Oppopinion: Modern cars should be sold with an "Infotainment Delete" option.

"NKato" (NKato) 06/08/2018 at 17:17 • Filed to: Oppopinion

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Hear me out. There are those who like the limited accoutrements of cars that were built in the 1990's and early 00's, where they were merely used to get around, and sometimes hooned. In other words, cars that don’t have distractions.

Today’s cars are built much like smartphones: Cram as many features as you can into it, without any thought as to the preference of the driver.

This is fatal, because it turns the car into something that inevitably gets treated the same like smartphones do: Once it gets boring, chuck it and buy a new one.

So, why don’t auto makers offer the choice to delete certain “factory” options from their cars? Like the Infotainment Center, the SiriusXM thingy (Why, GM?), among other things. I know that the Infotainment Center is used to display some pertinent information for the car, but you know what? It’s extraneous.

If we wanted to know the status of our AC, we can just look at the buttons, the dials. Vents blowing too hot? Look at the air conditioning dial, and adjust it. You don’t need a screen for that. If anything, the infotainment center is adding more expenses than is necessary to the car, as well as forcing certain dashboard features into places that make it even more unsafe for the operator.

And moreover? Why do many of them have streamcasting features? Isn’t running a movie or video from your phone to the dash a safety issue, in that it can be a distraction?

There are eDUI laws in effect in my state now. I’d love it if that got tightened up to also include entertainment being shown on infotainment centers. That would force automakers to dial back the digitization of the car a bit, in my opinion.

Well, this is a quick and dirty opinion, but I hope I articulated it well enough. The TL;DR is: The newer modern cars are nice , but I’d love it even more if they offered optional deletions of features.

Honeybunchesofgoats > NKato 06/08/2018 at 17:31

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I want buttons for everything and I want them everywhere. You want luxury? Luxury is forcing a car marker to custom fit every damn button for every damn feature that a car has, not just adding a few screens to the same infotainment system that their entry-level car has.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > NKato 06/08/2018 at 17:34

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I agree, or at least, not map key vehicle features to the infotainment screen so it can be removed/upgraded one day.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > NKato 06/08/2018 at 17:43

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They wouldn’t sell enough to justify the option.

Spasoje > NKato 06/08/2018 at 17:44

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Agreed. This is why I like pickups (and Wranglers) so much – you can skip all the infotainment stuff if you like.

I recently spent a day in a new XC90: using the screen for every little thing while driving was indeed distracting! There’s absolutely no way to adjust anything without taking your eyes off the road for at least one or two seconds.

jimz > NKato 06/08/2018 at 17:49

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Because the number of buyers who would actually want to do that is so small as to be not worth considering. The fewer orderable/buildable combinations you carry, the cheaper everything is in the long run.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > NKato 06/08/2018 at 17:50

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Elon Musk would have a heart attack if he read this because you have to use the infotainment screen in the Tesla to even manually set your freaking wipers!

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > NKato 06/08/2018 at 18:11

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This is why we need to see the return of credit options. Don’t want A/C? The car’s now $1k cheaper. Don’t want infotainment? That’s $350 off MSRP. Don’t want factory carpet floor mats? Save yourself $75.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > NKato 06/08/2018 at 18:44

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While I agree (I’m searching for E46s right now myself due to wanting a more pure driving experience), I think the take rate on “infotainment delete” would be low.

My friends, when I told them I was looking for a car without a screen: “why? Like, what would you do while you drive?”

Your boy, BJR > NKato 06/08/2018 at 19:09

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My car automatically lowers the wipers when you turn it off, no matter where they are.

I can set a temperature and my car reads my skin and keeps me at that temp.

I never have to ever take my keys out of my pocket.

Modern cars fucking rule, get over it you goddamn luddite.

CaptDale - is secretly British > NKato 06/08/2018 at 19:12

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I wholeheartedly agree. I much prefer the old Panamera interior to the new one. And just think if the old one had now ceter screen either... it would be perfect! Just a nice Blaupunkt head unit for radio

Old

New

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > CaptDale - is secretly British 06/08/2018 at 19:23

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New is way better

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > NKato 06/08/2018 at 19:36

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Unpopular Facts: A lot of infotainment systems are much less distracting than buttons. All of your adjustments can be found in one menu. I can change equalizer settings without doing a button dance. I can voice into navigation without even looking at a screen. I can enjoy driving without having to search for a button. Stop yelling at clouds.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) 06/08/2018 at 19:42

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No look at that horrible screen and that thing along the shifter. It is awful.

Then look at all those beautiful buttons on the old one! Yes fucking please!

NKato > Your boy, BJR 06/08/2018 at 20:01

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When the apocalypse comes, you won’t survive a day outside that padded bubble of yours.

NKato > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 06/08/2018 at 20:01

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You mean unpopular opinion.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > NKato 06/08/2018 at 20:42

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On here. Unpopular opinions on here are usually facts somewhere else. It’s a simple fact that an infotainment system done halfway right is a better solution. You don’t have to like it, but functionally it’s much less complex.

Your boy, BJR > NKato 06/08/2018 at 21:57

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Sorry, lemme rephrase.

*paranoid luddite

NKato > Your boy, BJR 06/08/2018 at 21:58

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Practical luddite who doesn’t want to take technology for granted, please. Until everything comes with a faraday cage to protect from destructive EMP blasts, I’m not relying on electronics for my entire life.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > NKato 06/08/2018 at 22:01

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You do realize your CV runs on a computer, right?

Your boy, BJR > NKato 06/08/2018 at 22:09

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Yeah fuck technology. I only drive hand crank cars. You goddamn idiots running electric starters are gonna be sorry when the martians come to knock out the world’s technology with their apocalyptic EMPs.

Jayhawk Jake > NKato 06/08/2018 at 22:35

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I feel like these opinions always come from people who haven’t owned a car with a modern infotainment system.

All the controls you need while driving are typically either duplicated with physical controls or large, clear, easy to use touchscreens. Really the only controls you typically utilize while driving are climate control and radio. For climate there’s often a switch or dial to set temperature. For radio you almost always have steering wheel controls to change modes, channels, and volume. Done.

Everything else can and should be set while sitting still. Navigstion, drive modes, settings, etc...all of these are easy enough to do when sitting in the parking lot before departure, and rarely need input once in motion.

The biggest hole in this argument, though, is acting like taking these features away from people will keep them from being distracted. The more functions the car can present to you near eye level on large screens the better as without them people will just fumble with their loose, small, hard to read phones.

Finally, cars are a business. Car makers need to make a product they can actually sell. Making a feature-less car for the 0.5% of people who refuse to get off their high horse and get with the times would be a wasted effort.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > CaptDale - is secretly British 06/08/2018 at 22:40

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The gorgeous continuous horizontal line in the newer one’s dash makes it worth it.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Jayhawk Jake 06/08/2018 at 22:40

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Even navigation is voice activated now, at least through Carplay. Press a button on the steering wheel, and tell Siri where you want to go.

pip bip - choose Corrour > NKato 06/09/2018 at 06:53

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oh god YES!!!!!!

so much YES!!!!!!!!

while we’re at it, delete electric windows too, seriously.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) 06/09/2018 at 11:16

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Eh, not to me anyway