Mach-E Dashcam and Sentry Mode Updates

JamieGeek

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Ah but they aren't building a car for just you they are building a car for everyone. Some people like switches, some people don't.

Some people take their cars to restaurants with a valet, some people park it themselves.

Some people turn the headlights on when entering a tunnel with a sign "headlights on for safety" before they automatically come on (if they automatically come on).

Some car manufacturers don't put switches everywhere not because it makes the car high-tech but because it makes assembly easier.
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jhalkias

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I think others have already said most of what is on my mind about this. It is obvious to me that Ford did a LOT of research with real people in designing the car and the various human interfaces. That's a big reason why we have the center display in the MME. I would venture that is also why they kept a lot of the things like the switches that still exist. I believe they centered the car around what most people want, but also innovating toward the future at the same time.
When I look at a Tesla, it seems more geared toward innovation for innovation's sake. I would be curious what if any research they did with real people and human interfaces. At the same time, I understand that someone has to "push the envelope" and that's fine - there is something for everyone.
If you like that, it's fine. To each their own. But it does NOT mean that a company like Tesla is "further ahead".
A company like Apple is famous for this . . . others get out in front and push the envelope, then Apple comes along, sees the mistakes, and perfects the product that appeals to more people and makes it more easily useful. Think of the Apple Watch. Other "smart watches" didn't have that physical dial on the side. One could argue it is totally unnecessary - but Apple incorporated a legacy physical item from the analog watch world that people were comfortable with and made the Apple Watch a smashing success where others failed by not making their product useful to most people.
One could argue that Ford is more forward thinking, and that Tesla's innovation is all the signs of reckless innovation without regard for actual human interaction. The fact that many of those Tesla features are still labeled as "Beta" is actually alarming to many people.
So, we all have different opinions on design and human interfaces. Buy what makes you happy and is most utilitarian for you, but that doesn't make it more valid.
 

dbsb3233

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One could argue that Ford is more forward thinking, and that Tesla's innovation is all the signs of reckless innovation without regard for actual human interaction.
Yep. In my research over the last year on BEVs, I've seen an awful lot of people say they hate the way Tesla went too far with taking a way so many normal access items in the name of "minimalizing" the dash (moving virtually everything to the center screen). The things don't even have an IC driver display for speed/etc, for God's sake. I was shocked to see that you have to look off to the side even just to watch your speed. Hell, I'm surprised they didn't remove the damn steering wheel and make it a virtual wheel on the screen too. Maybe that's in their next model. (OK, joking about that one, but not by much.)

I'm very glad Ford didn't throw out buttons to control some common driving features. To do so would make the car WORSE, IMO. Not better. Seems crazy to me to make the vehicle LESS convenient.
 

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Yep. In my research over the last year on BEVs, I've seen an awful lot of people say they hate the way Tesla went too far with taking a way so many normal access items in the name of "minimalizing" the dash (moving virtually everything to the center screen). The things don't even have an IC driver display for speed/etc, for God's sake. I was shocked to see that you have to look off to the side even just to watch your speed. Hell, I'm surprised they didn't remove the damn steering wheel and make it a virtual wheel on the screen too. Maybe that's in their next model. (OK, joking about that one, but not by much.)

I'm very glad Ford didn't throw out buttons to control some common driving features. To do so would make the car WORSE, IMO. Not better. Seems crazy to me to make the vehicle LESS convenient.
My friend's Model 3 Bluetooth froze up so he did a soft reboot of the screen while driving. It makes you completely "blind" for a couple minutes. No speed indication, no nothing. In my C-Max with My Ford Touch, the center screen used to freeze up (newer updates solved that). But at no time was the speed limit, or turn signal indicators, etc ever down.

Moving everything to that screen is all about cost, not progress.

I think its a safe bet that there is a larger group of people choosing the Mach-E over the Teslas because of the interior than the other way around.
 

Raybdc97

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Agreed...with all that tech, should be a no brainier. Not sure why/or how this could be overlooked. Disappointed.
 


Raybdc97

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Yep. In my research over the last year on BEVs, I've seen an awful lot of people say they hate the way Tesla went too far with taking a way so many normal access items in the name of "minimalizing" the dash (moving virtually everything to the center screen). The things don't even have an IC driver display for speed/etc, for God's sake. I was shocked to see that you have to look off to the side even just to watch your speed. Hell, I'm surprised they didn't remove the damn steering wheel and make it a virtual wheel on the screen too. Maybe that's in their next model. (OK, joking about that one, but not by much.)

