What happened to voice commands in cars? I have a 2012 model that's about perfect from an ergonomics point. That is tactile buttons got first choice on positioning and every button is easily reachable from my driving position and there is an overall logic to the ordering of the buttons. Plus some of the buttons have little bumps on them similar to the home keys on a keyboard. The touchscreen got second choice so it's a little awkward to work, but that's fine because you're not supposed to fussing with it when in motion. The manufacturer tried to compensate for this by giving you voice controls to do things on the touch screen/nav system but you have to say the magic words just right so it's kind of a meh experience, as was a lot of that earlier voice controlled stuff.

Went into look at the same model of car in 2020. Now two touch screens and just a few buttons, also no more voice commands. Tested a couple similar models that did have voice, but it feels like it has barely progressed, especially when compared to say Siri.

We did't need all these dual touchscreens and such. We just needed the voice commands to get better.

One insight I did gather was that my 2012's buttons were apparently costly to the manufacturer since they had to worry about the feel of the buttons, their layout had to be worked out, you have to make sure they hold up, it's moving pieces you need to quality control in your build, and of course if you ever want to redesign this cabin you have to do it all again for those faceplates. So touchscreens are cheaper. Which is probably why even though a lot of manufacturers probably know they could offer a better overall experience if they put more effort into the buttons, they go with the touch screen.