I know why they did it. I still don’t like it (and our next car won’t be a Tesla) and its an annoying case of “new technology” (to save costs or whatever reason) that is worse than the “old technology” but sold as “better” because AI blah blah

The problem is Tesla is a quasi-premium brand, so killing features for cost which cause annoyance is a terrible look.

But also frankly I somewhat question what this could possibly be saving them: their model range is very limited.

not sure if you're aware of this, but there is a broad, robust, competitive and inexpensive market for buttons of every conceivable type and function, which have the advantage of providing consistent and direct feedback when reached for, touched, and actuated.