Exactly!

 BAD EXAMPLE.

 Yes, the screens on a Palm or iPaq PDA are meant to be touched - but
the stylus will scratch the hell out of the glass over time.  Better
to scratch up the plastic screen protector overlay that can be
replaced when it gets bad.

 (Reminds me, I'm about due...)

 Fingerprints aren't the problem on a touchscreen if you are using a
tapping motion for the entries.  But any dirt or dust on the screen
makes a tap-and-drag type entry motion into a tap-and-scratch.

 Keep it clean, make sure the kids don't use a pen or pencil as a
stylus, make sure the wife is using fingertips (skin) and NOT long
nails to make the entries, and you should be fine.

 And if you are still paranoid, go find one of the plastic screen
overlays that is bigger than you need, and cut it to fit.

   --<< Bruce >>--

 It's NOT backwards, in fact it has to be this way so people can get
into almost any car with standardized controls and drive it, without
having to learn a radically different control system for each make and
model - which could cause chaos and mayhem.  

 (There are still some minor differences - the 'Universal Stalk
Control' for turn signals, wipers and lights is fairly standard - but
there are three or four different variations on the high beam switch
and daytime headlamp signaling.  And also several variations on delay
wipers and washers, and cruise control.)

 The Feds wrote a standard on this.  I just did a quick Google, and
the reference I found points to "The Roberts Bill" (Public Law 88-515
signed into law by President Johnson on August 30, 1964

 Once a logical standard like that is set, it often propagates across
the world and is widely adopted.  That makes the controls fairly
common on a global basis.

 Summary of the relevant section: If you wanted to sell a new car,
station wagon, van, bus or light truck under 10,000 pounds GVWR to the
Government that was the 1967 Model Year or later, it had to have a
list of certain safety equipment and minimum crash safety standards to
meet the GSA requirements:

1. Anchorage for seat belt assemblies.
2. Padded dash and visors.
3. Recessed dash instruments and control devices.
4. Impact-absorbing steering wheel and column displacement.
5. Safety door latches and hinges.
6. Anchorage of seats.
7. Four-way flasher.
8. Safety glass.
9. Dual operation of braking system.
10. Standard bumper heights.
11. Standard gear quadrant, P-R-N-D-L, automatic transmission.
12. Sweep design of windshield wipers-washers.
13. Glare reduction surfaces.
14. Exhaust emission control system.
15. Tire and safety rim.
16. Backup lights.
17. Outside rear view mirror.

 Ref: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/safety.pdf Page 134

 --<< Bruce >>--

Thanks for posting that, Bill.  I've wondered (vaguely, I admit)
how to make that work.  Toyota should add another button to the
display, whose effect would be to (a) save current settings, (b)
impose the required settings for vented non-A/C'd air, then (c)
when pressed again restores the saved settings.

Don't thinkl so, unless the petrol engine is too cold.  Most of
it ought to be done by waste heat.  I've not tried what happens
if one just gets into a cold Prius and switches on cabin heat.
But the car does seem to warm quite quickly, so maybe it has an
electrical heater in there, somewhere.  Possibly the electrical
parts (motor and switchgear) produce useful heat?

I did test drive one several times.  Apparently I incorrectly concluded that
the beep I heard while inside the car was also audible outside the car and
was for the protection of pedestrians due to the quiet electric motor.
Incorrect assumption apparently.  Feel free to disable it.