favour a bit, especially in cars. This is probably a minority opinion as a young(ish) person, but I've had them in a couple of rental cars and it's far more annoying to have to reach across, guess where the button you want is, accidentally press something you didn't mean to because you're looking at the road and can only see the screen out of the corner of your eye, have to back out of that sub-menu, find the correct sub-menu and scroll around to the option you actually want, then fiddle around adjusting a virtual dial that doesn't quite respond the way you think it should. I much prefer physical buttons as you can just feel for them without ever taking your eyes off the road. Plus, physical buttons don't tend to disappear while you're not looking to be replaced by yet another sub-menu. On second thoughts, maybe I am old... I haven't fully researched this, but I suspect it might have something to do with cost - is it cheaper for a manufacturer to stick a touchscreen in instead of 20 buttons? That way, they don't have to put extra ones in when they do upgrades, or blank off unused ones, they can just update everything in software. 1 5 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimboBrit Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 14 minutes ago, Compound2632 said: There is, I would say, a greater reluctance to use such devices for fear of transmission of the coronavirus. For information booths and the like you could be right but the same would apply for keyboards if they were used to replace touch screens. In fact touch screens are a lot easier to clean/disinfect than buttons on a keyboard 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Cheaper on first cost, possible to upgrade by downloading revised software, looks sexy in the showroom, can put in place functions that would be really complex to display without a screen, but nothing like as nice as a load of big switches, knobs, and analogue dials like the cockpit of a Lancaster. 4 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimboBrit Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 6 minutes ago, TurboSnail said: I wish touchscreens would fall out of favour a bit, especially in cars. That would put me out of a job. The application of touch screens caught on for their flexibility in implementing the user interface and from a car interior design point of view. The size of touch screens over the last few years have only been getting bigger and bigger. I don't see car manufacturers going retro any time soon. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocor Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 16 minutes ago, TurboSnail said: I wish touchscreens would fall out of favour a bit, especially in cars. This is probably a minority opinion as a young(ish) person, but I've had them in a couple of rental cars and it's far more annoying to have to reach across, guess where the button you want is, accidentally press something you didn't mean to because you're looking at the road and can only see the screen out of the corner of your eye, have to back out of that sub-menu, find the correct sub-menu and scroll around to the option you actually want, then fiddle around adjusting a virtual dial that doesn't quite respond the way you think it should. I much prefer physical buttons as you can just feel for them without ever taking your eyes off the road. Plus, physical buttons don't tend to disappear while you're not looking to be replaced by yet another sub-menu. On second thoughts, maybe I am old... I haven't fully researched this, but I suspect it might have something to do with cost - is it cheaper for a manufacturer to stick a touchscreen in instead of 20 buttons? That way, they don't have to put extra ones in when they do upgrades, or blank off unused ones, they can just update everything in software. The touch screen will stay, unless replaced by Alexa's smarter daughters. It will be the steering wheel and the other instruments by which the the occupants of the vehicle could control it, that will disappear. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocor Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 21 minutes ago, Nearholmer said: Cheaper on first cost, possible to upgrade by downloading revised software, looks sexy in the showroom, can put in place functions that would be really complex to display without a screen, but nothing like as nice as a load of big switches, knobs, and analogue dials like the cockpit of a Lancaster. And a Merlin engine under the bonnet to power it. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Difficult to reconcile petrol-headedness with a discussion of the merits of EVs, but I confess that I do like both retro-tech vehicles (my ‘poison’ was series land rovers with Diesel engines until sense/swmbo intervened and they got sold) and some modern EVs. What I’d really like is a c1910 EV, with a decent modern battery in it, or one of those expensive conversions that puts a Tesla drive into a Series One Land Rover. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 (edited) Not a series one.. They are much to valuable to modify , but how about a series 3.. https://www.designboom.com/technology/zero-labs-electric-land-rover-series-iii-suv-08-04-2020/ or something a bit more modern, A defender conversion https://www.fwi.co.uk/machinery/4x4s/electric-conversion-gives-old-land-rover-defenders-a-200-mile-range Edited January 28, 2021 by TheQ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwardian Posted January 28, 2021 Author Share Posted January 28, 2021 Speaking of touch screens, I dislike satnav. I particularly dislike the satnav in my Disco. I once mistakenly returned it to its default settings. Me being me, it took a while to work out why it could not find anywhere and would not let me type in the full destination postcodes; it thought it was in Belgium. Great choice for a right-hand drive car. 