The tyranny of touch screens may be coming to an end.
Companies have spent nearly two decades cramming ever more functions onto tappable, swipeable displays. Now buttons, knobs, sliders and other physical controls are making a comeback in vehicles, appliances and personal electronics.
In cars, the widely emulated ultra-minimalism of Tesla’s touch-screen-centric control panels is giving way to actual buttons, knobs and toggles in new models from Kia, BMW’s Mini, and Volkswagen, among others. This trend is delighting reviewers and making the display-focused interiors of Tesla and its imitators feel passé.
Similar re-buttonization is occurring in everything from e-readers to induction stoves.
I was in a big city recently and had business by their BYD dealership. I walked in as I had never seen any of the cars in person. Two of the models they had had physical controls (both the low(er?)-end ones). If I had planned on buying, that would have ruled 2/3 of what they had out. One complaint about my current vehicle is that it has touchscreen exclusively for all the HVAC controls (I have music controls on the wheel). I’m used to my older cars from (my an '83, '86, '95, '97, and '03 in order of model year) that I could adjust anything without taking my eyes off the road. I don’t mind ALSO having a tablet for navigation and the like, but want my main controls to all be physical.