A couple of years ago, my old alma mater—The Esteemed Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Other Arcane Stuff—asked me to write an article for the alumni magazine, Technology Review.

I finally succumbed and wrote about one of my pet peeves—ergonomics.

It makes me crazy when I see how little thought car companies give to where they put dials, buttons, gauges and other things with which we must interact while we're driving. Sadly, I realized that most of what was true when I wrote this article is true now—despite the fact that some of the examples are dated.

For example, when it was written, GM had just had the brilliant idea to remove all dials and gauges and replace them with a touch screen. Talk about stupid!

Let me know if any of these ergonomic blunders also drive you nuts, and tell me what you've come across in your time spent driving.

Which company is the worst? The best? Drop me a note. Thanks.

Ergonomically yours,

Tom Magliozzi

P.S. If I were writing this paper today, I'd probably include a number of new ergonomic blunders. And most of what I said about radio controls is probably more true now than it was then.

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