because they are too technologically advanced. Brilliant.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...tml?cmpid=yhoo

 

Completely retarded. People will be on iphones and androids anyways. Might as well integrate the features/experience into the car as best as possible to let the driver operate the car in a safer manner.

 

While I'm certainly no fan of CR ( I think they are largely irrelevant), this has some merit.

They actually said it's the complexity - (touchscreen interfaces and voice command is not new or even all that advanced these days) - and driver distraction.

Most drivers are, sadly, very easily distracted - our nations have some of the worst, most poorly trained & disciplined drivers on the planet.

Bling for bling's sake is not progress, sorry.

True intuitiveness will come eventually, but it has to be paired with better driving skills and awareness.

MGD

PS: https://www.f150online.com/forums/co...ync-forum.html

 

Sorry, but I don't see that being any different than having a radio and GPS in a vehicle. It's just integrated into the vehicle. As far as the message center, again no different than having gauges, tach, and speedometer. Having these is no where near flying a plane, especially a military jet. If pilots can learn to handle 20 or 30 different thing, a driver should be able to handle 2-3, although there are some that can't even talk to anyone else in the vehicle without being distracted. Those shouldn't even have licenses.

 

Upon release of the CR article Ford stock goes up 46 cents and GM stock goes up 20 cents. Speaks to the credentials of CR.

 

Better to have a call incoming over the radio where you can quickly and easily ID the caller than to fumble for a phone and hit buttons while taking your eyes off the road. Likewise, better to say what radio station you want while keeping both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. If you can't walk and chew bubble gum, you have no business driving.

 

I wish I could express my contempt for the "rice wine engineers" at CR. And that's not just their views on automobiles either. If it's Japanese and hasn't killed too many people, that's their best recommendation. Recommending an American made product just doesn't happen except when they have no other choice. Besides, they have to give the US companies a token pick occasionally anyway to keep what little credibility they have. Take the Honda Master Series lawnmower. Great running machine, no doubt. But rust is a factor in getting into the controls and now the thing won't stop running, won't stop the blade, and won't stop going forward- but it's their pick. The old smaller Tundra was their best pick too.....complete with too small brakes and it rolled over far more often then the Explorer from a lousy front end design, but you didn't hear about that one, did you? Or the Tacomas that the frames are failing but it was their pick. Consumer Reports sucks and it begs the question many Jerry Springer fans ask- Where do they find these people?

 

Any credibility CR had was completely lost when they admitted to recommending products based on their reputation not actual data and testing (i.e. Toyota). Hell I can do that and I don't even have to pay any money to do it.

 

I think CR is totally wrong here.