Rowing back technology : Navy abandons touch screens
All the chatter about hacks and data harvests makes you wonder: was it all better in analogue? The US Navy is taking a look. Touch screen tech is out:
The US Navy has had enough of touchscreens and is going back to physical controls for its destroyers, according to a report last week in USNI News. Starting next summer the Navy will refit its DDG-51 destroyer fleet with a physical throttle and helm control system. The effort is a response to feedback the Navy solicited in the wake of a pair of fatal crashes involving that class of ship during 2017.
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It’s a warning that the auto industry could do well to listen to. Touchscreens continue to proliferate into car infotainment systems, a trend fueled by the plaudits given to Tesla for its huge touchscreens as well as a general belief that CES-primed customers are asking for more and more consumer tech in their vehicles. But there’s mounting evidence that touch interfaces are an awful idea for a driver who is supposed to be—literally—focusing on the road ahead, not hunting for an icon or slider on a screen.
Seventeen sailors died in that accident.
Bring back the wheels and throttles. Full steam ahead…
Posted: 12th, August 2019 | In: Technology Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
