The flip side of the fingerprint thing is ease of cleaning. Nothing to collect crud. I like being able to mess with controls even with grungy fingers without hesitation because the clean-up is so simple.

I've had touch-pad appliances for more than a decade at two locations. I've had the appliances break but have never had a touch-pad go bad yet. Never had a knob go bad either.

Knobs have indicators and a "feel" about them. Touchpads have indicator only. Requires visual confirmation of setting selected. Different from knobs but really not very much. You have to eyeball the knob's position, too.

Having had -- and still have -- both, I prefer touch pad. Almost all microwaves, for example, have touchpads. Have you had trouble with yours?

Knobs are more ergonomically desirable. On the best knobs, you can both see and feel what the setting is. Clicks help too.

Asolo gave good reasons for liking touchpads.

For the cooktop, specifically, I like my Gaggenau, which has a magnetic knob. The glass is uninterrupted. Pick up the knob and it's solid. I like the way using the knob for the control works better than touching a horizontal touch pad. Vertical ones are easier. The way the Gaggenau knob works is that you put it in it's spot and a strong magnet holds it there. To select an element you push the knob along the surface toward that element's indicator, then turn to make the setting. You still have to look at the indicator to see what the setting is, however. The rest of the controls are touch circles, but when you set the timers or enter a memory, you touch the control then use the knob to determine your setting.

The good and the bad is that you have to know how to work it. The bad is obvious--people who just walk up to it won't know what to do. That's also the good--they're not going to be interfering either. Just don't let dotty old Auntie walk off with the knob! I think the cooktop automatically shuts off when the knob is removed. For sure you can't work it without.

I don't know how the knob works on other units. I went to a lot of bother to get mine (though there were other advantages too) because I'd fallen in love with that knob. It was worth it. If you don't have true love, however, I don't know that it would be of greater utility. Any of the controls that have a bar or arc that shows a graphic of the power level is better than a round knob with no pointer or markings. Sliders are better than tap tap tappers. Just for the ergonomics.

I have TWO appliances in my kitchen right now that need new control panels, less than six years old! DH is searching as we type for the new appliances without touch pads. The total repair estimate is about $1000.
I will always have knobs from now on..

All our appliances have touch controls, even the fridge. All over 5 years old and not a problem with any.
Elux Oven, Speed Oven, Induction Cooktop, JA 48" Fridge.

The Miele Optima DW has push buttons rather than touch controls.

Only touch pad controls we ever had a problem with, was with a piece of Junk Caldera cooktop, smooth top and due the the hot surface, (total of cooking surface) stuff got burned on the touch controls and "Totalled them".

Wife was "Insistent"--No knobs anywhere in her kitchen,and no handles/knobs on drawers or cabinets---She calls them "Dust Catchers"--and we have a lotta dust here, due to "Santa Ana Winds" in S California.

Gary

There are numerous engineering methods for so-called touch controls, but appliances typically use these two:

1) Mechanical/resistive, low-travel buttons or soft-touch plastic panels that work via a set of switch points that make contact when the button or "pad" is pressed.

2) Glass, metal, or plastic capacitive panels which do not depress and work by sensing fluctuation in electrical potential on the panel at the touch locations.