We’ve been hearing people say they want physical buttons in smartphones virtually forever, and yet when offered the choice, what the vast majority of consumers

We’ve been hearing people say they want physical buttons in smartphones virtually forever, and yet when offered the choice, what the vast majority of consumers actually purchase is phones with larger and more expressive screens that can display more data and make gesture interaction easier. Beyond a few key controls (audio volume, cruise control) there are very few vehicle controls that work better in physical form. GPS input and map interaction in most small-screen modern cars is a horror show; people can easily get killed using it. Temperature controls and basic audio selection might be an exception, but even those are secondary functions that aren’t essential to driving. Most of the remaining vehicle settings are rarely used while you’re actually driving. So what are these buttons people want?