@rplst8 posted:A glass touch screen could replace the dot matrix touch buttons just fine. What makes the Legacy Cab-2 the best option to control Lionel trains is:
- the detented red rotary encoder for speed control.
- the train brake slider
- the whistle/horn slider
- the brake/boost scroll wheel
in two words… tactile feedback.
Which can be accomplished with an app and a connected gamepad-style controller.
My gripe about all of the current & past controllers is the ergonomics. In the early 90s while the CAB1 was still on the drawing board who seriously thought of that design? All they had to do is look at how some of the then-current gaming systems evolved from their 70s & 80's predecessors to come up with a better design. Instead, it was the Intellivision from the '70s that won:
But even the old Intellivision controller had buttons on the side that could be used by other fingers.
And again in the early 2000s, they could have easily looked at what Nintendo & Sony both did with their console controllers to build a more ergonomic handheld.
Tactile feedback is nice but if the controller has poor ergonomics, the experince becomes a real downer.
