SPY vs. SPY: Do YOU Want A HUGE Touchscreen In Your Car OR Do You Want Buttons?

I don't mind touch screens, but this looks obnoxious.

I prefer a well-designed dash with the things that demand real-time interaction wile driving to be instantly accessible via real controls.

The other stuff -- like deciding if you want the headlights to stay on for 38 or 39 seconds after you leave your car -- that's fine buried beneath a bunch of menus on a computer screen.

I love the screen on the Model S. I have to admit that the one on the 3 will take a lot more getting used to. It is harder to hit buttons on the right side of the screen while driving (some icons are there). Most cars will eventually move this way to cut costs and provide upgrades over time. Like the iPhone, it will initially take some adjustment but can be a great UX as shown by the Model S. I would never go back to a traditional console.

I don't like the new style haptic controls, forces you to take your eyes off the road to find the right spot to touch it, analog switches are used with spacial memory and touch.
Huge screens of Tesla is one of the major reasons for me not getting one (it would be a very convenient transportation appliance for getting to work).

I want buttons and knobs for everything for which buttons and knobs allow a faster, automatistic response. EYES ON THE ROAD

Cranks and tillers!

Buttons and knobs

I never understood the Mini and the BMW Z8 having gauges in the center of the dash forcing the driver to take his eyes off the road. The Model 3 takes this to the extreme.

Old farts want buttons and knobs. You can't make OTA improvements to buttons and knobs. Touchscreen! Sorry, the future is here!

Not true. Those buttons and knobs all control things electronically which goes through a computer, which can be updated via OTA. They are a lot safer then taking your eyes off the road to do things. Age has nothing to do with it. Now if we could get the younger generation to stop texting while driving we all be safer!

re: "OTA improvements"

A few decades ago, when a manufacturer shipped a product, they made sure it was ready for prime time when it hit the market. They made sure it would be usable, and it worked well for the product's life. Reviewers based their critiques on how a product worked, as did consumers.

Then manufacturers discovered an "advantage" of software and firmware: They can deliver a buggy product, and tell consumers "don't worry, it's software... we can fix that later." Reviewers and consumers bought into this story.

And so, consumers are now accustomed to buying stuff that's buggy, or doesn't work at all (i.e., "broken" features), while being told, and while believing, that someday the manufacturer will fix this. Today, consumers are used to buying broken stuff that doesn't work well. They accept this as "normal."

Some people argue this is good, and "better" than buying a product that works perfectly when new, and doesn't change during the lifetime of the product. To each their own.

Re: “…Touchscreen! Sorry, the future is here!…”

In the 1980s, when the music industry first started shifting away from knobs to screens, menus, and a “parameter / value” paradigm (in electronic keyboards called synthesizers), they discovered in short order that music changed. Musicians, both live performers and in the studio, USED to spontaneously vary the sounds in real time, adding texture and character to the music.

In the 1980s, the music industry discovered that while the screen, menu, parameter/value paradigm packed a lot more capability into an instrument, it was inaccessible in real time. It was just too complicated and impractical to access that power in real time during a live musical performance. It was also impractical to tell the guys in the booth and the rest of the band to “just hang on while I get this… it’ll just take a few minutes.” As a result, musicians just ended up using the factory presets – press a button, get a sound – and real-time interaction, and creativity, took a nosedive.

The musical instrument industry eventually returned to using lots of real controls (knobs, sliders, etc.) that are readily accessible and usable in real time, except these controls spoke to a computer rather than being hard-wired. It was the best of both worlds, and it persists to this day.

Driving a car, like being a live performing musician, is a real-time exercise that requires quick, unambiguous accessibility to the intended controls, without detracting from the primary task at hand: The safe and effective operation of the motor vehicle. The menu-based / parameter / value paradigm that’s embraced by today’s touchscreen and car interior designers, sucks at that. The automotive industry still hasn’t learned the lessons of real-time UI (user interface) that the musical instrument industry learned in the 1980s.

Old farts want buttons and knobs. You can't make OTA improvements to buttons and knobs. Touchscreen! Sorry, the future is here!
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Totally agree - but do they need to be in the center of the dash?

You don't use the touchscreen to roll down windows (open the moonroof yes)

"You don't use the touchscreen to roll down windows..." That's an improvement coming to the Model X.

I'll take both, but I really want buttons and knobs for the functions that are used most. Wipers, turn signals, door locks, radio volume, some HVAC controls. But I agree with Steve that there are many things that are fine buried in a menu system.

HVAC controls are mapped to the steering wheel buttons, can also use voice command.

Just to be clear, I don't live in San Jose, I don't work for Tesla, I don't own any shares in Tesla, I don't drive a Tesla and I don't have a deposit on one. My last 5 cars have all been regular old ICE BMWs, including the current 2.

But I do recognize the future, and it is coming whether you whiners like it or not.

It's like you all have a bizarre Tesla fixation which I am sure you could cure by taking a nice drive in your Bolt and impressing the neighbors with your sweet ride.

Methinks thee doth protest too much.

Buttons. I don't need to navigate through a sea of menus just to make a bass or treble adjustment.

Methinks thee doth protest too much.
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Wow! I'm impressed that you managed to type a post that neither lauds Kia nor craps all over Tesla. Good job!

A huge touch screen and voice control is the future.

"Right!" said every tablet and smartphone.

Illogical comparison.

In a car, eyes off the road and onto a screen will get you killed.

With dozens of buttons lined one next to the other one would still have to take their eyes off the road.

@vdiv Not necessarily true. The human brain can learn to operate buttons automatistically whereas visual buttons not so much. People can type on a keyboard without looking at the keys but often cannot do the same when the keys are touch screen. The brain science is actually quite fascinating on that.

One theory on the rise of anxiety disorders in psychology is that as we lose the ability to do things automatistically that are replaced by a similar function that requires our full attention, the brain interprets this as being unsure which can lead to anxiety.

A bluetooth telekenetic brain implant is the future...everything else is a stop gap.

For human machine interface, knobs and buttons work.
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What planet do you live on? In what century? Ever used a smart phone? For cryin' out loud it's obvious what direction all of these interfaces are moving and that is to a touch pad. Even my friggin' oven has done away with knobs and switches.

As I said before, this is the future. If you don't like the future, maybe take up smoking?

A lot of flip phone users.

Just like Better Call Saul.

Good show

Buttons and knobs (of unique shapes and sizes) for commonly accessed real time functions such as hvac functions, radio functions, wipers, headlights. Nice big screen for navigation, programming the ambient light colors, headlight delay etc...

I like that big screen in the new Ram 1500. But the extended screens that reach to the front passenger sides are nice too. They can be useful but may need restrictions.

Large screens promote driving inattention. They are dangerous.