Infotainment systems have been all the rage in recent months. News of the latest technological feature such as Apple’s CarPlay/Android Auto have been spiraling around the web and throughout the automotive industry. The latest gadgets are awesome. They make life easier. Do you want to talk handsfree? Although that is seemingly old technology by today’s standard, it is still pretty cool, not to mention safe. We love our technology, but does everyone really love as much as we think?
To the youthful driver or even middle aged drivers, we love being connected. We love having apps at our fingertips. We love having maps navigate us to our destination, voice texting, and Wi-Fi to connect to the internet. We love talking to our car like we are David Hasselhoff in Knight Ryder and telling our car to “turn up the air conditioner,” or “turn down the radio.” It makes us feel pretty cool really. We like being the first on our block with the latest model car with the coolest gadgets.
Yes, younger drivers such as Rav4 owners love it, but does every demographic? The simple answer to this is, “no.” The older generation loves simplicity. They want things to work in a way they understand. If they want to turn up the air conditioner, they want to simply turn a knob, or slide a thermostat. They want a simple knob for their radio volume. Some of them believe that 8-way power seating is overkill and that it can get cumbersome.
There are some younger drivers that may agree with their older, wiser generation. They feel like the infotainment systems don’t always work as designed. Voice recognition is sometimes a bit fuzzy and it doesn’t pick up what you are putting down (saying). They feel like with all of the gadgets and touchscreens, that it makes driving more difficult. Some even say that the touchscreens themselves don’t always recognize when you touch a button, making for one frustrated driver.
Although technology can be a great driving enhancer, it appears that some automakers may be pushing on too fast without correcting issues that may exist in current infotainment systems because they want to be ahead of the curve or first to market with the latest and greatest. When done right, infotainment systems can be a great asset and doesn’t have to be complex to get the job done.
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