I have an admittedly simple minded opinion about this: If I can’t operate it without looking, it’s dangerous. Of course, there’s always a learning period. Af

I have an admittedly simple minded opinion about this: If I can’t operate it without looking, it’s dangerous. Of course, there’s always a learning period. After that, with knobs and buttons, you don’t need to look (and sometimes very little). We have one vehicle with Apple Car Play. Once you understand the cognitive load required to operate certain functions it quickly becomes a scary thing to consider. A second simplistic perspective: If I can’t operate it without looking, while doing 120 at Willow Springs, it’s dangerous. Third perspective: I would not want touch screens on our Haas and Bridgeport CNC machines. It would be very dangerous. Why would I want one in a car. Touch screen UI’s are fragile and potentially dangerous because you don’t know what you are touching, the controls don’t maintain tactile state and it is too easy to click the wrong thing. I do understand the value for manufacturers. I have designed and worked on a range of knob-and-button and hybrid control panels, including one that went to space. Physical control panels are difficult and expensive to design and manufacture. They also require tons of testing because it’s a hard commitment. In sharp contrast to this, you can just throw a touch screen at something and worry about the UI later. Easily a 1000:1 development cost advantage for any non-trivial project.