Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Comment Re:It's not "late stage capitalism" it's the NYSE (Score 1) 68

by Deal In One (#65522204) Attached to: Apple Faces Calls To Reboot AI Strategy With Shares Slumping

How much of the share drop is due to lack of AI options from Apple, and how much of the drop is due to tariffs and uncertainity in the market?

After all, Trump has specfically stated that he will impose tariffs on Apple if they dont manufacture in the US, and even if Apple wants to manufacture in the US, it's not something that can happen overnight (not to mention the cost increases for it's products due to US manufacturing costs).

Comment Re:Why does there have to be a next? (Score 1) 47

by Deal In One (#65499352) Attached to: Valve Conquered PC Gaming. What Comes Next?

Tried to buy Civ 6 anthology during the current summer sales.

For some reason my card was blocked it seems (according to the support). They have no visibility when and why it happened. And that card has been used on occasion at steam (and epic / gog / various other online merchants) without issue.

And support can't do anything about it. Suggested I use another card / paypal, etc.

I refuse to change a perfectly working card for no reason. Especially since I use that card specifically for online stuff only, and have no heard of any issues related to that card.

So, I saved some money. And doesnt really matter, since I have a backlog of games, and I was just tempted to get civ 6 since it was on sale (may not even play it for weeks, months or longer).

Thanks steam for saving me money.
Transportation

Why Your Car's Touchscreen Is More Dangerous Than Your Phone (carsandhorsepower.com) 147

Posted by EditorDavid from the held-on-wheels dept.
"Modern vehicles have quietly become rolling monuments to terrible user experience, trading intuitive physical controls for flashy but dangerous touchscreen interfaces," argues the site Cars & Horsepower, decrying "an industry-wide plague of poorly designed digital dashboards that demand more attention from drivers than the road itself." The consequences are measurable and severe: studies now show touchscreen vehicles require up to four times longer to perform basic functions than their button-equipped counterparts, creating a distracted driving crisis that automakers refuse to acknowledge. A Swedish car magazine, Vi Bilägare, conducted a study [in 2022] comparing how long it takes drivers to perform basic tasks like adjusting climate controls or changing the radio station using touchscreens versus traditional physical buttons. The results showed that in the worst-performing modern car, it took drivers up to four times longer to complete these tasks compared to an older vehicle with physical controls... Even after allowing drivers time to familiarize themselves with each system, touchscreen-equipped cars consistently required more time and attention, which could translate into increased distraction and reduced safety on the road....

A seminal 2019 study from the University of Utah found drivers using touchscreens exhibited:

- 30% longer reaction times to road hazards
- Significantly higher cognitive workload (as measured by pupil dilation)
- More frequent and longer glances away from the road

The reason lies in proprioception — our body's ability to sense its position in space. Physical controls allow for muscle memory development; drivers can locate and manipulate buttons without looking. Touchscreens destroy this capability, forcing visual confirmation for every interaction. Even haptic feedback (those little vibrations mimicking physical buttons) fails to solve the problem, as demonstrated by a 2022 AAA study showing haptic systems offered no safety improvement over standard touchscreens...

A study from Drexel University introduced a system called [Distract-R](), which uses cognitive modeling to simulate how drivers interact with in-vehicle interfaces. It found that multi-step touchscreen tasks increase cognitive load, diverting attention from the road more than physical buttons.... Furthermore, a systematic review on driver distraction in the context of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Automated Driving Systems (ADS) highlights that even with automation, drivers remain vulnerable to distraction, especially when interacting with complex interfaces...
There's also software reliability issues (even before the issue of "feature paywalls"). But some manufacturers are going back, according to the article. "After receiving widespread criticism, Porsche added physical climate controls back to the Taycan's center console. Nissan's latest concepts feature prominent physical buttons for common functions..." And Mazda eliminated touch capability entirely while moving, "forcing use of a physical control knob... The system reduces glance time by 15% compared to touch interfaces while maintaining all modern infotainment functionality."

The article recommends consumers prioritize physical controls when vehicle shopping, seeking out models with buttons. But there's also "aftermarket solutions," with companies like Analog Automotive "developing physical control panels that interface with popular infotainment systems, bringing back tactile operation." Another option: voice commands (like on GM's latest systems).

"Ultimately, the solution requires consumer pushback against dangerous interface trends.... The road deserves our full attention, not divided focus between driving and debugging a poorly designed tablet on wheels."

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the article.

Comment Re:Don't believe the press releases (Score 1) 73

by Deal In One (#65403371) Attached to: Apple's Bad News Keeps Coming. Can They Still Turn It Around?

Last I heard, US is the single biggest consumer market (or at least one of the biggest).

Part of the reason is that workers get decent wages and so got spare money to spend on stuff.

Cut the pay, and the biggest market may end up as a tiny market, since consumers need to be making money above their minimal needs if they are to spend on extra stuff.

Not sure if the oligarchs will like that, unless they really are fine with destroying a huge market. I mean, current system of making cheap crap in China, etc, and selling it to the biggest market has worked well so far. You make the biggest market into another China like factory, who else new is going to buy their shit?

Comment Re:Value Chain (Score 1) 268

I don't think the Chinese will deindustrialize. I think they might offload some to somewhere other in Asia, but i think they will try to keep as much possible.
I think the Chinese is currently in a phase where they via having a large primary resource and secondary refinement sector, are trying to build a synergy where its possible to keep it long term in China. At the end of the day any example company like Microsoft is only providing value at exchange, they do not produce.

I don't think China will deintustrialize for multiple reasons. They can't educate the billion or so people they have to the levels needed to provide an important service.

And they will probably want at least some of the lower end industrial work going on there - at the least for national security(so they are not dependant on another country supplying the cheap stuff, like US is with China), and also to provide some form of viable work for those who are not very well educated, but still need a job.

Comment Breaking company rules? (Score 1) 60

by Deal In One (#65366375) Attached to: Coffee Shops Ditch WiFi and Laptops To Limit Remote Work

I know some places (maybe all for all I know) which allows hybrid / wfh requires that the place that the remote work is performed is in a somewhat controlled environment, with no random strangers shoulder surfing you as they walk pass, etc.

So, will working at this cafes break their rules, even if the cafes are cool with it?

Slashdot Top Deals

10 to the 6th power Bicycles = 2 megacycles

Close