alt Hacker News> This goes way back. In the 1930s, there was a thing for radios with One Knob. Here's a 1950s TV ad for that.[1] There was a long period during which radios and TVs had a large number of knobs to be adjusted to get decent results. That was finally overcome.
As I'm not sure if you're arguing for or against... I am generally pro digital for radios and TVs, and automatic seek is nice - but I've had it in (analog) car radios that the .05 or whatever resolution wasn't good enough, so a good old potentiometer knob helps.
But ever since I'm not sure if the best UX design exists. People have different problems to solve, and apparently "my favourite radio station has a weak signal" is one of them. Never had this problem with TVs auto-scanning for stations.
Look further back. The "one knob" concept was a reaction to tuned radiofrequency receivers of the 1920s and 1930s.[1] Those required the user to perform simultaneous, coordinated adjustment of three tuning knobs. The big advantage of superheterodyne receivers was that tuning only required One Knob. All they needed was a tuning knob and a volume control/on-off switch. That technology replaced TRF receivers, and radios became a mass-market product anyone could use.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuned_radio_frequency_receiver