In some countries it's a legal requirement to have a backup camera, which means you need a screen to display it, and hardware to render it.

which countries?

For new cars, US/Canada since 2018, Japan/EU since 2022

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup_camera

> and hardware to render it

Not really, you legally could have a video camera and a CRT as a backup camera. I wouldn't say that anything is rendered in an analog video system.

The last thing I'd want in an accident is a little CRT exploding glass shards next to me.

I have always thought they should put the display for the backup camera behind the driver and facing the front of the car, so that it would be easily visible to a driver looking out the rear and rear-side windows while backing up.

That could be an accessibility issue for people with neck problems. I can see why general legislation put it at the front with everything else.

Perhaps people who can't turn their head shouldn't be driving?

I knew this would be the next direct comment. If the comment was about a broken foot the response would be "Maybe people with broken feet shouldn't be driving. <smug face>"

What do you think handicap spots are for?

You're not thinking about the manufacturing part. Buttons and knobs have to get assembled and physically put into every car. Software just needs to be written once.

Knobs (plus mechanical circuitry) that can survive 100k miles of use are expensive.

> I would gladly gladly keep my AC, heat, hazards, blinkers, wipers, maybe a few other buttons and that's it. I don't need back cameras, lane assist, etc.

I would pay more for decent physical switches and knobs, but I would give up AC before the backup camera. Getting this was life changing. I also wish all cars had some kind of blind spot monitoring.

Same. It is a bit curious, at first I didn’t care for them for some reason. Not outright against, just a bit negative on it. I can’t even remember exactly why.

If I had to guess, it’s because it’s so closely associated with the awful to use touch controlled center console. That and “new features” in general tend to take away from the ease of use and durability of the vehicle.

It may also have to do with now having an additional place to look during a stressful activity, which I’ve now fully adapted to.

I’m 100% on board with it now, if I had a vehicle without one I’d retrofit one. I also want side and front cameras.

I’ve got a big stupid truck (work provided) with a 140” wheelbase that I use for my agriculture job to transport my ATV (my real work vehicle) around. I absolutely hate the bloated, boxy, dangerous designs of modern pickups. Frankly they should be banned and forced to look stupid via visibility and child collision safety requirements.

Both lane assist and backup cameras are mandatory safety systems for new cars in the EU. Same goes for things like tired driver detection and other stuff that was considered opulent luxury ten years ago.

With the land tanks we call SUVs today, I can imagine it wasn't hard for politicians to decide that mirrors are no longer enough to navigate a car backwards.

Still, you don't need touch screens. Lane assist can be a little indicator on a dashboard with a toggle somewhere if you want to turn it off, it doesn't need a menu. A backup camera can be a screen tucked away in the dash that's off unless you've put your car in reverse. We may need processing to happen somewhere, but it doesn't need to happen in a media console with a touch screen.

You can actually put a backup camera in the rearview mirror. Back before rollover protection cars had quite amazing visibility. Best vehicle visibility I've had in the past 5 years was actually a 1997 F-150. You'd think it's a big truck, but you could more or less see all around you, and it didn't have that crazy high front hood either.

Yeah my big old truck has basically no blind spot. I'm getting a new work vehicle soon and am going to need to retrain my brain hard.

> I find it hard to believe it's cheaper to have all the cameras, chips, and other digital affordances rather than a small number of analog buttons and functions.

You should check how SW and HW are tested in the car.

A typical SW test is: Requirement: SW must drive a motor if voltage reaches 5 V. A typical SW test is: Increase the voltage to 5 V, see that the motor moves.

Now what happenes at 20 V is left as an exercise for the user.