[hdjY28]

Ah, the sweet spot between a cockpit and a calculator. You're spot on; we're not trying to relaunch Apollo 13 here. Sure, give us a touchscreen for the tech savvy, but let's not forget the tactile satisfaction of a good ol' button. And yeah, a universal button pad is like the Swiss Army knife of car controls – versatile, yet uncomplicated. Let's keep the touchscreens for Candy Crush and leave driving to the buttons.

[pmontra]

I'm tech savvy but I take physical buttons over touchscreen all the times. I switch radio channels with a wheel on a stick on the steering wheel, change volume with two buttons there. I don't dare using the touchpad for anything complex while driving.

Then there is the thing I never understood: we can't use a phone while driving but we can use the touchscreen of the car, which is basically the same thing. Actually I understand why we can't (or we don't want to) piss off car makers and all their money, but yet where is the logic in that from the point of view of safety?

[alkonaut]

> we can't use a phone while driving but we can use the touchscreen of the car, which is basically the same thing

That's why (at least where I live) you CAN use a phone if it's stuck on a holder. Because otherwise it would make no sense because it's just a touch screen right next to the screen where you change radio stations.

> I switch radio channels with a wheel on a stick on the steering wheel, change volume with two buttons there.

I think all cars have 20 buttons on the steering wheel these days, which is great. You don't need 1 button per radio station you just need a 4 way thing for next/prev and vol up/down. And since it's so few buttons why not have them under the thumb.

[jansan]

> I'm tech savvy but I take physical buttons over touchscreen all the times.

Are you sure? I am all in favor of physical buttons where you need quick access, for example steering wheel and climate control. But touch screens are quite awesome to simplify access to more complicated settings. I hate it when you have four buttons to navigate through nested menus.

[pmontra]

Yes, but I play with settings when my car is parked. Everything I do while driving is with buttons and wheels.

[velox_neb]

You sound like ChatGPT.