The first
The 2007 Ford Edge with Sync 1 brought the first Microsoft-developed in-car infotainment touchscreen to a mainstream American car. The 2008 BMW iDrive (E60 second-gen) was the first widely-distributed rotary controller alternative. Touchscreens won.
The Tesla shift
The 2012 Tesla Model S made the central touchscreen the entire user interface — climate, media, navigation, vehicle settings, all on a 17-inch portrait display. Critics said the loss of physical controls was a safety regression. Most automakers copied anyway.
The reaction
By 2024, Hyundai and Volkswagen were both publicly walking back touchscreen-only interfaces and reinstating physical buttons for HVAC and media. The European NCAP from 2026 actively penalises cars that bury safety functions in touchscreens. The pendulum is swinging.
The point
Touchscreens reduced cost (one panel replaces 30 buttons), enabled OTA updates (UI can change without hardware changes), and looked modern. They also raised eyes-off-road time during basic operations. The right answer is a hybrid — touchscreen for media and navigation, physical knobs for climate and volume. Most automakers spent ten years refusing to admit this.