I agree with some of that. The new HUMMER EV has some neat blended tactile/screen interactions where the button labels are on-screen above the buttons. That in

I agree with some of that. The new HUMMER EV has some neat blended tactile/screen interactions where the button labels are on-screen above the buttons. That in itself is not new, but the way that some features work is really slick, such as sub-menu options replacing the functionality of adjacent buttons when appropriate. I wouldn't rule out that tactile HVAC and Audio controls are always better than a touchscreen, but I have trouble seeing the benefit for some of those basic controls. I mean, let's take the volume control for example. It's a very simple linear concept, there are no branches in the options for volume. There are no sub-menus -- you either want it higher or lower. You always want that control in the same spot so it's easy to find and you always want it available so you can use it at any time. For those reasons, I have trouble seeing what a touchscreen can add to that particular parameter. A knob seems better suited by nearly every metric. Touchscreens on the other hand, are great for controlling more complex parameters. Even a temperature control, while similar to volume, is actually more complex because the change is not immediate. You're setting a parameter that will be true in the future, and that is something where a dynamic display can be beneficial. That said, you still generally want that control to be in the same spot and always available so it's not an obvious win for touchscreens.