Mazda does it right. Not only are there plenty of physical buttons for everything you would commonly use, the infotainment screen is not a touch screen. There is a knob in the center console which acts as a sort of "mouse" to operate the screen options.
You mean the knob and buttons that is right in front of the the cupholder in some models. A little turning knob to control stuff that any drink you have is going to interfere with access and potentially spill on. The salesman was trying to point it out as a feature. I laughed and left the dealership when I saw that little bit of stupidity.
Seriously, a touch screen isn't a big deal as long as you have physical buttons for the most frequent actions in an easier location.
I've got a 2016 Honda, and although the infotainment system is noticeably showing it's age, you can do any of the functions using either the touchscreen, or the buttons around the edge. My only complaint is that you can only do things like typing in a destination or connecting a phone if the vehicle is stopped. It would be nice if that feature was disabled when a passenger was in the front seat, since they can safely operate the controls independently from the driver.
Also, only the Audio and navigation are in the infotainment system, still have physical controls for climate. It's in the Goldilocks zone of automotive infotainment technology.
I ended up purchasing a '22 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport for my teenager for those reasons. The infotainment center was "dated" according to the reviews. Lots of buttons for most things and a basic touchscreen that ran auto/carplay.
Yeah, probably the worst design possible. Having both options is a maybe. Having no touch screen makes everything a multi step process you need to watch the screen for to know is working.