[_bxg1]

It's good on phones because it allows them to become multi-tools. You can't have physical buttons for every thing any app might want to do; with a touch screen they can make their own buttons.

On cars it's silly. Cars are not multi-tools; they have a finite set of dedicated functions. Even for functions that benefit from a large high-res screen (maps, music library browsing, etc.), the actual input requirements are narrow enough to work with physical controls. Just look at the original iPod.

[nitrogen]

You can't have physical buttons for every thing any app might want to do

This is why the cursor keys exist, also keybindings

[pretendscholar]

There are general purpose buttons like back or home.

[agumonkey]

that's a fair point but having 4 buttons would allow for generic physical input

humans can learn how to make most important and quick features easily