My Life in the Tech World

I was watching the Apple WWDC keynote today. I'm a little behind on my Apple following. Jobs was busy explaining all the new cool features in the iPhone 4: Gyroscope, front facing camera, HD video recording, video editing, glass back, better antennas, etc. Day Two (6/25/2010): People are still waiting for iPhone 4 As I was listening I started thinking about my Sony HD camcorder and how its days are numbered. If Apple decided to come out with an iOS camcorder it would blow away any consumer camcorder device Sony has in its lineup. All Apple would need is a nice lens with optical zoom,  a good video camera case design, and good button layout. The rest they already have, the gyroscope for image stabilization, GPS, true in camera editing, connection to the internet, awesome video and image management interface, application platform (think of what third parties might do), etc. etc. All this stuff would leave Sony and every other camcorder maker in the dust and I doubt they could ...

Lexus Navigation has what I'd call a semi-touch interface. That's one where some of the interaction happens on the touch screen and some happens with buttons or controls off the touch screen. Semi-touch isn't bad or good. It just means that you have some fixed interface elements. When you design one of these types of systems you want to make things people do all the time easy to get to. You also want those things quickly accessible to avoid having the driver get distracted.  In the Lexus design they also want to be able to completely or partially disable functionality while still giving you a button to press that makes you feel like you're doing something. The Lexus Navigation system has eight button-like objects around the screen. Design-wise that's probably good because the buttons aren't too big or too small. Seven of the buttons are functional. One of the buttons isn't really a button even though it looks like it. It's labeled "Passenger....

One the features I like about the Lexus navigation system is the traffic display. However, it has shortcomings. It's never helped me to avoid traffic problems. Usually it tells me about traffic problems after I'm already stuck. I hear the same complaint from other Lexus and Toyota owners with the satellite traffic option. Oh wait, dare I mention that the Toyota and Lexus systems are exactly the same?

Blossom and I were having lunch today. As we were leaving we saw a colleague of ours standing in front of the Apple Store chatting with someone. We stopped to say hello.  While we were talking it occurred to me that our  colleague already had his iPad even though he wasn't carrying it with him. He's one of those guys that has everything. The odd part is that it just seems right that he has everything. As we left he confirmed my suspicion. Anyway, that got me thinking about why I'm upset about the navigation system. Buying the Lexus I had high hopes that I would get everything I paid for, everything that I wanted in a car, but I was let down. Yes there are hacks to fix motion lock on the navigation system. Yes, I can probably buy lots of things to fix the other shortcomings. But shouldn't I be entitled to something nice? Don't we all deserve something that makes us a little happier?

About a month ago I had a VAIS Technology VML (MultiMediaLinQ)  installed in my Lexus. The VAISTech device adds a USB interface to Generation 5 Lexus Navigation systems like mine. The USB interface allows you to hook up an iPod, iPhone, iPad (haven't actually tried it yet), other random portable music player, or USB disk drive to your Lexus audio system. I ordered it through the dealer and had them do the install. I was too lazy to pull out the navigation system on my own. Having the dealer do the install basically doubled the cost. On the plus side, they did a great job and after a few weeks of waiting for the parts and a four hour install I now have a cool USB port in my center console. For the first week I had my iPod connected. This worked great. I used iTunes to manage playlists which show up as MP3 CD Folders on the Lexus Navigation interface. I could use all the normal steering wheel mounted controls to switch songs etc. I was pretty happy except that I was limited by th...

I bought a VAIS technology MediaLinQ instead of buying a new car. More on that later.

With the release of iPad coming in a couple of days we were discussing potentially cool applications. Mostly we were trying to think of the equivalent of the iPad Snuggie. We definitely have productive lunch time conversations. One thing that came up was the idea of using an iPad in your car. iPad has great turn by turn navigation powered by TomTom and maybe someday Google will port their Andriod navigation. You can have all your music loaded or available through "Pandora." You can even watch movies on an awesome screen. The only problem with the iPad solution is that you'd need to attach it with a huge wad of duct tape, crazy glue, or some suction cup and cradle thing available at Best Buy or your local Apple store. Then you would need to worry that every time you parked your car someone would break your window and rip it off. It's too big to hide or take with you all the time. Thieves wouldn't bother if it was hooked into your car more permanently, was pai...

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?