Even in the knobs world, there are levels of suitability.
In automobiles, there's an increasing tendency to soft/electronic controls for cabin heating/cooling. Which is ... annoying.
My preference is for the three-control (plus A/C switch) control first introduced by Japanese automakers. One for fan speed (and off), one for vent settings, one for heat mix. The switch enables/disables AC.
Compare with the standard American design at the time which had a fan speed switch, heat control, and a multi-function slider combining both vent settings and AC. The end result being more complexity and fewer available settings (want to direct cold only at your feet, or blow the windshield without AC -- no can do).
Agreed regarding touchscreen. I doubt even voice will work as reliably as physical controls though.
In automobiles, there's an increasing tendency to soft/electronic controls for cabin heating/cooling. Which is ... annoying.
My preference is for the three-control (plus A/C switch) control first introduced by Japanese automakers. One for fan speed (and off), one for vent settings, one for heat mix. The switch enables/disables AC.
Compare with the standard American design at the time which had a fan speed switch, heat control, and a multi-function slider combining both vent settings and AC. The end result being more complexity and fewer available settings (want to direct cold only at your feet, or blow the windshield without AC -- no can do).
Agreed regarding touchscreen. I doubt even voice will work as reliably as physical controls though.