Can retro-fads teach us about the future of in-car electronics?
Nearly any decade can be can be identified by its fads and it’s no different for automotive design. Car fads start off well-meaning, usually as a convenience or stylish accent. But we recognize it as a fad when well meaning and fun turn into annoying and potentially dangerous. Just ask anyone who’s had an automatic seat-belt wrapped around their head.
Today, cutting edge automotive electronics are as well meaning as ever. But when it comes to modern electronics systems, designers have raised the ante on complexity and functionality. Much of it will prove fad, but with some of it we’ll wonder how we did without.
Electronics Fashion Faux Pas
A superficial electronics fad was unleashed on an unsuspecting public back in the late 80s – the digital instrument panel.
Sure, we were watching Star Trek the Next Generation and listening to New Wave on the radio. It was the 80s and all seemed modern. A bold new digital age was so close you could practically smell burning hot microchips. So, it was only a natural reflection of the times that your in-dash display should be completely digital.
A wide array of cars fell for this fad, from the Dodge Daytona to the Audi Quattro the digital speedometer was in … but not so fast!
There’s a reason the old fashioned analog meter never seems to go out of style. There’s a familiar sense of relativism instantly interpreted from an analogue display. It’s just easier to read analog gauges at-a-glance, and that’s going to keep us safer in any driving condition.
There’s a variant of the age old function-over-form lesson here. When choosing in-car electronics, you should keep in mind that driving requires 100% of your attention. In-car electronics should be designed to keep your eyes on the road and your mind thinking about your primary task of driving; not calculating the meaning of digital displays.