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Either that, or cost-savings.

One off-the-shelf touchscreen... vs. lots of little custom-molded and printed analog parts that have to be assembled by costly robots or costlier humans. Big savings, I think.

Whatever the case, it sure isn't because people like touch controls in their cars. Holy shit, what a universally reviled "feature."

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Touchscreen engineer here. There is no such thing as an 'off-the-shelf' capacitive touchscreen.

There is always custom engineering to match the customer's housing and bezel, tune the analog characteristics to the electrical environment, and handle other requests like a safer/thicker cover glass, optical bonding to the LCD, and low friction or hydro/oleophobic coatings on the surface.

No one is denigrating this work, but it's obviously easier to consistently get right than the fiddly processes GP describes. There is a rectangle of a particular size, and various substances are applied to it.

You didn't mention UI design, which is the worst aspect of this technology.

Thanks for this informative reply!

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