If we ever get flying cars, I hope they have real buttons. I imagine it's too late for land cars to ever go all the way back to buttons.
citelao 56 minutes ago [-]
OP here: I always disliked touchscreens in cars, so I didn't understand why automakers kept shoving them in. I always assumed I was weird in some way, and that most consumers preferred touchscreens or something (Reddit seems to argue this in circles all the time). I planned to keep buying Mazdas, with their lovely buttons and stuff.
But when Mazda unveiled their button-lite 2026 CX-5 about a year ago, I started investigating.
I'm pretty convinced that touchscreens today are primarily a cost-saving measure, and every other justification is secondary. I hope I can convince you, too!
nicce 24 minutes ago [-]
> I'm pretty convinced that touchscreens today are primarily a cost-saving measure, and every other justification is secondary. I hope I can convince you, too!
I thought this is a pretty well-known thing already? For almost decade.
pwg 33 minutes ago [-]
> so I didn't understand why automakers kept shoving them in.
The article explained why. Since 2018 in the US, due to the proliferation of giant trucks being used as passenger vehicles (SUV's) backup cameras have been mandatory safety equipment. A backup camera requires a screen. So the automakers have to install a screen in the dashboard.
It is only a few dollars more to install a "touch screen" vs. a "basic display screen", and with the addition of those few dollars to the screen, that touch screen can now replace hundreds of dollars of physical buttons and their necessary wiring.
Net result, the BOM cost of the car drops by several hundred dollars, and the cost to assemble drops by some measurable amount as well.
So they why is: "because they save the automakers BOM and assembly costs".
birdostrich 14 minutes ago [-]
They're aware. You're replying to the OP of the article, lol.
prmoustache 7 minutes ago [-]
The reality is they want to serve us ads in the future. But they first need adoption.
Gualdrapo 21 minutes ago [-]
I think that nowadays people value "technological features", and how better to show "technological advancement" like a giant ass touchscreen and not some "old" XX century knobs.
cuu508 2 minutes ago [-]
I hope that changes and people start valuing simplicity and robustness over electric gimmicks (I know many people here already do, but we need critical mass).
guessbest 16 minutes ago [-]
It is so much easier to add internationalization to a touchscreen over physical buttons
ilinx 8 minutes ago [-]
How much is that needed? There was very little text on those buttons to begin with. Are there significant cultural differences in the iconography associated with them?
bryanlarsen 7 minutes ago [-]
The $6,000 profit per car referenced in the article is gross profit, not net profit. Net profit is considerably lower, around 5% for the mass manufacturers. So a $100 cost savings is very significant against a ~$3,000 net profit on a Bolt.
deuplonicus 14 minutes ago [-]
As an engineer in R&D, I've always known if I needed a cheap but amazing part, to look at automotive replacements from third parties for parts to build an MVP with.
Those rear hatch motors are amazing and most have indexing.
8 minutes ago [-]
kleiba2 48 minutes ago [-]
I think there is a real market for modding news cars to have physical buttons again. Whenever this discussion pops up on the internet, there's plenty if people who prefer them (they're called "old folks" ;-)) so why not mod your dashboard to feature a - wait for it - volume button for your music!
The "cloud features included" line amuses me greatly given the low-tech theme.
bryanlarsen 15 minutes ago [-]
Here's another really nice looking one: https://www.ctrl-bar.com/ Mine is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow...
logancbrown 32 minutes ago [-]
The volume button (dial) broke on my Ford Maverick in summer. Moving to a touchscreen car felt like a sigh of relief that I no longer had to worry about buttons and dials breaking when I need to use them, and don't have to worry about a trip to a dealer or tearing apart a dash to replace them.
I will say a button "feels" nicer, but the added risk to me wasn't worth it. To each their own
hatefulheart 29 minutes ago [-]
Yeah, wait until the whole thing is unresponsive due to heat or a bug, you’ll be wishing only your volume button was affected.
The fact you can rip open the dashboard and fix something is great and what I call a feature, not a bug.
jjulius 24 minutes ago [-]
Or you reach for a certain area of the screen out of muscle memory, but the UI changed "just because" and now you're very distracted.
dayyan 16 minutes ago [-]
Just ask the car, unfortunately, asking rarely works unless you're in a Tesla.
bijowo1676 26 minutes ago [-]
Voice interface is the future, just have voice assistant do everything without relying on knobs nor touch screen
same way people just talk to claude code via whisper
drakythe 18 minutes ago [-]
Lordy I hope not. Cannot imagine having to childproof my car's entertainment system, or make sure I don't sing a trigger word, or try to turn on the defroster to dehumidify the windshield during an intense rain storm where I can barely hear myself think.
Also: I don't want a microphone in my car at all times. Thank you.
_flux 14 minutes ago [-]
It could use array microphone to detect that the sound originates from the driver's seat (in addition to using it for filtering out not-from-driver's-seat sounds).
nancyminusone 9 minutes ago [-]
Hell no. I'd sooner tear out my own vocal cords than accept this future.
macintux 18 minutes ago [-]
No. No, please, no. I won't buy a car that relies on voice for anything, and I really don't want to rent one either. Wildly inefficient, slow, unpredictable.
Rendered at 16:31:06 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
But when Mazda unveiled their button-lite 2026 CX-5 about a year ago, I started investigating.
I'm pretty convinced that touchscreens today are primarily a cost-saving measure, and every other justification is secondary. I hope I can convince you, too!
I thought this is a pretty well-known thing already? For almost decade.
The article explained why. Since 2018 in the US, due to the proliferation of giant trucks being used as passenger vehicles (SUV's) backup cameras have been mandatory safety equipment. A backup camera requires a screen. So the automakers have to install a screen in the dashboard.
It is only a few dollars more to install a "touch screen" vs. a "basic display screen", and with the addition of those few dollars to the screen, that touch screen can now replace hundreds of dollars of physical buttons and their necessary wiring.
Net result, the BOM cost of the car drops by several hundred dollars, and the cost to assemble drops by some measurable amount as well.
So they why is: "because they save the automakers BOM and assembly costs".
Those rear hatch motors are amazing and most have indexing.
The "cloud features included" line amuses me greatly given the low-tech theme.
The fact you can rip open the dashboard and fix something is great and what I call a feature, not a bug.
same way people just talk to claude code via whisper
Also: I don't want a microphone in my car at all times. Thank you.