Touchscreens are “the wrong technology to be the primary interface” in cars, Jony Ive, the man who created the iPhone, iPad and more, has told Autocar.
Many car designers credit Ive’s 2007 creation – the first smartphone to feature a touchscreen and the device that revolutionised the mobile phone industry – as the reason why the technology is now used in nearly every car on sale today. The most radical use has been by Mercedes-Benz, especially in the new GLC which features a dashboard-wide 39in touchscreen.
However when the interior of the Ferrari Luce EV was unveiled on Monday, the first car interior Ive has designed, it featured an array of physical switches and buttons alongside a singular central infotainment screen, instead of, as was predicted, an exclusive use of touchscreens.
Asked why, Ive said: “The reason we developed touch [for the original iPhone] was that we were developing an idea to solve a problem. The big idea was to develop a general purpose interface that could be a calculator, that could be a typewriter, could be a camera rather than having physical buttons.
“I never would have used touch in a car [for the main controls]. It is something I would never have dreamed of doing because it requires you to look [away from the road]. So that’s just the wrong technology to be the primary interface.”
Asked how the Ferrari Luce’s touchscreen differs from others, given his comments, he added: “ So much of what we did [with Luce] was so that you could use it intuitively, enjoy it, and use it safely.
“We use some touch in the central [screen] but it’s very thoughtful, but the vast majority of the interfaces are physical – every single switch feels different, so you don’t need to look.”
Speaking about the popularity of touchscreens in cars, he said: “I think what happened was touch was seen almost like fashion. It was the most current technology, so [companies thought] ‘we need a bit of touch’, then the next year ‘we’re going to have an even bigger one’ and it will get bigger and bigger.
He added: “I think the way that we [the car industry] design isn’t that we’re trying to solve problems [like we did with the iPhone].”
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