Smileynoone1:

You guys better stock up while you can. Manuals are more or less dead. NA will die next, followed by ICEs in general. Touch screens, pads, and voice commands will replace most buttons after that, and then ultimately in the not too distant future cars will be all self-driving.

BTW, the is really no need for more than a couple buttons or knobs in a modern car. All dashes are digital nowadays and can show any information. All you need is a multi-touch touch pad with gestures and some voice controls.

Want to turn the volume up and down? Two finger swipe up or down. Want to set the climate controls? Say "Set air condition to 70 degrees".

The point is not that touch screens should replace buttons, it's simply that buttons aren't needed and can be replaced by a combination of touchscreens, touch pads, and voice commands. There is no reason not to have a touch screen today since they offer good experiences for things like maps, web browsing, typing, etc. There is however not much of a good reason to keep buttons around much longer. Porsche's center console is a shit show and a complete mess. Porsche is so insane with their button usage that they have a stick with buttons on it.

I own a manual with an old fashioned dash. I must say - drama queen much?  The string, pull it gently. It will be okay.