That's right, it's like a knob/mouse that you use to control over 700 functions with. You move the knob in any of the 8 directions possible to get into a specific function (back is entertainment, for example). You then turn the knob clockwise or counter-clockwise to get to a function (radio, cd, etc.) then click down on the knob to get into that function. You continue like that until you get to the function that you want. Once you've done it a couple of times you can do it without looking at the screen. It becomes intuitive. If you go to bmwworld.com or bmw.com and checkout the new 7 series info you'll see what iDrive is all about.