Heh. I worked on the Mac version of ViaVoice. I joined as I was already an expert in AppKit and Obj-C.
We were given old Macs running Classic to run Notes so we had two computers. One being MacOSX. Notes was the biggest pile of crap I’ve ever had to use. With one exception…
On the OSX box we were happily running svn until we were forced to use some IBM command-line system for source control. To add insult to injury, the server was in Texas and we were in Boca Raton (old PC factory as it happens). The network was slow.
It had so many command-line options a guy wrote a TCL for it.
Adding to that was the local IBM lan was token ring and we were Ethernet. That was fun.
In a car they’re a distraction from driving. You have to look at the iPad stuck to the dash and not on the road - where the driver’s focus must be.
With knobs and buttons, you can feel for them whilst still having your vision in the road.
This must make it safer to drive.
As a MX5 (ND) driver, even having a knob to scroll around the screen is a poor design choice. Touch would have been better (you can hack that) whilst driving but, frankly, this kind of car shouldn’t have a screen at all. It’s a driving car, not a home entertainment system.
You write code to fit the immediate business need and that shifts rapidly over a year or two.
If you do otherwise, you’re wasting your time and the money of the enterprise you work for.
You cannot see the future however smart you might be.