Car tech that took forever to catch on

"WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe" (wesbarton89) 11/11/2014 at 14:51 • Filed to: None

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Anymore, most cars can be had with a dizzying variety of technology. Smart-key systems, adaptive cruise control, LED lighting, touchscreen infotainment systems, remote start, push button start, adaptive headlights, cameras, etc. Some of these are fairly new systems, but some of them have actually been around for a long time.

This time around, let's focus on the touchscreens that are relatively common in most new cars anymore. I'm sure a lot of us know this, but the first mass-produced automotive touchscreen system was introduced in the 1986 Buick Riviera. 1986 - almost thirty years ago! Here's a commercial advertising it.

If you don't want to watch the 80s-tastic video, here's what it looked like. I believe it was about a 9" screen, but I could be wrong on that.

As you can see, you can control pretty much everything from the touchscreen as you can with the modern systems. Engine information, climate control, trip computer, radio, it's all displayed through different screen options.

The difference here though, obviously, is that this is a CRT, with green text on a black background. It's certainly not as bright or colorful as today's setup, but it really does seem to follow the same methodology and mindset.

Now, after just a few short years, this system was retired. The reason it was retired, is mainly because it was a driver distraction. That certainly makes sense. You have to take your eyes off the road to fiddle with the screen, and find what you're looking for, and that increases the risk of a collision, which frankly, would suck majorly.

So, why, 25-30 years later, are they so ubiquitous in nearly every decent car you can buy? Is it because we've been conditioned to distracted driving, since we talk on the phone, text, or eat while driving? Maybe. We're so used to not giving the road our full attention anymore, that it doesn't seem as strange as it did back in the day. Cars have so many airbags, that we're safer if we do crash, as it's more likely that we will, while trying to navigate these systems. Though, one other arguable safety feature is voice control. Most of these touchscreen systems can be controlled by voice command, as well as physical, tangible redundant controls, for those that just don't feel like messing with the screen. That wasn't a thing in 1986 as much as it is now.

Now, I wouldn't say that the modern touchscreen infotainment system is any more complicated than the old Buick setup, in fact, it's probably less complicated. Yes, there may be more options, but we're so accustomed, as a whole, to using touchscreen interfaces on a regular basis, that it's just second nature, and as I said, that just was not the case back then, so it really makes sense that it took so long to catch on.

Buick was truly ahead of its time with this system, and I think that the technology that we use outside of the car just had to really catch up, before this type of system became commonplace in a vehicle.

And now, it has, and it's so fascinating to look back, and see how something so seemingly modern, is actually old technology.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 11/11/2014 at 14:57

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I'm going to go with the independent rear suspension. Ford only now figured out how to get one into a Mustang.

crowmolly > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 11/11/2014 at 14:58

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Vettes would be a counter to that. They've been IRS (albeit kind of a shitty IRS) since 1963. Euro cars probably even earlier.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > crowmolly 11/11/2014 at 14:59

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I know. I was just using this as another opportunity to make fun of what people seem to think is a sports car.

crowmolly > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 11/11/2014 at 14:59

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Displacement on demand is an example. Tried it in 1981, went cold until the early 2000's.

505Turbeaux > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 11/11/2014 at 15:00

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and why did my favorite thing never take off? Damn

crowmolly > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 11/11/2014 at 15:01

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Gotcha:

Joke ->

My head

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 11/11/2014 at 15:01

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lol wat?!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 11/11/2014 at 15:06

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The headlights one kills me, Tucker put it on his car and everyone laughed at him, now it's on every high end car. 50-60 years to get that tech functional/mass produced.

BrownMiataDieselWagon > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 11/11/2014 at 15:13

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Well firstly, how expensive was the option for the touchscreen (or was it standard)? Secondly, how well did it work and how durable/reliable was the unit? If it was an option that was expensive and it didn't work well, it's more of a gimmick than a technological innovation. Maybe this was the case and that's why it didn't catch on as quickly.

deekster_caddy > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 11/11/2014 at 15:18

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Having owned one of these '86 Rivieras, I can say that the CRT touch screen was surprisingly good. It wasn't as distracting as some of today's versions. I especially liked from a 'geek factor' that you could put the touch screen into service mode and display the raw output from every sensor in the vehicle. Very, VERY helpful for troubleshooting problems.

I had a touch screen in my '05 Yukon. AWFUL. One of the WORST radios I have ever had in a car. If it weren't integrated with the rear DVD player I would have ripped it out a week after I got the truck.

I have a touch screen in my '13 Volt.... don't get me started. It's bad.

They do all suffer from the issue of 'distraction' - in that you should have well defined buttons to perform most of their functions (climate control, volume, etc). The Volt does at least have a nice big volume knob in the middle and a "DEFROST" button below the touch screen for quick access, but good god does GM need a new UI crew.

I think the '86 touch screen interface worked very very well, better than today's versions. Simplicity in UI is so very important on something this critical.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > BrownMiataDieselWagon 11/11/2014 at 15:22

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I think it was standard, and from what I understand, it worked pretty well.

Here's Saabkyle04's demonstration of it, starting just after 8 minutes in. Looks fairly responsive, and must be pretty durable to last that long.

BrownMiataDieselWagon > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 11/11/2014 at 15:27

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That does seem impressive for 1980's technology. The only reason why I think this didn't catch on then is manufacturer return/costs.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > deekster_caddy 11/11/2014 at 15:29

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Glad to see a first-hand opinion. Glad to see that they really were pretty decent systems.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > BrownMiataDieselWagon 11/11/2014 at 15:31

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That's certainly possible. I can understand that line of thinking from those days. Now that we've advanced as much as we have, it's so much cheaper to manufacture, so it doesn't really add a sizeable premium to the overall cost of a vehicle.