A Kitchen with a View

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 "add" the destination. I understand that some people have multiple destinations but really how many people is that? I would never have time to enter multiple addresses into the system. One time I hit "add" and boy that was a mistake. The system entered into a hellish multiple destination mode that I couldn't figure out how to cancel out of. It was one of those "OMG what is this thing doing?" moments.

To me "add" sounds more friendly than "replace." In computer speak "replace" means delete something. It might do something like swap out one of my saved destinations. Naturally I'm afraid of commands like replace. In this case, I think "replace" is the right thing to do though. So I reluctantly use it.

Next I have to press "guide." There are other options like "route" and things that I can't remember now. I know to press guide because I've pressed all the other options before and they didn't do what I wanted.

Anyway, so now I'm on my way. The system is saying "continue to follow the road..." However, I don't actually need the navigation now. So I hit menu and "suspend guidance."

When I get near the start of the maze I hit menu and "resume guidance" to start the guidance again. It does help me find her house. I get there  late.

I wonder if using my iPhone navigation would have been faster.

New Screen, Same Old Layout

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.

Love You, Mean It

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 issue. My car can't completely work with my iPhone and it never will. If I get another bluetooth phone it may not work at all. The car is only a year old! Worse, Lexus will never offer an upgrade to make the systems work with my iPhone. I'm stuck with the system "as is" even though much of it is controlled by firmware that can be reprogrammed or components that could be replaced. Lexus owes it to their customers to support their products for a few years after sale with meaningful software upgrades to address usability issues and add support for new devices such as mobile phones.

A lot of people are complaining about how they can't input locations into the navigation system while the car is moving. That's really just the tip of the iceberg. The whole system including music control locks down while the car is moving. It's really very frustrating. Also, sadly, not something that's easy to properly assess during test drives. It takes an hour long commute with crippled electronics to really feel the pain.

I bought a new Lexus with a navigation system over a year ago and I've only used the navigation system three times. Each time I used it I was disappointed in how hard it was to make it work. Honestly, I paid a lot for this car and its electronics and  I didn't get what I paid for.

I don't hate everything. We use the navigation system on my wife's Acura all the time. Even when we don't need it the kids love to see it count down the miles to our destination. It's simple, always available, and it's a joy to use.

It's easy to say you love your customers. Lexus says they love us but they don't really mean it.

Occam's Razor

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?

Bring Back the 8-Track

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?

Dial "F" for Frustration

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.

We Don't Need No Stinking Navigation

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.

It's the Little Things

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?