Computers and Cars: A Maddening Experience?

Johnny writes "The nytimes has a review of the new BMW 745i iDrive system. The iDrive system combines some 270 functions, some accessable by voice, into one tactile feedback joystick mouse thingy. While maybe easier for computer junkies, the reviewer finds the interface 'maddening, especially at first' and wonders out loud what a car from Microsoft might be like, citing that the 745i offers a clue. Without a key, a floor shifter or really any buttons, this might be the future for cars, are the masses ready to wrestle with computers just to go to Wawa for milk?"

Comments

Good Article at K5

[geoffsmith]

There's another fairly balanced article and discussion about iDrive over at Kuro5hin that's worth checking out. The author has similar mixed feelings about the technology, and talks about how other car manufacturers like Saab and Audi are developing similar systems.

Websurfing done right! StumbleUpon

The hidden costs of automation

[b.foster]

One of my college buddies is an actuary now, and he works for a large insurer to set rates and assess risk in automotive applications. When this car first came out, we had a good talk about it, and I learned some interesting things that may sway consumers away from computerized car interfaces. Among his comments:

• The electronic parking brake is unintuitive and dangerous. One of the factors that make some cars safer than others is the ease of use of the parking break in situations in which the main brake lines lose pressure or the pedal snaps off. This causes the liability and collision insurance rates to be slightly higher.
• A standard shift lever on an automatic transmission is considered a safety feature, as both the position and the dash lights make it immediately apparent to the driver that the car is in gear. The 745i has only the light, and even at that, the light is stuck in the middle of a confusing, crowded console. This also increases risk and thus insurance rates.
• The fact that many Americans are afraid of technology and unable to perform a task as simple as changing their VCR clock or installing a new hard drive is a chilling reminder of the fact that valets, test drivers, and other "guest drivers" of the 745i will be putting the driving public at risk and increasing the owner's insurance rates.
• Since it is extraordinarily difficult to do something as simple as turning on headlights or changing the radio station, the driver's attention is likely to be diverted from the road.

All told, my actuary friend told me that the insurance rates for the first year that a driver owns a 745i are going to be astronomical. Rates for successive years are slightly lower, although the vehicle is generally regarded in the community to be a threat to life and property, and a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Re:The hidden costs of automation

[Jeffrey Baker]

The electronic parking brake is unintuitive and dangerous.

Why? In the BMW if you punch the parking brake button (not controlled by the main iDrive controls, but with a dedicated button on the driver's left hand) while moving, you induce a computer-controlled panic stop on all four wheels. This is way better than a lever-controlled rear-wheel parking brake, because in a panic situation the driver is likely to pull it up too hard, lock up the rear end, and spin.

I'll agree that the rest of the car sucks. Even the seating is cramped!

Maddening it is...

[xenophrak]

I consider myself a computer junkie, and I also have a smaller version of said company's cars. While I was waiting for the service to be finished one day, I hopped into a new 745i that they had on the floor.

The car is a real technology lover's paradise: active suspension, GPS, umpteen dozen little controls over everwhere. And yes, there is a key, but it's just a little puck that you insert into the dash. It has it's own little computer and calculates rolling security codes on the fly to foil car theives.

Now about the only thing I didn't like was the stinking iDrive system. It just plain sucks!! It way to hard to control things that I used to be able to push a button and do. Like surfing through three levels of menus just to turn on the defroster. Stupid.

The interface itself is ok, the button is hard to get used to becuase it is a joystick and wheel/button in one. And when you do something illegal it vibrates. Slick enough, but the interface is god awful.

Luckily this thing controls non-critical functions, I could see lawsuits brought if it controlled the gear selection or traction system.

Someone also told me that the software inside the iDrive is actually WinCE, can anyone verify this? If so, it would be truly a MS car after all.

BMW has a good track record of innovation, but I think this is a serious detour.