With my touchscreen, I can set the temperature controls to precisely 72F and never touch it again.
Perhaps I'm a counter narrative -- I find touchscreens vastly simpler than a bunch of old buttons: you have vastly superior configuration potential, connecting to other technology is easier, the few buttons you have make scrolling through options easy (eg steering wheel for audio & channel select), and the UIs are constantly improving via software updates. Yes, you lose some of the physical affordances, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
> ith my touchscreen, I can set the temperature controls to precisely 72F and never touch it again.
Sure. I can do the same. That doesn't eliminate the fact that I frequently do want to adjust the environment controls. And the temperature, was, of course, just an example. My argument goes for any common control operation that gets stuck onto a touch screen for the manufacturer's convenience.
That has nothing to do with this touchscreen issue. Any car with a decent thermostat works like that, going back to at least 1991 (the model year of the oldest car I recall with a decent thermostat). There are plenty of cheap cars today with physical, non-thermostat climate controls.
Perhaps I'm a counter narrative -- I find touchscreens vastly simpler than a bunch of old buttons: you have vastly superior configuration potential, connecting to other technology is easier, the few buttons you have make scrolling through options easy (eg steering wheel for audio & channel select), and the UIs are constantly improving via software updates. Yes, you lose some of the physical affordances, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
(Speaking specifically to Tesla Model-3.)