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From: Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gXXmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: repairs and obsolescence ish
Date: Thu, 8 May 2025 20:03:39 -0400
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On 5/7/2025 12:38 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> On 7 May 2025 00:17:10 GMT, Roger Merriman <roger@sarlet.com> wrote:
> 
>> Rather depends on the how and the why, I believe has been a push back by
>> consumers for example with car dashboards in that while screens and so on
>> are fun, they’d like some buttons still please and so on.
> 
> There is hope for push buttons, in the name of safety.
> 
> "Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again
> Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than
> being drunk or high - no wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using
> touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its
> senses."
> <https://www.wired.com/story/why-car-brands-are-finally-switching-back-to-buttons/>
> "Automakers that nest key controls deep in touchscreen menus forcing
> motorists to drive eyes-down rather than concentrate on the road ahead
> may have their non-US safety ratings clipped next year."
> 
> Sorry, but you'll need a Wired Magazine subscription to read the
> entire article.  If you don't want a subscription, you might find the
> reader comments interesting.
> 
> In my never humble opinion, buttons, touch screens, haptic feedback,
> voice control, gestures, sign language and AI all have their good and
> bad points.  The trick is to attach numbers (fatality rate, accident
> rate, cost, fashion, etc) to the various schemes and settle on the
> least disgusting and most tolerable method.

I greatly prefer physical buttons, switches, etc. while driving. 
Fortunately my EV mostly uses those for common functions; but there's 
still a problem. Many switches are flat, low profile and all in a dense 
row. Even if I did memorize that something like "Defrost" was the third 
one from the left, it would be difficult to locate it by touch.

A possible solution would be switches with covers, etc. molded in 
different shapes that gave a clue about their function. I'm reminded of 
the increase in airplane safety (in WW2, IIRC) when the pilot's lever 
for "flaps" was shaped like a wing cross section. The adjacent lever for 
"landing gear" was shaped like a wheel.

What I eventually did was get a pack of ~5mm self adhesive hemispherical 
rubber bumpers. I stuck those on certain buttons, the ones I push most 
often, so I could find them by touch. It was a big improvement.

-- 
- Frank Krygowski