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A couple of weeks ago in this newsletter, I broached the subject of saying goodbye to buttons and relying on voice control instead. Like many of you, I’d been frustrated by some car makers’ over-reliance on touchscreens rather than proper buttons – especially when simple functions are buried deep within menu systems.
Regular contributor Russell Mead got the ball rolling, emailing to say he was suffering from “buyer’s remorse” with his Volvo EX30.
“I want to love the car, but I can’t get past the ergonomic disaster that faces me when driving it,” said Russell. “Volvo (with a bad case of ‘Tesla envy’) has replaced the instrument cluster with a ‘distraction monitor’ – a device that beeps at me for looking at the centre touchscreen, the very screen I must look at to check my speed, follow the sat nav and perform myriad basic tasks.”
With Volvo about to send an over-the-air update embedding Google’s Gemini AI assistant in thousands of cars – including Russell’s – and having experienced the Grok AI assistant in a Tesla myself, I asked whether you wanted buttons, touchscreens or voice control in your cars.
Mike Mann was unequivocal. “Buttons, please,” he said. “Years ago, indicator stalks and other controls were all over the place, and moving from car to car was a problem. Well, as that worked, why can’t car makers or legislators standardise button placement, more or less?”
Good idea, Mike.
He continued: “Buttons work. Haptic or touch devices are not an improvement. No one was clamouring to get rid of buttons.
“Voice control sounds good, but I don’t want my conversations (I’m not that talkative when driving) to be constantly interrupted with ‘Pardon?’ – and then have to explain I’m talking to the car… or the reverse, when I have to ask again and hear, ‘Oh, I thought you were talking to the car.’”
Adam Claridge isn’t any keener on voice control. “Well, let’s all talk to our cars and have yet another distraction from driving properly! How many of the multitude of options do we actually need (or want)? And, of all companies, why – oh why – did ‘safety first’ Volvo follow suit and introduce screen-only adjustments for basic functions like heating and cooling? The only reason, surely, must be cost savings.”
You may call it cost savings; Volvo would probably call it progress.
Malcolm Ferguson isn’t a fan of some of the tech in his car and prefers buttons, though he is more open to voice interaction. “I have to disable my ‘keep in lane’ before setting off in my VW Golf,” he told me. “More buttons, please – or an Alexa that understands my voice commands.”
However, Peter Rand – while a fan of voice commands – does have a particular problem that I’m not sure technology could, or should, solve.
Peter said: “I have used Siri to set routes through my iPhone and Apple CarPlay, thus having voice commands that work effectively.
“The only problem was my seven-year-old grandson taking great delight in countermanding my route by asking Siri to take us to the nearest park!”
I’ve had similar experiences myself, using Siri in Apple CarPlay to send text messages – only for passengers to add their own unwanted contributions.
So, what’s the answer? I think it’s pretty simple: make a car easy and enjoyable to use, with minimal distractions, and people will buy it. Whether that means buttons, touchscreens or voice control, usability is what matters. Let’s see which car makers get it right.
In the meantime, let’s keep the debate going. Feel free to email me on this subject – or anything else – using the button below.
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