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Opinion: please make touchscreens simpler, and give us the knobs back
Photo: Illustration: Camshaft Motors (synthetic)

Opinion: please make touchscreens simpler, and give us the knobs back

Volume and air-conditioning should never need a menu.

I tested seven cars this year. Four of them hid the temperature control behind a screen.

A knob you can find without looking is a safety feature.

Physical knobs for volume and temperature let you keep your eyes on the road. A study by a fictional safety council found that adjusting the climate control on a touchscreen took 4.1 seconds, against 1.2 with a knob.

Carmakers saved money by removing the buttons. Drivers pay the price.

This is a demo story: every name, place, organisation and figure in it is fictional.

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