Touchscreens are out, and tactile controls are back

Physical Controls vs Touchscreens (Cars & Safety)

• Strong consensus that critical in‑motion controls (HVAC, wipers, defrost, indicators, gear selection, audio volume/track) should be physical, tactile, and operable without looking.
• Touch UIs in cars are widely seen as unsafe: tiny targets, lag, and motion of the vehicle make accurate input difficult; they break muscle memory and demand visual attention.
• Several note the irony that using a phone while driving is banned, yet large, distracting touch panels are standard.
• Some posters like Tesla‑style “all screen” setups, saying common actions are 1–2 taps away and steering‑wheel buttons cover essentials; others call Tesla (and VW ID-series, etc.) dangerous or hostile to drivers.

Cost, Fashion, and Manufacturer Incentives

• Many argue touch panels and capacitive “buttons” are mainly cost‑cutting: fewer unique parts, easier wiring, reuse across models, easier late‑stage feature changes, and a “modern” showroom look.
• Buttons once signaled “cheap”; screens became a design fad. Now physical knobs are re‑emerging as a “premium” differentiator.
• Regulations requiring backup cameras forced screens into cars; once present, they absorbed more functions.

Appliances & “Touch Buttons”

• Numerous horror stories: ovens and cooktops whose capacitive controls fail with steam, water, oil, or overflow; dishwashers and stoves triggered by cats, kids, sweat, or condensation; glitchy control panels that require power‑cycling breakers.
• “Touch buttons” (flat, unlabeled or minimally labeled capacitive areas with no display) are called “the worst of both worlds”: no tactile feedback, accidental activation, unclear state, and sometimes long-press semantics.
• Induction cooktops with touch strips are particularly disliked; many people spent extra or searched hard for models with knobs. Flat surfaces are praised for cleaning, but not at the cost of reliability.

Accessibility & Aging

• Touchscreens can fail for older people or those with dry/calloused fingers (“zombie finger”), or in medical/industrial settings with frequent disinfection. Workarounds include licking fingers or using sponges/styli.
• Some note that smartphones with good screen readers (VoiceOver, etc.) dramatically improved accessibility for blind users, showing that well‑designed touch UIs can be inclusive.

Middle Ground & Design Lessons

• Favored patterns: physical controls for frequent/safety‑critical actions plus screens for rare, complex, or configurable settings.
• Aviation cockpits and car systems like Mazda’s knob‑driven UI are cited as good blends of hardware and software.
• Broader UX theme: earlier HCI guidance (Fitts’ law, affordances, clear feedback) was ignored during the “flat/touch everywhere” fad; the pendulum now appears to be swinging back toward tactility and clarity.