Folks, we are being had. "MTB" came up in a Facebook discussion about how rotten most modern smart appliances are. It means "Made to break." Thanks to Sam Baird for sharing the meme included above.
We have been told that touch-screen controls are what we want. Granted, that seems to be the case when we are not in motion at highway speeds.
This tech fails miserably when in motion.
In a Jetsons world, I'd be able to say, as I do to Generative AI, in natural language "Car, it's a trifle hot in here. Set the AC to compensate for the human-caused, slow-motion catastrophe of climate change beyond our little bubble, no matter what the Republicans and other logic-challenged deniers say. Make it cooler, in short. Focus first on my fogged up windshield, made that way by my rage over the recent election."
Yet we don't live in George and Jane Jetson's world. In our janky beat-up world, especially in a newer car, I must navigate a series of menus.
No. I want to reach down, touch a dial I know by muscle memory, and set it without my eyes leaving the road.
Why we came to this impasse I don't understand. Enlighten me in the comments.
It's a comfort to me that Honda reverted to haptic controls on their once-small H-RV, now the same size as my 2006 C-RV. When my first 2004 Honda got totaled, I looked at some of these newer cars, but I cringed at the idea of adjusting vital functions by taking my eyes off the road. Luckily for this curmudgeon, a 2006 Honda came my way.
The company must have heard from other grumps, because they soon reverted to the tried-and-true dials we Honda-lovers have used for decades.
I'm not an utter Luddite. The right backup camera can save lives. The crappy afterthought ones (I've rented two cardboard-box quality Chevy Malibus) appear afterthoughts included to meet some regulation.
The Japanese, as usual in their cars, strike the right balance.
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