We are in a time when automobile technology it is a reality and to such an extent that we have reached a point that would have seemed unthinkable a few years ago. I remember back in the 80’s and early 90’s some car manufacturers were toying with the concept of putting screens in cars. These gave them a very curious futuristic feel, although their actual usability was very low due to the technological limitations of the time.

Screens have become one of the pillars of the automotive sector today. Most of the cars have replaced the classic center console from previous years consisting of numerous buttons and wheel mechanisms. on a huge screen that reminds us, and a lot, of a “tablet” stuck on the dashboard. This screen allows us to control all key aspects of the vehicle and the cabin, it can display useful information and has a fairly simple interface, but at the same time it has important drawbacks.

The distraction are one of the most important disadvantages of touchscreens, but not the only one. A round of tests carried out by the Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare confirmed that this type of interface is inferior to the classic button interface in such basic things as speed of execution of actions. The results of the study overwhelmingly confirm this, so that in order to perform a series of simple actions, the driver of a 2005 Volvo V70 with a classic button and wheel interface, it only took 10 secondswhile the driver of the MG Marvel R, a Chinese touch SUV, took 44.6 seconds upon their completion.

If you are wondering what the actions to perform in this silent test consisted of, we won’t leave you in doubt: activating seat heating, increasing the temperature by two degrees, activating the window defog function, turning on the radio and setting it to a specific station, resetting the on-board computer, reducing the instrument panel illumination to the lowest level and turning off the central display.

It’s clear that there’s no going back, touchscreens are here to stay and minimalist interiors with almost no buttons will become the norm, but that doesn’t mean they’re the best possible option. Personally, I prefer an interior that combines a touchscreen with a physical button-based interface.in fact, it was the reason that led me to change cars a few years ago, leaving the SEAT León MK IV altogether and staying with the SEAT León MK III.

And you, what do you think about this jump to minimalist interiors without buttons in cars, do you like or prefer classic interiors with wheels and buttons? Read in the comments.