"From the very start it was just Tesla penny-pinching."
I don't think so. I think it was worse, and indicates a deeper (and more depressing) inadequacy:
I think Tesla put the big screen (17" ?) in the first Model S as a signifier of high technology and modernity.
So far, so good ...
Now, however, as the Tesla itself came to signify the steps forward to an electric car future and modernity in general, designers of other cars copycatted the Tesla so as to evoke the same sentiment.
Meanwhile, actual interior design of automobiles has regressed significantly - and very often, dangerously - and we have one, and probably two entire generations of vehicle models to get through before it gets fixed.
In the meantime, get used to monstrosities like this:
I drive old vehicles, but a few years ago I got the itch and walked into a Toyota dealership. When I was told they don't offer vehicles without the screen I walked out and have basically refused to purchase anything with such a screen.
I've driven a few rentals with them and yes, they're not the most terrible thing ever, but they definitely are inferior to not having them. I really hope what you're saying will come to pass and we'll get rid of them or have a better version of their functionality because they are so obviously unsafe it's nuts to me they were ever put in.
I think Honda announced they would be getting rid of them, if I were to buy a new vehicle today it would most likely be them for that reason alone, despite me being loyal to Toyota up to this point (I just trust their vehicles).
I don't think so. I think it was worse, and indicates a deeper (and more depressing) inadequacy:
I think Tesla put the big screen (17" ?) in the first Model S as a signifier of high technology and modernity.
So far, so good ...
Now, however, as the Tesla itself came to signify the steps forward to an electric car future and modernity in general, designers of other cars copycatted the Tesla so as to evoke the same sentiment.
Meanwhile, actual interior design of automobiles has regressed significantly - and very often, dangerously - and we have one, and probably two entire generations of vehicle models to get through before it gets fixed.
In the meantime, get used to monstrosities like this:
https://cdn.bmwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/bmw-7-ser...
... and if that wasn't bad enough:
https://media.wired.com/photos/625f4ef8536da34b19a67a72/mast...
These designers are clowns. They should be ridiculed. Screens are a poverty.