The issue is touch screens, not technologies in general.
........
Reliance on a touch screen is foolhardy. Even VFR.
Recently I spent 20 minutes at maneuvering speed for moderate to severe. I needed the autopilot to keep the -7 upright while trying to punch in a "direct to" on a 696. Got it done in maybe 15 seconds. The touch screen with me (an iPad in this case) was utterly unusable. I know the 510 would have been next to impossible from my experience with it in even light turbulence.
Touch screens? No, thanks. Though acceptable 95% of the time, I don't want an interface that becomes increasingly difficult to use in synch with increasing piloting difficultly. That's backasswards.
John Siebold
While I do agree that turbulence will make things increasingly difficult, I would submit that if it's bad enough to make a GTN hard to use it'll be as hard or harder to use the older stuff. If the bumps are terribly bad like John's example about not being able to hang onto an engine control, it won't matter what you're using for avionics - it'll be tough. The GTN's are one of those things you just gotta go fly because you absolutely can't compare it to an Ipad, Aera or 696.
My opinion is no better than the next guys, but I'd encourage some time with the actual boxes in question as to part of the opining process. For what it's worth, from what I see most of the positive opinions in this thread about the GTN's come from those who've used them and most of the negative opinions come from those who haven't. You'll notice that the majority of those who've actually own or fly the boxes in question really like them (some don't and some won't), but by and large the majority do. Several of the people commenting in this thread positively about the GTN's are guys that fly a lot, and also a lot of actual IFR (some with things that make it even more difficult like NVG's or full flight suits/gloves) or flying in heliflingers, warbirds, etc.
Like I said before, some of the discussions and personal opinions on whether touchscreens belong in a cockpit are a bit of a moot point because (like EFISes, Autopilots, SVT, traffic systems, etc..) it's the way the world is going whether we individually like it or not - Avidyne, Garmin, Collins, Honeywell, L-3, Barco, Universal, Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed, Esterline, Cessna, Bombardier, Gulfstream and the US military all say so. Heck, I imagine it won't be too many years before voice recognition surpasses touchscreens anyway...
Just my spirited & awnry two cents as usual!
Cheers,
Stein
Cheers,
Stein