> From cockpits to nuclear power plants to home tv remote control, there is absolutely nothing that replaces physical buttons, encoders, sliders and toggles.

My anecdote/complaint related to this. My previous car had knobs, sliders, and just a few well-positioned buttons for the radio and HVAC controls. A very classic arrangement that I got along with just fine.

However, about three years ago, I bought a 3rd-gen Prius. Everything about the car is lovely except for the godawful interior controls. Evidence: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/82/44/a6/8244a6c6662a354dc7ba...

I mean, I get that they were going for a Star Trek: TNG vibe with the whole thing but they totally let form ravish function in this case. _Everything_ is a button, none of the buttons line up, none have tactile feedback to tell you what you're about to press. There are buttons that pretty much never get used, there are _fake_ blank buttons, there are things which never should have been buttons in the first place.

The HVAC controls are particularly bad:

- Except for some little bumps, there is no tactile feedback anywhere around them, so there is no way to use any of the buttons without looking at them first. Which means taking your eyes off the road to change anything.
- If you want to make drastic changes to the air temperature, you have to push the button several dozen times _all while watching the display_. On traditional HVAC controls, this job is just quick twist of a knob or push of a lever, neither of which is a great risk to your life.
- If you want to change which vents the air is coming out of, you have to cycle through several different options with a single button. Once you've located it, that is. And I _always_ shoot past the one I actually want, which leads to more button pushing, swearing and taking my eyes off the road for _even longer_.
- Depending on the configuration, outside temperature, and phase of the moon, the car will automatically decide whether to use interior air or exterior air for the intake. I _always_ have to _constantly_ check visually to make sure the HVAC is configured the way I want it because I can't trust that the car didn't change it for me.
- Also the AC will be on whenever the defrost vents are, even though the AC light never comes on.
- There is a button on the HVAC panel whose _only purpose_ is the switch the air intake to interior and crank up the fan to 100% for 30 seconds or so. I guess this is the "fart remover" function. I have never seen this on any other car, maybe it's a Japanese thing.
- There is a button to turn the ventilation fan off, but not on. You turn on the fan by increasing the fan speed. So if you have the fan running on, say, fan speed 3, and want to turn it off momentarily and then go back to what it was, well, you just can't.

The _only_ knobs on the whole car are at the top of the radio. The are impossible to reach without leaning forward, they are small, and they are stiff. If not for these flaws, the volume knob could be useful but the other knob is the 'tuning' knob which has essentially no purpose in 2019. The few among us who actually still listen to FM radio find their stations via the Seek buttons and program their stations to memory if desired.

And finally, the button to engage the hazard lights is at the _bottom_ of the console within easy reach of passengers, kids, your resting hand, etc. Right where something more useful (and less obnoxious) could be.

/rant