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Comment by diblasio | Hacker News Reader

It's interesting to see all the comments about how physical buttons help keep your eyes on the road, but I’ve actually had the opposite experience. I'm probably not the typical driver, though—I tend to set everything just the way I want before starting a trip. While driving, I only adjust basic controls like the air conditioning, wipers, blinkers, and cruise control, all of which I can do in my Tesla without taking my eyes off the road.

Recently, I drove a Volvo and a Polestar and found that using physical buttons required me to look down to see what I was pressing. Even after over 20 hours of driving, I couldn’t adapt back to physical buttons scattered across the dashboard. I really missed the streamlined, contextual controls I’m used to.

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Yeah, I can't relate even a bit with any of this.

I've got a full analog Fiat Punto 2017 and almost fully digital VW Polo 2024 and I find the second one more dangerous, distracting, I just can't but hate it (I know it might be me).

When I lease cars abroad the more digital they are, the more complex I find them to use and the more annoyed I am.

To be honest, pretty much everything that gets more digital I hate it, even more than cars it applies to house appliances. Wi-fi connected dish washers, smartphone-controlled ovens, smart fridges, they create more problems while solving made up ones.

This is why choice is good in the market. What’s dangerous and distracting for you may be comfortable for me. Funny also that you mentioned connected devices as well. Recently a physical button died on my washer and I was able to still use it through home assistant integration while I waited for service.

There is no choice, everything's moving to digital because it's cheaper.

Tesla literally changed their entire UX and UI from one day to the other confusing my in-law for weeks.

What used to be standard icons on all cars on analog knobs and buttons are now stylized bs all different from car to car. Every car I need to learn its own menus and try to find where are things hidden, as someone who has to lease cars often I truly hate it.

Your washer example is comedy because it either confirms that it's yet another digital crap for something like this to happen. Never had good washers/fridges or whatever had their physical buttons or knobs break bar a stove one in 37 years of my life because of an accident, and fixing it was few euros without the need of service.

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