I want a car with all of the modern safety features - pre-collision braking, lane departure warning, blind spot warning. And luxury features - adaptive cruise control, automatic bright lights, electric seat adjustment, heated seats, leather wrapped steering wheel.
BUT -
I will not buy a car with a sunroof/moonroof. Every sunroof that I have owned has either leaked or rattled (Volvo, Acura, BMW, Honda). They take up an inch or more of headroom and add, as I recall, about fifty pounds at the worst possible location (for center of gravity). Yours doesn't leak? - wait until the drain clogs. Then they will need to remove the carpet to dry it out or risk permanent mildew. Then they will have to avoid oil spots on the carpet and get it back in correctly. Good luck. I won't be taking that chance.
Leather seats? - no thanks. They are hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and slippery. You can add a seat heater which does NOT solve the cold problem because it turns on after you sit down. You can add a seat ventilator which does NOT solve the heat problem because it turns on after you sit down. And worse, if the manufacturer decides to save money by heating the seats via the ventilator, the heating becomes useless - slow to turn on and not hot. I will not buy a car with leather seats. (Of course vinyl is essentially bad quality leather.)
Cars need ground clearance. I will not buy a car that scrapes speed bumps and driveway ramps and bottoms out on common potholes. Five inches minimum - six inches if I can get it.
A touch screen is a TERRIBLE user interface in a car. There is no tactile feedback. And with the typical small touchscreen buttons and vibration induced positional error, they take way too much visual attention and are way too easy to miss.
I hate gas stations. Give me a BIG gas tank.
Why can't you cool the car when it's parked in the sun. Heat rejecting glass might help, but it doesn't fix the problem. Why not have a fan to keep the interior cool?
I want a bumper on the front of the car. Don't give me an ugly grill that has no protective value.
When are we going to get a U-TURN signal on cars? More and more roads require u-turns to get where you want to go. And the u-turner has the right of way over a right turn on red across the street. But you can't signal a u-turn so you often get cut off from your turn.
And stop with the UGLY styling. I don't care how "bold" the styling is. I have to look at my car several times every day as I approach it to get in. I don't want to think "God that's ugly" every time - it puts me in a bad mood. And I don't care if all of your cars look the same or distinct. I want pretty. I want to think "that's a nice design" and get in feeling happy.
And NEW CAR STINK is NOT good. It is noxious and offensive. (I leave my new cars in the sun to heat the interior and bake out the new car smell as quickly as possible.)
What is the point of fog lights? I have never found them useful, even in fog. What a waste.
What happened to door ding strips? I don't like door dings - give me some protection.
I don't know if this is a common issue - it is on my 2012 Camry. When it's cold outside, the ventilation pipe, underneath the center cup holders and storage bin, heats anything above, ruining cold drinks and cooking anything in the bin. How about some insulation?
Again with my 2012 Camry - random mode for a collection of songs should not mean choose a song at random from the folder. It should mean sort the songs in a random order. There is a big difference. After I've heard half the songs, over half the time I'm getting a repeat song.
I have now given up on Volkswagen, Honda, Acura, Mercedes, BMW, and Volvo because, after buying one or two cars that were okay, they decided to stop making anything that I want (this covers 38 years of owning cars). Volkswagen - no more Scirocco, terrible reliability. Honda - no more CRX. Acura - no more Integra, horrible option choices. BMW - rain leaks, no ground clearance, attractive cars replaced with ugly. Volvo - no more S40, limited options.
I understand that I'm outside of the mainstream. Some companies used to market to niches. Why no more?
Does ANYONE want my business?
2017-10-27
2017-10-20
Smartphones
Dear smartphone makers - DO YOU USE YOUR PHONES? They are getting worse and worse with every new model.
I use my phone, a Google Nexus 5X, for, in order of usage -
"Bezel-less" screens - How am I supposed to hold the phone without touching the screen if the screen goes all the way to the edge of the phone, or worse, curves around the edge? I need a border that is not an active part of the user interface - bottom and both sides.
