[RM7]

My graduate education is based on ergonomics and engineering for humans. The idea with the Apple interface has some good points, it's extremely adaptable to a variety of data and usages, allowing any button or feature to basically adapt as necessary. Can be made bigger, or smaller on a whim. Being able to access so much content with just one finger (well, thumb actually), that was an absolute revolution. They have mastered many ergonomic principles. Or for other applications you can have multiple "panels" into a compact area that allow control over a variety of features. The problem is that in an application like an automobile or aircraft, you need the controls within easy reach and they need to be easy to manipulate. This means going largely by tactile feel, not sight. In aircraft, certain controls are given specific shapes on purpose to differentiate them. Sight is still in there, but the amount of concentration goes way down. If I just adjusted temperature, but now I want to adjust it again, I reach back to the same knob I just touched and move it the opposite direction. I don't need to look at it at all to do this. But if it's the touch-screen, I have to make sure I put my fingers on the right spot, in fact, it's likely not up on the home screen and I would have to navigate to climate first. In a lot of these setups, I've noticed that the controls are not even reachable with a normal seated position, otherwise you have to ram the seat all the way forward to have the entire touchsceen within arm's length.

But the touchscreen does do some good stuff, it lets a plethora of settings be adjustable from a central control point, quickly. Like the stuff that you might adjust while at a stop in park. You don't do this very often, but this is almost the only way to allow so many different options to be set/customized and at this point an I-drive controller is just slower. A few days I was playing with the comfort access settings in my car, but I don't want another button on the dash for something that is so rarely used, that too isn't useful.

So it's kind of a balance, all of the important/common stuff needs to be within easy reach and easily manipulated with switches and similar buttons. This includes audio controls, drive controls, cruise controls, basically anything you'd use while driving. Touchscreens aren't evil, but they shouldn't be used to make up for this.