Do me a favor... Search "the Tesla effect" on Google.... People are equating luxury with technology more then they are materials. This is thanks to Tesla. Whether you like it or not, this is the way the market is moving.
Not with a more sensitive and calibrated touchscreen... Sync 2 uses a restrictive touch screen that is basically ancient tech. Sync 3 uses capacitive touch (same as phones) but is not adequately calibrated to accept quick presses and responses. Again, not what they are doing but how they are doing it...
In 10 years, the whole windshield will be an LED display, lol.
That is probably here it is going honestly.... Transparent OLED display sandwiched between two panes of glass like current automotive glass that will allow for the display of information directly on the windshield.
I'm looking strictly at the human side, which still requires more time to make a control input (of any sort) than to simply read a display. Basically, you're not going to be able to change the HVAC settings (or even change a different radio station) as fast as you can read a speedometer. You may be able to decide that that's what you want to do in a comparable amount of time, but you just can't physically get the job done as quickly. The further you have to reach - and for sure the more you have to look where your hand/finger has to go - the longer it's going to take (it's why so many functions have been moved to steering column stalks and the steering wheels themselves).
Not to argue that this effect isn't present . . . but can you explain why that should be considered a good thing? It sounds a whole lot more like vanity to me, where the least amount of personal physical involvement is being viewed as the best way to get things done . . . #becauseluxurious = we've got all these servants.
Dare I even suggest that to the average customer, things like image and style are overrated while function and actual need are underrated? Is it possible that among the generations that can hardly put their phones down, there is a real desire for all other aspects of life to be made to look, feel, and work in much the same way?
Although I agree with your post I find this comment interesting. Hot air rises, cold air falls. That’s why the default settings for heaters blow down and a/c blow up (no evaporator joke intended). The automated design you ask for could easily be done on a electronic touchscreen, which you obviously would prefer not to have.
Probably the same "nimrod" who realized that there are way too many people who aren't smart enough to turn the HVAC from 'recirculate' to 'fresh air' when the side glass fogs up, and figured that automating the HVAC and setting its defaults for the protection of the stupid was the way to go.
I would celebrate the day they allow me to choose the automatic default. System settings and preference choices e.g. things that are set occasionally and and can be done when stopped with plenty of time to screw around with it are excellent candidates for a touch screen interface).