Garmin may have done it again

a touchscreen? Wouldn't that be just wonderful in turbulence?
 
Bob Noel said:
a touchscreen? Wouldn't that be just wonderful in turbulence?
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They "say" you don't actually have to "touch" the screen, and:

The screens are so smart that they know when you finger is flicking past a choice you didn’t intend to make, such as might happen in turbulence.
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I have to admit I'd like that feature, right up until the moment it wouldn't let me pick what I wanted to pick because it "thought" I didn't want to pick it. And I'm not talking about my nose.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
I have to admit I'd like that feature, right up until the moment it wouldn't let me pick what I wanted to pick because it "thought" I didn't want to pick it. And I'm not talking about my nose.
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That feature has been around for ages on other units, so I'm sure that Garmin can get this right if they do what other manufacturers have done before...

Personally, I'm not worried about the touchscreen. I've been on very few flights where there was enough turbulence to make this difficult....
 
And the touchscreen is on the small controllers, and they're designed to let you grip the sides for stability.

If the turbulence is so bad you can't make these work, you probably should be flying the airplane.
 
TMetzinger said:
If the turbulence is so bad you can't make these work, you probably should be flying the airplane.
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Well....I suggest a flight at 1500' in Chicago on a 110dF day. I couldn't even change frequencies! And that was in a plane that was >6000lbs....
 
I was observing the other day that, in turbulence, knobs are easier than pushbuttons. I think a touchscreen would be even worse.
 
TMetzinger said:
And the touchscreen is on the small controllers, and they're designed to let you grip the sides for stability.

If the turbulence is so bad you can't make these work, you probably should NOT be flying the airplane.
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Fixed that for ya.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
That's a TOUCHSCREEN G3000, fyi... Kent's been waiting for touchscreen for a while.
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I have? :dunno:

Actually, I think most touchscreen devices are either poorly thought out and worse than their button/knob counterparts, or could use a significant UI redesign.

The iPhone has made the touchscreen into a fad. What these other manufacturers don't realize is that it isn't the touchscreen that makes the iPhone, it's the user interface. If you can't come up with a user interface that works REALLY WELL on the touchscreen, don't bother. Plus, I think this may not work so well in turbulence anyway. I like having knobs I can hold onto when it's bumpy!

That said, Garmin's automotive touchscreen products are OK. I just hope their touchscreen hardware savvy has improved since 2004, when I bought a Garmin Street Pilot 2620 with a touchscreen that is now all but unusable because all the touches are interpreted about 15-20% closer to the center of the screen than they really are and any buttons on the edge have to be pushed with a pen or the edge of a ruler, if they can be pushed at all. It's almost useless, and it's only 5 years old.
 
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Yup. A crock pot with a touchscreen, and an iPhone app with recipes. ;)
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:rofl:

Speaking of iPhone apps, I downloaded Viper SmartStart today to play with... I think I'm gonna get the SmartStart unit installed in my car. Then I'll be able to lock/unlock/start my car from anywhere. So, on those cold winter nights when I'm headed home in the truck, I can start my car when I'm still 20 miles from the truck stop and it'll be nice and toasty warm when I get there. Sweeeeeeet. :yes:

For those who haven't heard of it, the Viper SmartStart is a combination iPhone app and hardware unit in your car that operates the power locks and functions as a remote starter. Pretty cool!
 
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