Curved screen - Rounded edge screens do not handle screen covers well and screen covers have saved my screen many times.
No headphone jack - I prefer a headphone jack, but if you don't have one I can use the USB port - IF it is offset to the side so that I can plug in the headphones while the phone is in my (horizontal) belt case. If the USB port is centered, the phone won't sit in the case.
Voice assistants - The first thing I do when I get a new phone is turn off the voice assistant. I don't mind if you include them, but don't think they are a selling point, and don't make it hard to shut them off.
Odd interfaces such as squeeze - I don't want more interface mechanisms - buttons work. By button, I mean touch screen and physical. I don't want gestures - buttons work. I don't want phone motion moves - buttons work. I don't want pressure sensitive buttons - ordinary buttons work. Finger sliding scrolling is useful. Pinch/spread zoom is useful, especially when the web page hasn't disabled it. That's it.
Backlit LCD screens - these do not allow "always on" display of time, date. While they handle normal duties well enough, an always on display is a step forward. So don't think you're at the forefront of smartphones with a backlit LCD screen.
Android - why can't you set a mode where the notification line and bottom menu line are always shown and the apps must fit in the rest of the screen. (This would be a very good use of the new 2:1 ratio displays.)
Split screen, Android 8 insets - useless and annoying.
THEN YOU FAIL TO FIX PROBLEMS.
Volume - Some phone calls are too loud even when the volume is at minimum. Why is the volume range so limited?
White backgrounds are often too bright. Why can't I set a reasonable brightness level without turning off automatic brightness control?
Glossy screens have a terrible reflection problem. After market matte screen covers, in my experience, destroy the screen resolution. Why won't you spend a bit of effort to fix this with an anti-reflective coating or a high resolution matte surface. Matte screen colors aren't as saturated as glossy screens? That's true IF there is no reflection from overhead light - when does that happen?
Android 7+ - You killed all of the apps that turn off the display. The screen turns off but the fingerprint restart fails. It's still not working right in Android 8.
Android - why does Android preload useless apps. If you think it's useful to preload apps - ask me which apps are useful.
Every alarm clock and countdown timer app should have options to ramp up the alarm volume and automatically shut off the alarm after a specified time.
We need to be able to back off to a previous version of an app. All too often new versions of apps and operating systems break important function. But we are stuck with the new version.
Google Maps - the window size when navigating needs to be adjustable. It's so small that you have no clue where in the trip you are. How hard can it be to let the user specify a default size - miles, or percent of trip, or the rest of the trip would be useful.
Google Maps - alternate routes on the phone app are useless. On the desktop they can be adjusted. On the phone you just choose between bad alternates.
Google Maps - how about letting me optimize routes by: prefer interstate highways; prefer four (or more) lane roads; minimize stoplights; minimize turns. This would be a much better use of "artificial intelligence" than voice assistants.
Google Maps - how about letting me pause when I want to take a small break - gas, food, rest?
iPhone music - the last time I used iTunes, 2013 I think, it was on Windows and it was a horrible experience. But I only needed it for one thing - transfer MP3 music to my phone. Now that I use Linux, as I understand it, there is no iTunes, so an iPhone is not even an option for me. Why can't you fix this trivial issue? Let me download a file to the music folder.
Music players - music levels between songs don't always match. Why can't I set a volume bump for each song? I'm constantly adjusting the volume when listening to tune collections. Why is something so fundamental to music ignored while gimmicky features such as album covers and light shows are included?
SO WHY SHOULD I BUY A NEW PHONE? WHAT HAS IMPROVED?
I use my phone, a Google Nexus 5X, for, in order of usage -
- ebooks
- portable music player - organized by folders, MP3s from CDs and Amazon, always with Apple wired earphones
- phone calls - almost always with Apple wired earphones
- calendar - synced to my Google calendar
- portable email
- text messaging
- navigation
- camera, calculator, news, stock market, etc.
