Death of the Giant Touchscreen?

In several threads regarding the 4R redesign, I know people are wondering what Toyota will do with the infotainment system.

I thought I would share this article as the feedback from consumers is quite clear, they hate the giant screens.

Long live the knobs! [One of the reasons I went with the 5th gen]

A few interesting quotes:
"A growing number of automakers are backpedaling away from the huge, complex touch screens that have infested dashboard design over the past 15 years. Buttons and knobs are coming back."

"Volkswagen, which owns Porsche, has acknowledged that customer feedback led it to drop its much-loathed steering wheel touch controls that were nearly impossible to use without looking down from the windshield, and executives have suggested adding more buttons to its future EVs." [Porsche has phased out its all-touchscreen design of the Cayenne luxury SUV]

Finally, I did not know this:
"... General Motors’ recent announcement that its future models would be incompatible with widely used Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, instead requiring owners to navigate a new infotainment interface"

Full article here.

 

I'm showing my age, but I really miss the simplicity of my first car. The "infotainment system" consisted of an AM radio, which had seven controls: On/Off/Volume knob on the left, Tuning knob on the right, and in the middle five mechanical preset buttons. Even as brand new driver I could operate all of these without taking my eyes off the road.

It may sound silly, but one big attraction of the 4Runner for me are the "antique" ventilation controls, easily operated by feel. I kind of like to watch where I'm going, especially since it seems these days no one else is.

 

Giant touch screens aren't going anywhere. In fact they arejust getting started. But they will also have analogue controls because that's just practical.

 

I’m not a fan of touchscreens for controlling everything, and I think Toyota strikes a good balance in the 4R.

If manufacturers go back to mostly buttons, it could be just as confusing as touchscreens with complicated menus, given all of the options available these days. Here’s a video someone took of their new Chevy truck, I think he said he counted a total of 83 buttons inside the vehicle.

https://reddit.com/r/Justrolledinto...how_much_crap_can_i_add_that_will_definitely/

 

The bigger screen translate to more time find what you need, and those precious seconds enough to make mistake driving. It was appealing on self driving Tesla for certain group of consumers, that's it.

 

I read lots of reviews before I bought my 4Runner and many of them derided the “dated” interior. Pfft! I agree with @ecoterragaia that the 4Runner has a good balance. There was a bit of a learning curve with the steering wheel buttons, and I still haven’t memorized the center ventilation knob positions, but all the major functions are represented by hardware buttons, and their differing shapes and placement make them easy to distinguish from one another. At first I hated the little cruise control stalk, but now I love it.

Long live the dated interior!

 

I have an accord. Excellent touch screen. Super easy to navigate and has analogue buttons and a couple nobs. That piece of shit makes the 4runner look like it's 50 year old tech. 4runner screen is a pos. There's no need to sugar coat things.

 

Thank you, Sir. May I have another 50 year old tech that I like and don't need more crap.

2020+ is fine. It actually gets a little more responsive to the touch with a screen protector, ironically enough. I can't speak for earlier models.

I like the menus and everything in my 2020. They have a functional look and get the job done. I never experienced any slowness/lagginess. (My dad's Grand Cherokee is the worst with this.) The physical buttons on each side of the screen for selecting modes is also well thought out. Home, Menu, Audio, and Map are on the left, and all of the buttons on the right are buttons that I never use and are good to be as far away from me as possible. Well thought out.

 

What do you like about the 4runner screen?

 

Look up.

 

I’m not sure I understand. Is the Accord touch screen excellent? Or a pos? You say both. You tout the Accord screen for easy navigation and analog buttons and knobs. The 4Runner has those. What’s the problem?

I mean, the camera images are bad, and I had to hunt a bit to figure out how to rename waypoints in the nav system, but otherwise it has performed well for me.

 

The accord is way better. I was saying that while the accord is not very good is still way better than the 4runner.

I want a larger screen with far better resolution and more vibrant colors. Half the analogue buttons and and easier to navigate screen. I also want the buttons on the steering wheel flipped.

 

On that we agree. On the left 4-way rocker the volume should be up and down and the station scroll should be left and right.

 

Dude, the rear view camera is what it is, but the resolution is fine in general on the 2020+. How many pixels do you need crammed into it? It's not like I'm playing Sega Genesis when looking at maps on the screen. They're plenty high resolution enough. The little screen between the speedometer and the tachometer, too. They're both fine. And vibrant colors? Imagine all of the distractions! You'll be mesmerized by all of the dazzling colors before crashing into someone. That screen should be functional and subdued.

 

The appeal of prior simplicity is tempered by the memory of what happened to every vehicle I've owned or driven in 45 years - buttons and switches die, and when it happens the replacements come from the junkyard because they've been out of production so long.

 

You get creative! Let that soldering iron freak flag fly! I've never, ever let a busted switch keep me from fixing anything. ANYTHING. It's just facilitating the absolute most basic of electrical principles. It's not pulling some matrixy bullcrap on a potentially proprietary piece of screen.

 

I thought about this on the thread were people were lamenting push-button start. It reminded of a weekend when I had to replace the ignition switch in my '76 Nova, which included some disassembly of the steering column, which is a terrible place to drop a screw into. I'd much rather have replaced a push-button on the dash.

 

LOL

 

Push-button start is the oldest of old school. I had a ‘58 Austin Healy with push button start. My ‘29 Model A has push button start too, but the button is on the floor.

 

Yeah everything is what it is when it's mass produced from the cheapest parts possible or maybe thats best so i can spend my money on the aftermarket display so yes I can do exactly that. My Brother has an xbox hard wired in so his kids can play or watch a movie. Sadly he only has a double DIN screen. Poor one out for the luxuries of life....

oh...you know what i want? I want the damn thing to stop reverting to my podcast app when every I change the volume when I have android auto going. What the heck? So i don't use Android auto much and every time I do I'm like....thaaaaaaaat's why I never use android auto in my 4runner. works fine in every other vehicle I've ever been in. Even wirelessly, stock, in some cars. No, not the 4runner....only issues with the 4runner stereo....

 

Grandpa?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!? is that you?!?!?!?!?! it's been 30 years! where have you been?

 

Haha. What can I say? I like old cars.

 

One of the first cars I helped maintain was a '64 Dodge Polara with a push-button transmission. Then we had a '67 Pontiac Catalina, a Chevy II from around '66, and a '69 Ford station for about 10 years. Everything was a lot more fixable back then. It had to be, because nothing lasted very long. That Ford wagon needed a new water pump every two years, and that was just driving 5-6 k miles/year. Nothing sucked up labor like the '68 VW that my wife's brother gave her in '87.

 

I didn’t know the 4Runner was supposed to be a movie theater. Screen is already too big.

 

I dont mind the large screens, but the ones sticking way up above the dash are dumb. It needs to be flush and intreated into the dash, like what RAM does.

 

I don't mind the one in the runner, but yes, the ones that go up above the dash are out of control. And then the aftermarket ones that are bigger than my bedroom TV are nuts. But to each their own, just don't make me have to have one.

 

Ya rly. This guy's describing a man cave with the Xbox and whatnot. Total troll.

 

You're the one who brought up gaming consoles bro and then call me a troll about it...

 

I was talking about the resolution and how I wasn't playing Sega Genesis. You need some 16-bit punishment.

 

now you're getting silly because you got called out.