Post by: Kenneve on March 22, 2018, 07:24:33 PM
It seems to have been designed, without any thought for the real world.
In theoretical use one would start the car and then wait for the safety message pop up, which you would then cancel and set the required screen, before driving off.
In the real world, you start the car and immediately drive off. Some time later you realise that the screen is blank and then have to press the menu and the cancel button, usually whilst driving!! Which in my book is a safety hazard.
Would it not be better to dispense with the start up procedure and have screen show what was there on the previous journey, thus avoiding the need to press any buttons?
Yes, I know your going to say 'It's an EU regulation or a Elf & Safety issue' but surely it would me more safe, not to have touch the screen at all?
Post by: trebor1652 on March 22, 2018, 07:28:29 PM
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Post by: andruec on March 22, 2018, 08:25:44 PM
Now if I'd been the programmer I'd have had the screen show a full size clock (analogue or digital) by default but apparently that's not what Honda/Pioneer decided. No they thought it would be best to leave the time just barely visible in the top right because 'yah boo sucks' as far as I can tell.
The infotainment unit is pathetic. It does its job but is a classic case of why hardware manufacturers (Honda/Pioneer in this case) should not be allowed to specify or budget for software. And of course this weekend we all have to manually activate Daylight Savings Mode because Honda/Pioneer managed the neat trick of implementing something that, despite knowing the time zone and the date and despite being perfectly capable of compensating for DST, requires human intervention. Presumably, again, because 'yah boo sucks'. Idiots.
Post by: trebor1652 on March 22, 2018, 08:32:48 PM
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Post by: andruec on March 23, 2018, 09:53:40 AM
Can't please all the people all of the time.Lol, true. But I'm a computer programmer with over three decades of experience so I know how good the infotainment unit could've been. There's too much half-arsed poorly thought out software around and we shouldn't tolerate it.
Post by: trebor1652 on March 23, 2018, 10:01:35 AM
The years they have been making operating systems and they still can't get it right, patches updates and don't get me started on how long it takes to get started.
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Post by: culzean on March 23, 2018, 10:05:58 AM
Yes, I know your going to say 'It's an EU regulation or a Elf & Safety issue' but surely it would me more safe, not to have touch the screen at all?
Having a touch screen in a vehicle is bad enough, but IMHO screen should be locked when car moving, (and the car does know when it is moving). Car makers fit them to attract younger buyers who are lost unless they have a screen to play with, but little thought has gone into the safety aspect. As usual legislation lags technology by years because very, very few of our politicians have a background in science, engineering or technology, they are all lawyers or bean counters.
Post by: culzean on March 23, 2018, 10:12:10 AM
I think that about Windows.
The years they have been making operating systems and they still can't get it right, patches updates and don't get me started on how long it takes to get started.
For a while now I have been using a Raspberry Pi 3 as a browser (Chrome) and it has Libre open office as well (will open and edit Microsoft Excel, powerpoint, word etc and also PDF) - all with a free download of Raspbian OS (based on Linux) https://www.raspberrypi.org/?s=raspbian
You need to add keyboard, mouse and monitor (HDMI input if possible as Pi3 is HDMI output, otherwise an adapter is needed) - I had stuff lying around so no big drama.
Has a great ad-blocker built in as well, which is why I prefer it to our Windows computer, boots up very quickly as well.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/ cheap as chips and very useful indeed - I did get Raspberry Pi for Dummies 3rd edition at the same time as it makes everything easy to start up and gives info on what you can (loads) and cannot (not much) do with the little beast. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1119412005
Post by: peteo48 on March 23, 2018, 01:17:55 PM
Can't please all the people all of the time.Lol, true. But I'm a computer programmer with over three decades of experience so I know how good the infotainment unit could've been. There's too much half-arsed poorly thought out software around and we shouldn't tolerate it.
I don't have your expertise and background knowledge but I completely agree it could have been much better. There is stuff out there that IS better. My portable TomTom satnav for instance. Wonder what the issue is here - cost?
Post by: andruec on March 23, 2018, 03:08:26 PM
I think hardware manufacturers just don't pay much attention to software. Most of them see it as unimportant, possibly an inconvenience. That allows for all sorts of decisions that you don't get with hardware such as:Can't please all the people all of the time.Lol, true. But I'm a computer programmer with over three decades of experience so I know how good the infotainment unit could've been. There's too much half-arsed poorly thought out software around and we shouldn't tolerate it.
I don't have your expertise and background knowledge but I completely agree it could have been much better. There is stuff out there that IS better. My portable TomTom satnav for instance. Wonder what the issue is here - cost?
* Employ as few programmers as possible or farm it out to a third party (lowest bid wins).
* We don't care what it looks like as long as it mostly works.
* It doesn't matter if it's not ready, just ship it so we can move onto something else.
* If there are serious bugs we can patch them later (they may or may not bother).
There are exceptions to this but they are rare. Apple is the most obvious example (at least until very recently) but unfortunately it likes to operate a walled-garden ecosystem and charge too high an entrance fee for me.
It's understandable that a vehicle manufacturer wouldn't put much effort into an infotainment unit. But they don't have to. I'm sure someone said that Honda went to Pioneer for the head unit. In itself that is a sensible decision. Car manufacturers should make cars. Audio/visual manufacturers should make audio/visual equipment. Unfortunately for that to produce a good result Honda still have to take it seriously. I think it's more likely that they saw it as 'fobbing it off to Pioneer' and were vague in their requirements and tight fisted with the budget. Pioneer in turn saw no reason to go all out on the project and couldn't afford to anyway.
The end result is a 'red headed stepchild'. Honda have ticked the 'must have modern audio device' box on their list and are happy. Pioneer got paid for their efforts and are happy.
Post by: peteo48 on March 23, 2018, 03:32:55 PM
Post by: guest7504 on March 24, 2018, 07:31:15 AM
Post by: ColinS on March 24, 2018, 09:31:45 AM
I think it was designed by a committee, it's said that a camel was a horse designed by a committee!I personally like the "Auto Kneel Down" facility, so that you can get on easily. They should have fitted that to the horse.
Post by: peteo48 on March 24, 2018, 11:01:05 AM
I think it was designed by a committee, it's said that a camel was a horse designed by a committee!I personally like the "Auto Kneel Down" facility, so that you can get on easily. They should have fitted that to the horse.
A rare case of the "committee" getting it right for a change ;D
Post by: guest7590 on March 26, 2018, 07:12:27 PM
Post by: ColinB on March 26, 2018, 10:48:16 PM
https://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=7958.0
Basically, you can’t actually turn the unit off completely, but you can blank the screen. Bizarrely, you don’t do that using the on/off button. Instead, you can either ignore the start-up warning screen, and after a few seconds the screen will blank (except for a very faint digital clock); or you can tap the brightness button until you get an “off” setting. In both cases the radio will continue playing (or, presumably, any other audio source - I’ve not tried the USB option) unless you’ve used the on/off button, which switches off all audio inputs.
I’ve not seen the moving “screen saver” clock, that may be a new feature in latest models. To get a decent clock on mine, I have to first enable the alternative skin (which gives you a clock button on the home screen), then adjust the settings to give the desired type of clock (digital or analogue).
Post by: guest7504 on March 27, 2018, 03:59:50 PM
I think it was designed by a committee, it's said that a camel was a horse designed by a committee!I personally like the "Auto Kneel Down" facility, so that you can get on easily. They should have fitted that to the horse.
I think it's a 'spanner job' to get them to do that!