I'm not a fan of center-mounted displays, although the Mini's always had one (you could order an optional instrument package to get standard ones on at least some of the BMW generations). I expect I could get used to it, but why should I have to, when the traditional arrangement works so well? One thing's for sure, as long as I can buy a car that has actual physical controls for HVAC and radio etc., I will choose it rather than one with a touchscreen that requires me to look away from the road and takes far more time to use.
I've got nothing against high-tech per se, as long as it improves on what preceded it - touch screens don't, when used by a driver while driving. If someone can design voice-activated controls that are as quick and easy to use as a physical control, I'd have no problem with that, but the second a control requires me to look away from the road and re-focus on some non-intuitive control that requires far more mental cycles to process than a simple twist/push/slide knob, I'm not interested. At least, not until I'm in a car that has autonomous driving capability I trust, and we're still several years away from that.