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Posted on 04/17/2026 9:56:22 AM PDT by libh8er
Screens run new cars now. Whether we like it or not, every dashboard has a giant tablet in the middle and another screen where the gauges used to be. Some of them blend into the dash like they belong. Others stick out like someone glued an iPad to the top. Either way, they run almost everything in the cabin.
It wasn’t always like this. But like most tech trends, the shift happened eventually, and for reasons no one really asked for. Suddenly your radio, your AC, and even simple stuff like the headlight switch lives somewhere inside a maze of menus. One nasty bump on the road and your finger is hitting everything except what you meant to touch.
So how did we end up here? And can the industry backtrack? The story comes down to money, timing, and a long chain of decisions that snowballed.
The First Wave (Late 80s) The whole thing started as an engineering flex, not because of a need. Not a consumer request. Just tech nerds seeing what they could cram into a car.
The first in-car touchscreen showed up in 1986, of all brands, in a Buick. The Riviera’s Graphic Control Interface used a tiny CRT screen that controlled the radio, HVAC, and even showed basic diagnostics. It looked like a mini ATM and was way too early for its time.
Drivers didn’t get it. GM eventually backed off the idea, and touchscreens basically disappeared throughout the 1990s while underlying tech kept evolving.
Screens Become Luxury (2000s) Screens crept back in during the early 2000s. BMW made a splash with the 2001 7 Series and its first-generation iDrive system. It wasn’t a touchscreen (it used a knob) but it changed everything. Even though it was buggy, confusing, and slow, it pushed other automakers to jump in.
Back then, these screens were small and simple. They were more like a Palm Pilot, not an iPhone. And society felt the same way about tech. It mattered, but it wasn’t controlling our lives yet.
Volvo even used pop-up screens that hid inside the dash. It was a cool “only when you need it” kind of thing. A design philosophy you almost never see now.
Two big things pushed screens further:
GPS boom: By the mid-2000s, Garmin and TomTom units were stuck on windshields everywhere. Automakers saw that and decided they needed their own built-in systems.
Backup cameras: They popped up in 2001 and went from “weird luxury thing” to “must-have” as cars got bigger and visibility got worse.
But the biggest push was something simple: screens got dirt cheap. LED manufacturing exploded, prices fell, and suddenly it cost automakers less to install a screen than to design and engineer a whole row of physical buttons.
Then the 2008 recession hit. Everyone needed to cut costs. Buttons were more expensive. Screens were the easy answer.
iPhone, Tesla, and the Big Shift (2010s) Everything changed in the 2010s.
The Tesla Model S landed in 2012 with a giant 17-inch screen and barely any buttons. It looked futuristic and, more importantly for automakers, it was simple to build. Even brands that had no interest in EVs copied the screen-heavy vibe immediately.
At the same time, our phones were taking over our lives. Phones kept getting faster while car software lagged far behind. Most people hold onto a car for years, but swap phones every couple of seasons. Car tech just couldn’t keep up.
Then came Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in 2015, and everything snapped into place. People stopped caring about built-in car software as long as the screen mirrored their iPhone. Automakers took that as a green light to go even harder on touchscreens.
Backup cameras became legally required in 2018, officially locking in “every car must have a screen” as federal law.
The Overload Era (2020–Today) The pandemic years overlapped with massive EV investments, and software became the backbone of everything. Running it all through a touchscreen was simply cheaper.
Then automakers realized screens unlocked something else: subscriptions. If a feature lives inside software, they can charge monthly for it. Heated seats, extra power, fancy lighting…doesn’t matter. A screen makes that possible.
And when people started getting tired of screens? Automakers didn’t back off. They just made the screens bigger. Giant passenger screens. Full-width displays. Touch-controlled air vents. The BMW i7 has a rear-roof-mounted theater screen for some backseat entertainment now!
The Backlash and a Tiny Bit of Hope Drivers are pushing back. Surveys show people want buttons again. Big, simple, physical buttons you can use without looking. Some brands are listening. Hyundai added buttons back to the Ioniq 5. VW promised to backtrack. Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Genesis, and others are keeping physical controls alive.
