WHY all this complexity?

JDgreen227 · Mar 18, 2015

A long-time work associate and Facebook friend of mine and husband just purchased a new F-150...she posted on Facebook last night, quote: "About the infotainment system...what gets me is that each button does about 6 or so different things...I have no idea what they are for, and Ken (her husband) has been reading books on the controls all day. And Ken had to return to the dealership just to get the phones programmed so they will work on voice comment...God help me when I try to drive it...." Unquote.

These people are in their mid-60's...I share her viewpoint and would HATE, repeat HATE one of those stupid infotainment systems....my newest vehicle is a 2004 Saturn...I love the simple heater controls and even the radio controls (which I never use) are clearly laid out and easy to understand. I drove for a living for 31 years, and I can read a map and a compass and I scorn GPS and Google Maps.

Back when I purchased my new 1985 Crown Victoria, heater and A/C controls consisted of two horizontal slide levers and one vertical fan switch. They served the purpose and were dead reliable. I probably could not decipher the climate controls on a new Ford car today without serious study of the owners manual.

To me, all this complexity and the huge number of buttons, etc. in today's new vehicles is a STUPID, STUPID idea. What is so important about having GPS, a wifi hotspot, etc. in a vehicle anyway? All these features do is create distraction for the driver.

oosik · Mar 18, 2015

I agree with you - however, the vehicles today are being built to meet the demands of the majority of the consumers. I guess that most of the younger set don't want to be out of touch with somebody or something - I think its some kind of insecurity thing.

Hey - I just ordered a new Ford F-250. Da*ned if I want an aluminum body - the steel one will get banged up easily enough over time. Standard 350 V-8 with manual tranny, manual windows, standard radio( no hunt, seek or find, no voice command and it doesn't talk back at me either) and manual air conditioning. That's why I had to order it - everything on the lot is all souped up with this high tech crap.

Its no wonder people are all over the road - they are trying to figure out how to get stuff to work. Actually they are probably trying to first find the right knob.

JDgreen227 · Mar 18, 2015

oosik said:
I agree with you - however, the vehicles today are being built to meet the demands of the majority of the consumers. I guess that most of the younger set don't want to be out of touch with somebody or something - I think its some kind of insecurity thing.

Hey - I just ordered a new Ford F-250. Da*ned if I want an aluminum body - the steel one will get banged up easily enough over time. Standard 350 V-8 with manual tranny, manual windows, standard radio( no hunt, seek or find, no voice command and it doesn't talk back at me either) and manual air conditioning. That's why I had to order it - everything on the lot is all souped up with this high tech crap.

Its no wonder people are all over the road - they are trying to figure out how to get stuff to work. Actually they are probably trying to first find the right knob.

:laughing: :laughing: My friend told me the new truck stickered at 55K....have to wonder how many of the "younger set" can afford the payments on one of those....:laughing:

bcp · Mar 18, 2015

I sat in a Prius the other day. There is a button on the dash that says "CAR."

What is it before the "CAR" button is pushed?

???

Bruce

Monster5601 · Mar 19, 2015

There should have been a quick start card in the glove box, it would have walked them through the set up.

square1 · Mar 19, 2015

There should have been a quick start card in the glove box, it would have walked them through the set up.

Sure.....but you have to attend a 15 minute online seminar to figure out how to open the glove box :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

TCowner · Mar 19, 2015

When I picked up my 2014 Chevrolet Silverado last April the salesperson was into the training session on the electronics about 30 minutes when I finally had to stop him. I told him to focus on the heater, windshield defroster and radio controls. Now that I am a little more familiar with the truck I should go back for more training. But electronic "gadgetry" is clearly where today's 20 and 30 something engineers are focusing their efforts. I frankly wish they would focus on other aspects of what it takes to make a better truck but when the new generation of engineers grew up with their smart phones surgically attached to their hand then electronics with be their focus.

coobie · Mar 19, 2015

JDgreen227 said:
:laughing: :laughing: My friend told me the new truck stickered at 55K....have to wonder how many of the "younger set" can afford the payments on one of those....:laughing:

They will just take out a 7 Year loan.LOL.I remember when a 36 month loan was the norm.Crazy how expensive trucks & cars have become.

Utopia Texas · Mar 19, 2015

My wife and I are in our 60's and drive Fords exclusively. The info. Screens are divided into four sections. If you learn each section at a time, 3 minutes each, the system become really simple. Our problem with the set up is the voice command and it's wacky interpretation of what you are saying. When ever we try to phone our neighbor and say "Call Loiusa" the return voice says " so you want to order pizza?"

JDgreen227 · Mar 19, 2015

coobie said:
They will just take out a 7 Year loan.LOL.I remember when a 36 month loan was the norm.Crazy how expensive trucks & cars have become.

Back when I purchased my '73 Nova, my dream vehicle was a loaded Suburban but the sticker price of about $5400 was out of reach for me, who was earning $3.28 an hour. By the time I could afford my Y2K Yukon XL, the sticker was up to $35 grand. 15 years later they are now up to over $75 grand. Simply inane.