> You'd be hard pressed to find an object which most people own that has a more complicated UI than a car.
I dunno, just spitballing here but...a VCR? Heh...or a TV (remotes have lots of buttons!), or a computer perhaps.
> Steering wheel, pedals, buttons everywhere. Probably well over 100 separate features.
Of all the complicated machines humans tend to use on a daily basis, a car is probably the most intuitive of them all, and most familiar. The basic, most important functions of all cars are practically the same. I don't think you can seriously say a steering wheel and pedals are confusing to anyone, especially with automatic transmissions. The basic controls in cars are pretty well optimized for intuitive, and safe human usage.
As for "buttons everywhere", sure, they can take a little getting used to per car type but it's not rocket science, or even car science. Pretty sure most people can get a rental car and have the whole thing figured out in 5 minutes. Apple could try something novel or "different" but remember, cars have multiple physical buttons and knobs because the driver needs consistent and unambiguous access to whatever "setting" they want to change without significant distraction from paying attention to the road. God help us if we had to swipe through menus and thumb a flat screen to change the AC temp.
There's room for improvements sure, perhaps voice control for some functions (though that might get annoying with kids and idiot friend passengers), and I'd be curious to see Apple's novel take on a UI that employs physical controls (not sure the last time they did anything like that). If they do want to improve something, maybe start with working on a way to present wtf the orange indicator lights that randomly popup on the dashboard mean.
Of course I don't think Apple has much interest at this point in regular human driven cars. In a vehicle meant exclusively to be driven by computer, I guess all bets are off. But we're a long way from that. Technical concerns aside, as we could do this with planes much more easily than with cars, it will be a long time before people would be comfortable with such a situation, and for good reason.
So I think radical changes to basic driving functions, and touchscreen controls for auxiliary ones is I think a no-go as long as humans are allowed to drive (though I have no doubt there are already examples/experiments in such things out there).
"I dunno, just spitballing here but...a VCR? Heh...or a TV (remotes have lots of buttons!), or a computer perhaps."
Better to consider UI in relation to the possible failure modes. VCRs can be complex, but failure generally doesn't risk death. Cars are probably the most complex widely used device use of which carries significant risk.
Critical personal medical devices, like insulin pumps, have pretty simple interfaces. Or don't have any interface, as seen in pacemakers.
You don't need to make radical changes to make a significant improvement. Laptops of today are essentially the same as laptops of 25 years ago. And yet Apple has found plenty of ways to improve them in that time.
Also, what you're missing about car UI is all the other stuff a car does. Seats are adjustable. Sometimes they're heated and/or air conditioned. Ditto for mirrors, etc. Humans interact with many different parts of a car. All of those are game for improvement.
I dunno, just spitballing here but...a VCR? Heh...or a TV (remotes have lots of buttons!), or a computer perhaps.
> Steering wheel, pedals, buttons everywhere. Probably well over 100 separate features.
Of all the complicated machines humans tend to use on a daily basis, a car is probably the most intuitive of them all, and most familiar. The basic, most important functions of all cars are practically the same. I don't think you can seriously say a steering wheel and pedals are confusing to anyone, especially with automatic transmissions. The basic controls in cars are pretty well optimized for intuitive, and safe human usage.
As for "buttons everywhere", sure, they can take a little getting used to per car type but it's not rocket science, or even car science. Pretty sure most people can get a rental car and have the whole thing figured out in 5 minutes. Apple could try something novel or "different" but remember, cars have multiple physical buttons and knobs because the driver needs consistent and unambiguous access to whatever "setting" they want to change without significant distraction from paying attention to the road. God help us if we had to swipe through menus and thumb a flat screen to change the AC temp.
There's room for improvements sure, perhaps voice control for some functions (though that might get annoying with kids and idiot friend passengers), and I'd be curious to see Apple's novel take on a UI that employs physical controls (not sure the last time they did anything like that). If they do want to improve something, maybe start with working on a way to present wtf the orange indicator lights that randomly popup on the dashboard mean.
Of course I don't think Apple has much interest at this point in regular human driven cars. In a vehicle meant exclusively to be driven by computer, I guess all bets are off. But we're a long way from that. Technical concerns aside, as we could do this with planes much more easily than with cars, it will be a long time before people would be comfortable with such a situation, and for good reason.
So I think radical changes to basic driving functions, and touchscreen controls for auxiliary ones is I think a no-go as long as humans are allowed to drive (though I have no doubt there are already examples/experiments in such things out there).