But don’t expect dashboards full of knobs and switches to suddenly reappear. Screens are cheaper. They’re not going away completely.
There’s one exception though: gauge clusters.
Some high-end brands are quietly moving back to analog gauges because they look special and give a car more character. Bugatti is one example. A physical speedometer still feels magical in a way a blank digital panel never will.
If change comes, it’ll be slow. Screens rule the modern car, and for now, the industry has no real reason to let go.
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“So now, I just drive like I used to before I ever had the blind spot sensor, and turn my head to check my blind spot, just like I always did. That’s just one of a myriad of features that we pay for that I’d just as soon not have.”
I am 79.
I conditioned myself to quickly look at the BSM then transition to the mirror. I also have a long standing habit of maintaining awareness of traffic all around me.
Well, two out three ain’t bad.
Ain't no drought about it.
then there is the radar on all sides and a car will come up to you on the left and so it beeps and makes you jump. Everyone 70 miles an hour cause that’s what you need. But what’s funny is when it rains really hard than the sensors get messed up and then they start flashing all over the place. There’s a button that you can use to turn them off and I’ve always thought about doing that.
Screens vs. buttons is the wrong debate. What cars really need is complete voice command capability.
Sweet! My grandmother drove a behemoth Chrysler with a push-button tranny (”tranny” in its original definition, not the current incarnation). She accessorized the dash with a beanbag ashtray that would drift from side to side each time she went around a corner.
My ‘68 Firebird had a tach mounted on the hood.
One of the ugliest, worst designed, bland car interiors I have ever seen. It looks cheap, poorly designed and uncomfortable to use.
That will be their Achilles heel.
People will begin rejecting paying for something that they already bought when they purchased the car -- with everything in it.
It's almost like a protection racket: "that's a pretty nice car you got there... it would be a shame if the heater didn't work..."
The problem is that the subscription service has to phone home, and that requires cell phone service. Earlier models were based on 3G tech which has since been decommissioned, so the car manufactures simply told car owners that those features are no longer available.
What will happen when 4G becomes decommissioned next?
-PJ
“There were a number of little ego trippings that were placed into cars”
Brings to mind Ford and the “hard top convertible”.
Saw a hilarious video of the nightmare those things were to get adjusted to work.
Seems I read here a couple months ago that they’re doing away with screens because their the reason for so many accidents.
I can’t stand all the beeps, flashes etc., in newer cars. I do appreciate cameras and Bluetooth, though.
Some of them look wilder than the panel on the bizjet I fly.
the most dangerous thing in the car is you the driver.
The screens are part of the transition to all cars driving themselves. Data already has self driving being safer than average driver and it will only keep getting better.
It wont be long and cars will have no steering wheel or pedals and your future grandkids will think you are crazy to ever drive a car yourself.
The car shouldn't fight you while in traffic, maybe for collision avoidance. I did a software update for my car several months ago. The default setting was changed to aggressive management from the stick shaker mode. Not cool in my opinion. It was a software bug..
Yet it can’t tell you if a brake light goes out.
When I rent a car I take an extra day just to figure out how things work.
I have a 2013 BMW M3. It has their I-Drive system, so a screen. Generally, they’re not a point of pain maintenance wise and you can get replacements with upgrades with CarPlay and Android Auto.
I don’t believe they’re going anywhere, they’re too flexible, being able to handle new functions as they come along.
That said, there are exceptions - like a volume knob. The industry has tried to get rid of them, only to hear screams from customers and revert back to them.
Just like my 65 Pontiac Catalina Coupe.
Loved that car.
Hmmm...you can argue the opposite. If every function has a separate knob or button, they’re all failure points too. That said, if *everything* is through the screen, and it fails, you can barely operate the car comfortably (e.g. HVAC). Most OEM’s are moving to a blend of screens and buttons.
my favorite now is when you use Google maps and every few minutes it beeps really loud and then flashes that there are police nearby or there is an object in the road or watch out for this or watch out for that. It’s so nanny state
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