My Life in the Tech World

A friend invited me over for lunch yesterday.  She has a beautiful house located somewhere in a maze of twisty roads. I hadn't been there in a few years. Perfect chance to use my navigation. At lunch time I got to my Lexus with no extra time. I rushed to enter the address into the navigation system before starting to drive. As you know, the Lexus navigation system locks down while the car is moving so addresses must be entered before driving. I started the car and entered the address. Street number, Street Name... and then ding. It didn't like my street number. The error was that the street number wasn't in the database. In my wife's Acura the navigation system shows you valid number ranges while you type. Sadly this doesn't happen with Lexus. I pulled out my iPhone and got the right number. Had to re-enter all the data. Finally, the address was accepted. I had now spent about 5 minutes with my car idling. Next the system asks if I want to "replace" or...

I think what happened is that when Lexus updated the navigation screen to giant size they forgot to update all the software to use the new giant screen. The result is that a lot of the giant screen is wasted. I'd be happy if it had a cool desktop theme but we don't even get that.

Today I stopped at a drive-thru to get some food. The cashier said he loved my car. I said thanks and discussed Lexus  for a minute or two with him. He had a '94 ES and loved it too. I left thinking about how the Lexus brand inspired love. Mechanically solid, reliable, and luxurious are good traits. Back in 1994 that's all there was to think about. High-tech electronics in a car was a CD changer. Today you get Bluetooth, USB, voice recognition, self-parking, radar cruise control, etc. All these things are computer controlled and require significant investment in usability design to make them luxury items. Look at Apple to see how good design turns ordinary electronics into luxury items. The problem with Lexus today is that the brand can't or won't put the effort it needs into the design of the electronics to make them luxury components. I'm talking about the poor user interface, and lack of true support and upgradability. Let me elaborate on the upgradability ...

Lexus navigation system won't sync contacts with the iPhone. If you want to transfer a lot of contacts your best option is to buy or borrow a phone that will work such as a Motorola Razor. Why can't car electronics systems have meaningful software updates? We pay thousands of dollars for them but they're essentially obsolete before we drive them off the lot. Even my TV and blu-ray player have software updates for better menus and HDMI support! Why do we put up with this from auto makers?

Got a hundred songs on an MP3 disk? Good luck playing it on a Lexus. Lexus doesn't let you see folders or songs on the disk while driving so you can only seek up or down one song at a time. Why have a giant LCD touchscreen and music interface that only works while parked?

Lexus navigation system takes two talk button presses, two spoken phrases, and one off hook button press to start a phone call. Voice commands are more effort and more distracting than dialing a phone number. Is this a check box feature or just a cruel joke? Oh and by the way, Lexus won't let you dial a phone number while driving.

The Lexus navigation system doesn't let you enter new locations while driving. Safe if you're driving alone but why can't passengers enter locations? I think the guys that design these Lexus interfaces must buy Ford cars for themselves.

Lexus navigation system "CD Details Screen" goes blank when your car is moving. You can't see any information on the screen. Why don't they want you to know what song is playing?