Having retired from designing software systems, I was not a bit surprised by David Pogue's assessment of the sorry state of dashboard controls in "Automotive Touch Screens Are Awful" [TechnoFiles].
I was often struck by the utter arrogance of engineers in my profession when it came to creating user interfaces (UIs). It seemed that the main objective in designing a UI was to produce the cleverest newfangled gadget, without regards to legacy or familiarity on the part of the target users, who were never consulted. Completely forgotten was the idea that a UI should be easily mastered by the most technologically inept operator. I suppose we should be thankful that the steering wheel hasn't yet been replaced by arrows on a touch screen.