The iPad is the first.
Other tablets were then hit.
Now they show up in the car. [
Photo: Make way for Google driverless cars
Since the iPad came out in 2010, technology forecasters have been predicting that,
Fashion gadgets will be a ubiquitous sign in modern life, and with many of the top gadget manufacturers rolling out tablets at every price range, this eventually seems to be happening.
So it's not surprising that Cadillac is launching tablets now --
The style interface of most cars ---called Cue --
Rely on touch-
Screen control and casual flick and swipe commands help the tablet play its cool role.
Something similar could eventually spread to other brands of GM, if not all cars.
I spent a week testing leads on Cadillac's new XTS, a large sedan designed to compete with luxury goods like BMW 5 Series and Mercedes BenzBenz E Class.
The premise behind many modern technologies is that it will make your life better, but first, it will complicate things for a while.
Cue did that.
When a Cadillac rep got off the bus, I turned down the briefing on the clues and thought I had driven the car long enough to master anything the car maker could throw at me.
I should have been briefed.
For the first 15 minutes on the highway, I worked as hard as a novice driver to master a stick.
I can't find the air conditioning button, so the warm air is in the sultry 80-degree day.
Then my phone started ringing, but for some reason I didn't set up the Bluetooth connection correctly, so I ended up finding my phone in my bag. [
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At this point, the seat cushion began to beat my back end, and one of the features I learned later was that the "Safety Alert Seat" warned me of potential dangers.
I may have left my driveway when I fiddled with my phone and climate settings --
The departure warning system noticed the drift and let me know by shaking my hips.
But at the time, I felt like I was under a vague attack and driving could be more unstable.
Once I found the right button, I turned off the vibration seat.
For Ding Lei, it is easy to throw you a curve on the first attempt, and Cue has achieved some early results.
For example, several commenters have failed to handle Cue's "tactile" control, which can feel the touch of the finger, because a short delay can cause you to press the button twice, then re-trace your steps. -
When you should look at the road, not the console of the car.
But the real test of new technology is whether it becomes intuitive and enjoyable once you get used to it.
On this scale, I will give a B-(
Although if I really own a car with the system and have a few years to learn all the features and shortcuts, I might be able to raise the level).
Like many others
In the functional system on luxury cars, Cue is designed to provide a lot of functionality without having so many knobs and buttons on the dashboard that it starts to resemble the cockpit of a jet.
It does this with a series of minimalist physical dashboard controls, including the "home page" button for the prompt system and the digital screen with the app
Style icons for audio, climate, phone and other features.
You can customize the way you configure your screen, just like on your iPad.
The app tray on the screen makes your most commonly used commands more convenient.
Various menu options are called by clicking on the icon--
Including a bunch of things you might never need
For example, Cue allows you to sync up to 10 different Bluetooth devices so that you can alternate between all your smartphones and ipod's in your home.
There are 60 preset buttons for storing radio stations, phone numbers and frequent navigation destinations. [
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Sliding the screen in various ways allows you to do things like bring up preset lists or hide them if not needed.
You can pinch or expand your fingers to zoom in and out of the optional navigation map.
To change the radio volume, you can track your fingers along the metal bars below the digital screen, similar to the digital volume control on your iPad.
It's cool once you practice for a while.
However, clues are affected by system overload with the same functionality as most other dogs --
Packed car
BMW and Mercedes encountered this problem ten years ago. Their iDrive and Comand systems need to be paginated through the digital menu layer, to do something as simple as pressing a button on the dashboard in the past.
The systems are cleaner today, but it still drives me crazy trying to figure out how to mute on merced's navigation system.
Safety advocates have legitimate concerns about whether all the inventions that come into the car will distract drivers more and drive more dangerous.
So far, the research has not been finalized, but the driver himself complains that the car is too complicated.
Consumer Reports, for example, slammed Ford's MyTouch system, prompting Ford to commit to making it simpler.
Luxury manufacturers tend to insist that their drivers are complex enough to deal with complex problems.
Most BMW, Mercedes and Audi systems, for example, require you to turn the knob to navigate the screen because they don't want you to blur their beautiful digital display with fingerprints.
Lexus mouse-
Just like the device you press, once you highlight the menu options you want to select, you can "click ".
The Cue touch screen has nothing to do with the interface as you can choose by clicking on the right side of the screen.
When Steve Jobs designed the iPad, the fingerprint didn't seem to bother him, but if the stain on your cue became unseemly, Cadillac offered a chamois cloth that could be used to wipe them.
There is also a Cue app for the IPad, which includes a dozen tutorials ---
Calibrate to "beginner", "advanced" and "expert" users--
How about 16-to video clips.
If you buy a Cadillac with Cue, I suggest you go to the tutorial.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention: when operating Cue, I still have to drive.
Rick Newman is the author of the book "returnees: How winners move from frustration to success.
Follow him on Twitter: @ rickjnewman.