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Originally Posted by akkando
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Originally Posted by Poochie
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Originally Posted by akkando
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Originally Posted by Poochie
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Originally Posted by Game
To me the top looks better. But hey at the end of the day it's all subjective.
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The iDrive 7 system looks better integrated but I would still prefer iDrive 8 over it because it's a grand evolution over the older technology. |
it's de-evelution. It takes longer to change a setting, it's less safe, more finger prints on screen. It offers zero benefit. Or looks terrible as well but I could live with that if it had buttons to interact with the car. |
I felt the same way going from a Nokia to an iPhone 4; like how am I suppose to type with no buttons!  :
Humans can be intuitive and will adapt to the changing technology. After awhile, you'll get used to it, rendering this second nature. Capacitive Touch is the future, for better or worst.
I'm not a huge fan of its placement either but I could live with the aesthetical compromise.
Just to think, there was a period in time when someone thought this below was cutting-edge technology 😗 : Should we take a step backwards?
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Sometimes touch screens just don't do the job better. With cell phones the down side of losing buttons was obviously outweighed by the larger touch screen and virtual buttons.
However I can't imagine Nintendo, Sony Playstation, and Microsoft Xbox releasing a new console with just touch screen controllers and no buttons because it's just a worse form of input relative to physical buttons.
Touch screens are just worse for some things. Imagine removing the steering wheel from the car for a touch screen display that's round (so high tech, round screen!). You could just slide your hand around it to tell the car how to turn. Or just tap virtual left and right arrows. Or get rid of touch screen controls and you could gesture with your hands or point. Just use voice controls and shout "left left left, straight, slight right, more, no left".
Why stop there though. We could replace your 6 speed with a touch screen where you tap the gear you want. Just don't miss a tap if you hit a bump and money shift.
Replace the gas, brake, and clutch pedal with a touch screen you use with your bare feat. No that's silly. Just operate the clutch pedal with foot gestures via camera that sees the movent of your foot. I dunno, maybe voice control is best here too. "clutch in, clutch out, clutch kick!! Full opposite lock left! No reduce steering angle, less throttle, more throttle, brake brake brake!"
But hey, at least you would be getting a a big technology upgrade right? Because screens are new, the more you have and the bigger they are the higher tech the car is. Buttons are old. |
I kind of get some of guys apprehension to removal of the physical buttons, even though still find it unfounded but we are talking about a global conglomerate that does tons of research and development, plus customer feedback before a product is greenlit and developed. I have faith in however the interface is presented, it will remain intuitive to consumers and eventually become second nature - just like every single item electronic item where physical buttons was eventually replaced.
What you might not realized about iDrive 8 is doesn't just use the flaky voice command system of the past, it is now much smarter and intuitive thanks to developments in artificial intelligence technology and use of an active internet cloud-based program to progress commands, rending buttons redundant. Think Siri or Google Assistance level of accuracy speech recognition, where the software filters through the sounds you speak and translates them into a format it can "read." Then, it analyzes that "translation" for meaning and uses that information — along with its algorithm and previous inputs — to guess what you said, significantly improve its functionality. Google's own voice recognition software attained a level of 95% recognition accuracy, I'm sure BMW is not far behind.
The physical buttons that are being replaced by AI are much more efficient and accurate, allowing for a easier and safer hands-free driving experience, without much clutter. You want to turn on the heat? "[COLOR="DarkRed"]Hey BMW, set the driver's temperature to 70 degrees[/COLOR]." Want to put the car in sports mode? "[COLOR="DarkRed"]Hey BMW, I'm ready for some fun[/COLOR]" Was that so hard? Did the sky fall? No, the same command was achieved.
The issues here is just that technologically progress just doesn't aligned with some folks narrow view. I'm not saying BMW is not saving money in the development process when scaled down over many different models but it is also more efficient IMHO.
And also, comparing a video game controller or a steering wheel to a vehicle's feature operational button command that I might use once a week is a false equivalent; even though there are millions of touch-screen dedicated games out there phone and cars now have Level 3 Self-Driving capabilities which requires limited steering input and also, don't some of you guys swear that paddle shifters are the same or even a better experience than a bonafide manual gear lever? You guys should be happy then if it eventually becomes a touch sensitive gear controller; less work right?
Video games are almost a contact sport, part of the experience is the tactile feed and pressure sensitivity from the controls. Certainly doesn't require the same level or emotional haptic feedback as changing the song on my radio. Voice commands can achieve this with little fuss.
I could write a thesis on the subject but we'll just leave it here because I'm tired of typing on my phone screen. I sure do wish it had physical button instead, however did we get to this point.. 😗