"Bezel-less" screens - How am I supposed to hold the phone without touching the screen if the screen goes all the way to the edge of the phone, or worse, curves around the edge? I need a border that is not an active part of the user interface - bottom and both sides.
Curved screen - Rounded edge screens do not handle screen covers well and screen covers have saved my screen many times.
No headphone jack - I prefer a headphone jack, but if you don't have one I can use the USB port - IF it is offset to the side so that I can plug in the headphones while the phone is in my (horizontal) belt case. If the USB port is centered, the phone won't sit in the case.
Voice assistants - The first thing I do when I get a new phone is turn off the voice assistant. I don't mind if you include them, but don't think they are a selling point, and don't make it hard to shut them off.
Odd interfaces such as squeeze - I don't want more interface mechanisms - buttons work. By button, I mean touch screen and physical. I don't want gestures - buttons work. I don't want phone motion moves - buttons work. I don't want pressure sensitive buttons - ordinary buttons work. Finger sliding scrolling is useful. Pinch/spread zoom is useful, especially when the web page hasn't disabled it. That's it.
Backlit LCD screens - these do not allow "always on" display of time, date. While they handle normal duties well enough, an always on display is a step forward. So don't think you're at the forefront of smartphones with a backlit LCD screen.
Android - why can't you set a mode where the notification line and bottom menu line are always shown and the apps must fit in the rest of the screen. (This would be a very good use of the new 2:1 ratio displays.)
Split screen, Android 8 insets - useless and annoying.
THEN YOU FAIL TO FIX PROBLEMS.
Volume - Some phone calls are too loud even when the volume is at minimum. Why is the volume range so limited?
White backgrounds are often too bright. Why can't I set a reasonable brightness level without turning off automatic brightness control?
Glossy screens have a terrible reflection problem. After market matte screen covers, in my experience, destroy the screen resolution. Why won't you spend a bit of effort to fix this with an anti-reflective coating or a high resolution matte surface. Matte screen colors aren't as saturated as glossy screens? That's true IF there is no reflection from overhead light - when does that happen?
Android 7+ - You killed all of the apps that turn off the display. The screen turns off but the fingerprint restart fails. It's still not working right in Android 8.
Android - why does Android preload useless apps. If you think it's useful to preload apps - ask me which apps are useful.
Every alarm clock and countdown timer app should have options to ramp up the alarm volume and automatically shut off the alarm after a specified time.
We need to be able to back off to a previous version of an app. All too often new versions of apps and operating systems break important function. But we are stuck with the new version.
Google Maps - the window size when navigating needs to be adjustable. It's so small that you have no clue where in the trip you are. How hard can it be to let the user specify a default size - miles, or percent of trip, or the rest of the trip would be useful.
Google Maps - alternate routes on the phone app are useless. On the desktop they can be adjusted. On the phone you just choose between bad alternates.
Google Maps - how about letting me optimize routes by: prefer interstate highways; prefer four (or more) lane roads; minimize stoplights; minimize turns. This would be a much better use of "artificial intelligence" than voice assistants.
Google Maps - how about letting me pause when I want to take a small break - gas, food, rest?
iPhone music - the last time I used iTunes, 2013 I think, it was on Windows and it was a horrible experience. But I only needed it for one thing - transfer MP3 music to my phone. Now that I use Linux, as I understand it, there is no iTunes, so an iPhone is not even an option for me. Why can't you fix this trivial issue? Let me download a file to the music folder.
Music players - music levels between songs don't always match. Why can't I set a volume bump for each song? I'm constantly adjusting the volume when listening to tune collections. Why is something so fundamental to music ignored while gimmicky features such as album covers and light shows are included?
SO WHY SHOULD I BUY A NEW PHONE? WHAT HAS IMPROVED?
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