Physical goods companies just don't get software, and they never seem to be able to do it right. They treat firmware and software like just another line item on the BOM. Like a screw or a silicon gasket: Source it from a cheap supplier, spoon it into the product somewhere on the assembly line, and then never touch it again. As long as it meets a list of checkbox requirements, the quality doesn't matter at all. A car company that obsesses over how nicely the exterior panels fit together will, on the other hand, not even care whether icons and text are aligned on their software.

The other day I saw a meat thermometer with no readout, only an app.

No!

A good app is more expensive than a good thermometer readout, and will break much sooner.

I'll pay a premium for no-tech products.

Yup.

Case in point: any time the rear view camera comes on in a car commercial. Beatufiul car, awesome interior...potato-quality backup camera.

While you're right that car companies are not good at software, this is almost a blessing at this point. Imagine if they had the software talent of a Google or Microsoft and used it to implement the same fucking awful "enshittification" business models.

Software is not an alternative to physical controls. You don't have to copy Tesla in that regard.

Plot twist - most carmakers button implementations are no better than giant iPad. Special hell to ones making dedicated climate controls using touch surfaces.