Much of this crap is now mandated by our overlords so every moron driver can treat driving like operating an appliance.
You can still get a stripper if you special order it. And a tin can like a Mitsubishi Mirage won’t have anything but what is legally mandated.
The marketing genius kids at the car makers dream this shit up to compete with the next company. I don’t think they ever ask
1) Does the consumer WANT it?
2) Is it really useful to anybody?
3) Is it easy to use and does not require the driver taking his or her eyes off the road?
4) Can you hit the soft key on the screen in a moving car?
5) Will drivers remember how to use a feature that they don’t use very often?
I think the answer to all of these is “No!”
The only question they ask is “Can we make obscene profits on it?” and the answer is “Yes!”
My wife’s ten year old Mercedes makes it impossible to remember how to turn the dash lights up or down. You have to navigate five levels deep in arcane menus. It’s horrendous. And that was TEN years ago!
The user interface on our 1966 Pontiac Bonneville had the best user interface ever. Five radio preset buttons and a volume and tuning knob. Mash the floor button for brights. One switch for heater air speed, one for where the air goes, and one for air temperature. Pull the dash switch to turn on the headlights and rotate it to dim the dash lights. Pull it out a wee bit for parking lights. Turn a knob to get the wipers going.
It was beautiful simplicity and not one of those functions distracted you.