More from the article ...

... Volkswagen is bringing back physical buttons to all its vehicles after pivoting to touch screens in recent years. In an interview with Autocar, Andreas Mindt, design chief at the German auto giant, called the decision to remove these buttons "a mistake."

"From the ID 2all onwards, we will have physical buttons for the five most important functions " the volume, the heating on each side of the car, the fans and the hazard light " below the screen," he explained, adding: "It's not a phone: it's a car."

This doesn't mean touch screens are set to disappear on new Volkswagens, just that drivers will now have the option of physical controls for their most used day-to-day tasks. The new controls are set to make their debut in the ID.2all, a small, budget EV set to debut in Europe.

Last year, Hyundai promised to keep physical controls for its important functions, like volume adjustments and air conditioning, with its head of design highlighting the safety benefits of having an easy-to-use physical button. ...

@#2 ... Touch screens on cars don't work when you're driving. ...

yup.

That's what I have been saying for years.

In my car, (that is old enough to have physical buttons) I can raise or lower the volume of the radio, or even change the track of the CD I may be blistering to, without taking my eyes off the road.

I have a memory of the placement of the buttons and which one to press to accomplish what I want, without having to take my eyes off the road.

With a touch screen, all that changes.

I have to look at the touch screen to see where the button is placed, because that placement can vary from one time to the next on the touch screen.

Major congrats to VW for making this major change towards road safety.

@#4 ...I guess it would be impossible to have buttons for every function. :( ...

I agree. Every possible function could not be represented by a button.

But that's not the issue here.

There cannot be a physical button for every possible function.

But there can be a physical button for the common functions used whilst driving.

That's the distinction I draw.

OK, I admit, I have an old car, 20+ years old.

All the control buttons are actual physical buttons. There's no "living room effect" in the car.

And i do note that all of the things I need to change by pressing put tons as I drive are available with the buttons.

Yeah, there are some other things that I need to press a combo of buttons to enter a menu and go from there, but those sort of preferences are just that, preferences.

Not operational controls.

@#5

Ya know, sometimes spell check is not helpful at all ...

And i do note that all of the things I need to change by pressing put tons as I drive are available with the buttons.

--- should be ---

And I do note that all of the things I need to change by pressing buttons as I drive are available with the buttons.

Apologies for letting that one slp by.