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 My S1 had got to the "not all that valuable" position, because it had a later engine fitted, was suffering severe rot in the chassis outrigger that always "goes", and in the top of the bulkhead. I had new bulkhead and outrigger "in stock", ready to fit, when I sold it. The S3 had a galvanised chassis, and was "sound as a pound", if extremely tatty-looking, all over. The two things that gave me trouble on it were steering, which I could never get less heavy than ten anvils, and braking, which was ludicrously finnicky to get to balance properly so that heavy-braking didn't mal-affect handling. But, I think both of these faults are more or less endemic to the breed. It had a very nice (if gutless by design) military-style diesel engine, and my good lady was convinced of my insanity because I used to actually like listening to it ticking-over while warming-up for a trip out. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocor Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 21 minutes ago, Nearholmer said: Difficult to reconcile petrol-headedness with a discussion of the merits of EVs, but I confess that I do like both retro-tech vehicles (my ‘poison’ was series land rovers with Diesel engines until sense/swmbo intervened and they got sold) and some modern EVs. What I’d really like is a c1910 EV, with a decent modern battery in it, or one of those expensive conversions that puts a Tesla drive into a Series One Land Rover. Jay Leno is ahead of you with the Edwardian era electric car restromod. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwardian Posted January 28, 2021 Author Share Posted January 28, 2021 Some time ago (I failed to notice) we passed page 1189. 1189 has a significance in law. In 1275, everything before that became, literally and legally, time immemorial, i.e. time beyond legal memory; "time immemorial, or time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary". That means I no longer have to worry about forgetting anything that happened before page 1189. Just as well, really. 6 1 2 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 28, 2021 Also, we are now on page 1,200! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 23 minutes ago, Edwardian said: 1189 has a significance in law. Accession of Richard Gare de Lyon. 1 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 Not a lot of people know that. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 (edited) Well, they did once, but ...... Edited January 28, 2021 by Nearholmer 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocor Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Edwardian said: Some time ago (I failed to notice) we passed page 1189. 1189 has a significance in law. In 1275, everything before that became, literally and legally, time immemorial, i.e. time beyond legal memory; "time immemorial, or time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary". That means I no longer have to worry about forgetting anything that happened before page 1189. Just as well, really. Edited January 28, 2021 by rocor Wrong image 8 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 Ah but that's post-1907 so out of period for CA! We need 1142 Class 0-6-0 No. 1200, for which I'm afraid I don't have a photo. 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocor Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Compound2632 said: Ah but that's post-1907 so out of period for CA! We need 1142 Class 0-6-0 No. 1200, for which I'm afraid I don't have a photo. I had a suspicion that there was a possibility I could run afoul of our resident Midland Railway authority. 1 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 8 hours ago, woodenhead said: touch screens are an absolute nightmare......... I agree. I can't manage to use one for toffee and my own personal notebook always ends up with a keyboard and a mouse plugged into it so I can actually end up with the webpages I want. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nick_bastable Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 the agony of learning to drive a mouse after DOS etc agree about touch screens and laptop mouse pads always plug a real one in Nick B 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 ?? Would the fact that the oldest pub opened in 1189 have made lawyers want to forget all that had gone before?? 3 1 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 Because I've been upsetting myself by looking at my old workshop photos I'm going to inflict this video on you. No it's not my video, but it's certainly about the kind of thing I was very much interested in. Cheap accessible low tech personal transport that's practical in a local situation is very much what I was into and I think it's going to make a comeback with the way things are going. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium figworthy Posted January 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2021 On 27/01/2021 at 11:07, DonB said: My wife says she can't get to dis-associate modern electric cars from the battery powered milk delivery vehicles of her youth. (referred to as "Milk floats".) Oddly enough, a former colleague bought a hybrid, and he promptly became known as Ernie. Being rather wet behind the ears, someone had to explain it to him. Adrian 3 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonB Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 8 hours ago, rocor said: The touch screen will stay, unless replaced by Alexa's smarter daughters. It will be the steering wheel and the other instruments by which the the occupants of the vehicle could control it, that will disappear. I'm afraid that Alexa ( Jnr?) would have to have single-voice recognition too, judging by some of the back-seat drivers I have known. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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