I'm very glad Ford didn't throw out buttons to control some common driving features. To do so would make the car WORSE, IMO. Not better. Seems crazy to me to make the vehicle LESS convenient.
Agreed ?
 

eastern refugee

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I went with the MME because it had a speedometer above the dash where it normally. Tesla did away with it and ALL of the buttons because it is essentially the same car that is sold in europe and as such not much has to be made different for right hand driving. Far cheaper to put everything as much as possible. Thank you i do not like a car manufacturer looking to be cheap versus the right way to do it.
 

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I actually won’t buy any vehicle without a headlight switch. It’s a safety matter. There are occasions lights need to get turned on right now. Even when the sun is up. I live in a rural area with windy 2 lane country roads with lots of traffic. Those same roads have been known to have extensive patches fog just around the curve you can’t see around. That’s not a time to be studying your display.

As for the mirrors. Nope, you’re an oddity . People readjust their mirrors all the time. They slouch, they sit up very straight and they drop their cars off at the hotel or restaurant valets.

This is not the BEV you’re looking for. There’s no sin in that.
 
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ab13

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Realize that is you. The fact is that only about 5-15% of people are early adopters, and about 10-25% are really tech savvy. Most people want the simplest things and not having to learn new ways to do the same things.

In regard to something like the auto headlights. Well, if you park in a space that faces a building such as people eating in a restaurant or a parking lot where people are waiting in an opposing car, keeping your headlights shining in their faces is rude unless you are about to leave. Many people do this while looking at their phone while sitting in their car and shining their lights into people's eyes.

There are many reasons to be able to use features by touch and not by distracting the driver's vision.

You have to realize a lot of the features Tesla gives to people are BETA, so they are not fully tested. Most companies don't release products until they are out of full testing processes. Based on the "speed" at which Tesla releases updates, there is no way to do true full regression testing on the software. So it means they are continually patching on the fly. So Tesla can "release" things earlier because they didn't finish a complete testing process.
 

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I actually won’t buy any vehicle without a headlight switch. It’s a safety matter. There are occasions lights need to get turned on right now. Even when the sun is up.
Not to mention to use your lights to signal drivers. Flashing high beams on and off doesn't tell someone their headlights are off nearly as well as turning yours on and off. Over reliance on "auto" headlights has led to lots of cars driving down the road at night with only their daytime drivers on. While that's easy to notice as a driver on a dark rural road like @Kamuelaflyer usually drives, in the DC suburbs, roads are so well lit it is hard to see if your own headlights are on. Combine that with LED instruments that glow "on" even when the lights are off, it isn't as easy to know your own lights are on as it was when the instruments were mechanical and a light illuminated them.

Sure. We can automate everything. However there are reasons to want manual control for lots of features.
 

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If you aren’t adjusting your mirror(s), you aren’t driving as safely as you might.

Sometimes I will sit differently in the seat. I might be proud and perky in the morning and sit up tall and straight. I might be worn out and slumped at the end if the day. I might have a passenger of high status behind me who deserves more legroom. I might have cargo that would not fit without adjusting the seat for the trip. After a night I might want to press my face on the cool glass of the door. Maybe when letting the car drive in stop and go traffic I like to lay the seat back a bit. Maybe I want to hunch forward for a few moments because my back is giving me fits.

In these situations and many others my eyes are not in memory position. I suspect your eye position changes more than you suggest when defending the design choice Tesla made.

When necessary I blindly reach for a simply designed ergonomically placed switch to adjust my mirror(s) for safety.

I would hope you are carefully taking your eyes off the road when sorting through menus without benefit of tactile feedback as necessary to adjust your mirrors to accommodate your shifting driving position.


 

jhalkias

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Not to mention to use your lights to signal drivers. Flashing high beams on and off doesn't tell someone their headlights are off nearly as well as turning yours on and off. Over reliance on "auto" headlights has led to lots of cars driving down the road at night with only their daytime drivers on. While that's easy to notice as a driver on a dark rural road like @Kamuelaflyer usually drives, in the DC suburbs, roads are so well lit it is hard to see if your own headlights are on. Combine that with LED instruments that glow "on" even when the lights are off, it isn't as easy to know your own lights are on as it was when the instruments were mechanical and a light illuminated them.

Sure. We can automate everything. However there are reasons to want manual control for lots of features.
And we are missing the most important thing . . . When I go to my favorite drive up curb service restaurant, I have to turn my lights on for service! Now I know why I don’t see frustrated Tesla drivers not being waited on for their burgers and fries at Swenson’s. ?
 

JamieGeek

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You know Ford did try the "futuristic" method:

The first car with My Ford Touch (2011 Edge, we had one) didn't have any HVAC controls--they were all on the My Ford Touch screen (there were some other vehicles in 2011, 2012 that also had all the controls in the touch screen--and voice control).

Customers and the press eviscerated Ford for not having tactile buttons--I think they learned their lesson. (yeah ok they were also eviscerated because the 2011 version of My Ford Touch suuuuuucked).
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