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> A good example of "backwards" progress unless of course the ease of cleaning your hob is more important to you than using it for you know, cooking.

They’re also fewer parts, more resistant to dirt, can’t break off, takes less space during shipping, and looks better in brochures and showrooms.

I’m not saying I prefer using them but I am not surprised at their success.

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Another reason is apparently modularity. There’s an increasing demand in wider stovetops with more or larger heaters, induction and so on, and having all controls on the top itself means users can combine all ovens with all stovetops. Additionally, ovens at eye-height are becoming more popular, so in some cases there isn’t even an oven below the cooktop.

You could have physical knobs on the top, but those interfere with the pots and sealing them against spills is hard. The only decent solutions I’ve seen are magnetic knobs and a dedicated knob bar that is installed at the face, with drawers below it, but those are much more expensive to produce.

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