Musk is a genius-god who’s never wrong? /s
Many of the other ships in the show had dumb touchscreens for critical functions as well. One of the later episodes had a plot point where one of Drummer’s subordinates accidentally tapped the wrong button on a screen at a critical moment in battle and almost got everyone killed. I’d like to think that the touchscreen interface wouldn’t be used in that kind of application but frankly it’s all-too realistic, thanks in large part to companies like Tesla and Apple training everyone to accept this kind of bullshit interface as the default.
Edit: look at the damn touchscreens in the SpaceX capsules too. F’ing Elon…
I guess if we’re gonna call out sci-fi franchises then we should note Star Trek: The Next Generation was an early adopter of the “touchscreens for everything!” spaceship aesthetic. Plus the crew member operating the tactical station doesn’t even get a chair, which gets awkward when the ship is getting knocked around in a battle.
At least the Rocinante was equipped with some proper spatial-navigational controls …
Space-mouse is where it’s at.
Seriously - have been saying this for years wrt electronic human-machine interfaces for musical and other realtime applications. Touchscreens, along the obvious lack of tactility - depend on momentarily taking over the visual system - (the slowest/laggiest, and highest cognitive loading sensory modality), pulling the user out-of-environmental context. It’s a total disaster for anything other than impressive-on-screen sci-fi entertainment scenes or pitch-decks.
And no seat belts or air bags? How did that hooptie ever get approved by NHSTA?
Which is why I am very glad that so far brakes and steering still have to be direct mechanical linkages.
Not for much longer if Elon has anything to say about it:
https://electrek.co/2020/10/12/tesla-steer-by-wire-motor-geartrain-team-austin/
“You have reached your destination”
Those consoles shoot out fountains of dangerous sparks every time the ship hits a bump. You don’t want to be buckled in place right in front of one.
That’s fine until the rain sensor (presumably there is one) stops working.
I really hate the move to touch screens. I type very well with my traditional keyboard, and can do it without looking at what I’m doing. The screen-based keyboards on phones and stuff, not so much. I have to look at what I’m doing, and without the tactile feedback of keys, I still mess up a lot. I really liked the old Blackberry keyboards with actual buttons, they were so much easier to type on.
When it comes to anything critical where motion may be involved, for example car and aircraft cockpit interfaces, being able to work by feel is much better, yet everything seems to be going to smooth shiny glass and software, and I hate it.
Musk: seLf DrIVInG CAarS r C0miN nExt yR
Tesla collision avoidance detecting invisible man at cemetery.
When I’m driving, I want to be able to reach over to a physical control without the need to look away from the road.
What. A. Fucking. Moron.
He’s going to download his money into a robot?
I wouldn’t want to be a member of any club that would have him.
Tesla v Finnish winter
Iltalehti reports that while Tesla’s sales have been soaring in Finland, Finnish Tesla owners have been running into multiple issues when attempting to service their cars. The company’s service line is difficult to reach, and phone queues lasting for hours are commonplace.
This winter, heating system problems have exacerbated the situation. During a frosty winter, the heater on many of the company’s base models stopped working completely and the cars had to be towed to the organisation’s two branded service centres in Finland.
The ever-lengthening service queues were compounded by a component shortage in the automotive industry more generally that has infuriated Tesla owners.
Maria Lantz, who is responsible for Tesla’s communications in Finland, told Iltalehti by email that Tesla has expanded strongly in Finland. Lantz said that individual customer experiences do not yet allow conclusions to be drawn for Tesla services in Finland more generally.