In 1993, IBM launched a touch-screen mobile phone called Simo, which shocked the world. The mobile phone can realize independent touch operation in a complete sense by relying on a stylus pen, which has extraordinary significance in the development history of touch-screen mobile phones.
In 2007, Apple released the first-generation iPhone. The “multi-touch” technology it used greatly improved the operation accuracy and response speed of the touch screen. It was a revolutionary technological breakthrough. That year was also known as the touch screen. The first year of the mobile phone.
Today, smartphones on the market have basically been ruled by “touch screens”. Not only that, but under the wave of electrification and intelligence, even cars cannot escape the fate of “touch screens”.
Earlier, this change was only reflected in the car systems that interacted with the occupants the most, such as those with touch-enabled large-screen cars, which replaced the original button-filled radio, and the smart large screen The emergence of the device has enriched the original single car entertainment function, and the accompanying functions such as navigation are also more practical. Therefore, in the early days of the touch screen “invading” the car, in fact, most people still hold a positive attitude towards it.
But slowly, as the physical buttons in the car were continuously removed, problems arose one after another. Compared with the physical buttons with clear feedback and clear positions, when using the touch screen to operate, the fuzzy feel makes people often need to spend more energy to confirm whether the “operation” is successful, especially for some low-end models, restricted In terms of cost, the quality and sensitivity of the touch screen system used are quite average.
To say that the central control screen is good, the general navigation software is set in advance, and there is no need to adjust frequently during the process, but for commonly used functions such as air conditioning and window control, canceling the physical buttons is definitely not an ideal choice . In addition to affecting the operating experience, the above-mentioned problems also distract the driver too much with the touch function, which also brings many potential safety hazards.
In this way, for consumers, the disadvantages of reducing physical buttons generally outweigh the advantages, but why do major manufacturers seem to be keen on “touch screen” in recent years? Of course cost.
In fact, reducing the number of physical buttons can make the interior design of the car simpler. The fewer buttons the knob presses, the less parts need to be purchased in the early stage and the less labor consumed in manufacturing, and the related failures will also occur later. In a sense, this reduces the pressure on the supply chain and the cost of after-sales maintenance to a certain extent, and at the same time leaves a good impression on consumers that there are few “minor faults”, plus some intelligent technology gimmicks for packaging , consumers will naturally accept it.
Of course, everything has two sides, and we should look at the advantages and disadvantages of physical buttons and touch screens rationally.
For those function keys that are frequently used and require high functional response speed, such as volume keys, mute keys, air conditioning, defogging, double flashing, etc., priority should be given to the use of physical keys from the perspective of safety and convenience. The more reliable form of the button. For those function keys that are biased towards multimedia entertainment, emphasizing experience and comfort, the touch screen can be introduced and combined with the increasingly intelligent cockpit system, using voice, gestures and other methods to link to achieve driving. The functions that passengers want can bring people a good travel experience.
Therefore, it is definitely not advisable to blindly pursue new ideas and “touch screen” in the car, and it is too conservative, and the idea of insisting on using physical buttons is not completely correct . Only by organically combining the two based on consumer demand can we make Our automotive products are getting better and better.
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