Mazda was the last redoubt in cars with physical buttons. The new CX-5 has taken them ahead

From a few years to this part, the car industry has sought that The user perceives the car as a Gadget further. The huge touch screens have invaded the splashes of almost all brands and, at a very hard speed, to the simplest and most necessary actions (change the air conditioningfor example) have become a few touches on a screen. Mazda was one of the brands that resistance exercised Against this Invasion of screensmaintaining the useful and traditional buttons. But if we talk in the past it is for a reason: The CX-5 It shows that Mazda 6e It was no exception. And, according to Mazda, it is what we want. Look, without looking! At a point where practically all the competition was betting on screens, larger and more waiting for technology to be ready to turn the moon on a screenMazda was one of the last bastions in the industry that resisted that present. In the last generations, they continued to bet on the physical buttons and controls in the cabin. The decision was based on the Safety at the wheel (which, in the end, is the most important thing) and the user’s own experience. With the buttons, our muscle memory allows us to perform actions such as controlling music, GPS or air conditioning without playing a screen and diverting the road view. And, although the last Mazda had a small screen, it was out of reach, you had to press buttons and move dials. Mazda, you too… However, it seems that market pressure has ended up making a dent. We already saw it A few months ago with Mazda 6ethe 100% electric Berlina of the Japanese company that incorporated an extremely similar interior both to Tesla as a byd and other competitors. This is an diaphanous interior governed by a huge central screen. We could think that, okay, it was 100% electric and wanted to try a different philosophy. The problem is that it was not an experiment. Presented a few weeks ago, the new CX-5, eliminated the Mazda logo of the steering wheel (this hurts more than the disappearance of the buttons), but also incorporated a 15.6-inch screen in the center of the dashboard, with multimedia and air conditioning controls. Maintain certain buttons on the steering wheel, but to change basic things, the screen will have to be wearing. Goodbye, Mazda logo. Some buttons are maintained, such as the emergency or the moons. The rest, to the screen and behind the wheel What customers ask for. But it turns out that it is not only market pressure, but, apparently, what customers want. In an interview granted by Stefan Meisterfeld, vice president of operations to The Drivewith Google as an assistant in the car, many actions can be done through voice commands. In addition, they have designed the system to be “intuitive, easy to use and easy to drive at the same time.” Meisterfeld says that it has not been a whim of the brand, since “customer opinion has definitely been part of the decision -making process.” In addition, he has talked about the steering wheel: “It is a new design with physical buttons with which most of the critical functions can be controlled quite intuitively while driving, so you can keep your hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road,” he says. Against. When the launch approaches, we will see what these “critical functions” are, but it seems clear that there is no back and that the new generations of the compact and rest of the range of SUV They will add to this new line of design and philosophy. And they will do it at a time when there is Users who show a ‘fedow’ for this type of tactile controls and most importantly: organisms such as Euro NCAP are against. It is the most relevant in Europe to evaluate vehicle safety and, after carrying out collision tests, From 2026 there will be a new exam. If you cannot select the flashing, activate the ‘Warning’ button, sound the horn, activate the windshield wiper or the Ecall emergency button From a button, the car will not have the five stars. Are they late? They are soft measures, but between those and user complaints, there are companies like Volkswagen that have reversed. Interestingly, one of the most enthusiastic with the screens, recently hit a flying with statements by his own design chief confirming that Cars “are not a phone”. In the end, fashions come and go, although some brands prepare the return of the buttons, seen in events such as the Shanghai Motor Show show us that Lso screens have come to stay, at least for a while. Is Mazda late to this new form of control? Seeing competition, it seems not. Now we will see what users think because Mazda 6E could be an experiment, but the rest of the majority ranges had buttons that made them models other than those of the competition, and the CX-5 has sought not to uncheck. Images | Mazda In Xataka | I have bought this car for a simple reason: I’m fed up with giant screens

Modern algorithms decide for us to see. YouTube is the last redoubt where the algorithm does not choose for you

The 2025 Internet is dominated by algorithms that seem to know each other better than ourselves. They were only missing Chatbots with memory than adding to your ability to read between the lines. In this scenario, YouTube is increasingly a beautiful anomaly. While Tiktok, Instagram or X drag us from one subject to another according to the whims of a system that optimizes engagement Pure, Google’s video platform maintains almost anachronistic respect for our choices. It is the last redoubt where what we are looking for still matters more than what makes us react. The difference is in Its algorithmic architecture. YouTube recommends mainly within the thematic ecosystems that we have already chosen. Tiktok, on the other hand, can launch us from vegan recipes to conspiracy theories at a time if that keeps our thumbs sliding. This thematic verticality It is not altruism, it is part of its business model: You need to maintain long sessions within specific issues, where segmented ads have greater value. Only its consequence is positive for the user. Or at least more positive than the rest. The best way to understand what makes YouTube different is to live it as a user. When I am looking for videos of Valencia, the algorithm keeps me in that world: post-part interviews, gatherings, montages of the best goals of the season and usually memories of a better past. It does not suddenly jump to polarizing politics or drag me to incendiary content it happens to provoke my outrage. YouTube respects the thematic ecosystem that I choose. Amplify our searches, do not try to manipulate us better. The user experience reinforces this sense of control: A prominent search bar. Channels to subscribe. Lists we actively build. A history that we can manage. They are vestiges of an internet where we sailed with purpose, not where we were navigated. It is also fair to indicate that YouTube belongs to Google, one of the great architects of the current algorithmic Internet. It is not immune to problems – the clickbait it blooms and its own attempts with YouTube Shorts They show that it is not above the market. However, it maintains a different balance. And the question is obvious: if this more balanced model works for the world’s largest video platform, why do the rest of the industry opt for systems that virtually annul our agency? YouTube also has serious problems. Their Rabbit Holes (Something like ‘Backgroundless wells’) They can take us on paths cobbled by radicalization. Its monetization system favors the extension and recurrence of quality. We are not facing a hero, but before a survivor who has found a niche where he prosper without completely eliminating our autonomy. In the end this this chronology of the evolution of the Internet. The web (yesterday Gloria, today survival) was originally a space where we chose our destinations. Today algorithms decide for us. YouTube retains vestiges of the previous model while adapting to the new one, becoming a kind of “Internet inside the Internet.” This “limited algorithmic autonomy” allows something not only good, but almost sacred: predictability. We can anticipate what we will find, creating a more satisfactory experience. It also allows the fragmentation of communities focused on specific interests, without forcing that everything competes in a single Feed homogenized, which is The great evil of the current X and the perennial identity of Tiktok. YouTube is not perfect – no one is – but it makes us question if we can design platforms that serve users who want to enjoy healthy, without being hooked or dragged where they do not want, and not just advertisers. YouTube, with all its contradictions, is a sign that an intermediate path is possible. Where there is some algorithmic manipulation (it is the market, friend), but that coexist with the total user agency. In Xataka | Podcasts are living their great revolution, but not in Spotify or Apple Podcasts: YouTube is winning the game Outstanding image | Xataka with Mockuuuups Studio

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