As a fellow German I didn't go induction on purpose, because I prefer the ceramic hob cooking experience. "Pans cannot be used" wasn't part of the decision. Having "control nobs" on the front rather than a touch area on the cooking surface was a hard requirement for me though and seems to be getting rarer every year.

I'm actually amazed how much people love induction here, but I guess that's also because it's mostly compared to gas?

What? Ceramic cook tops are crap, they get stained easily, scratched easily, and in the US at least, the way they work to "adjust" the temperature is to cycle on and off every few seconds.

Oh and if any of your pots or pans get warped, they become completely unusable!

Drop anything heavy on it, and the cook top breaks.

I once waited for 20 minutes for a small pot of water to boil on a ceramic cook top.

The old fashion coil burners are better than the stupid glass top ones.

My ceramic cooktop is basically stain and scratchfree after using it for cooking 4-5 times a week for 8 years. It's incredibly easy to clean as you can literally scratch of everything that doesn't just wipe away.

The temperature does cycle on and off usually based on a thermometer, so it does hold the selected temperature. I don't get why that's a drawback for you? The cooktop will literally be kept to your selected temperature.

Also the induction cooktops I know use the same kind of glass or ceramic plate on top, so you have the same advantages/disadvantages in regards to scratching, cleaning and breaking it.

I've never had one last more than a few months without getting stained. Fruits boiling over when making jam or syrup will do it.

Some glass top stovs work better than others. I won't go back to coils, but I currently have a glass top that bad. However I've has glass tops that were good so I know they exist. But I'll take gas over electric anyday. (I have never used induction so I reserve the right to change that stance)

I have induction with the control nobs to the front in the oven. That does exist, I guess you have to buy it together with the oven.

Induction is greatly superior to electric heating plates, ceramic or even metal, as it is much faster and more energy efficient. Whenever you use it you never want to go back.

Built-in separate cooktops are only the fashion trend right now, there isn’t anything intrinsic in induction that require such controls. This goes hand in hand with the separate built-in oven trend (often with a second oven or a microwave). Kitchen renovation fashion, I guess.

Yea I know it exists, it was just really rare from my limited shopping experience.

I have used induction a couple of times when cooking at my parents house and in a friends kitchen and I happily stay with my ceramic cooktop. Induction is much quicker and more energy efficient, but I just like that I literally control the heat on a fixed size cookfield rather than controlling the strength of the current, where effective heat will depend on the size of the pan.

The heating technology and the type of control need not be linked...

They need not, but manufacturers and home builders are obnoxiously fad focused.

You can still buy induction stoves without touch surfaces and ceramic stoves with touch surfaces.

Ceramic is terrible. Every kitchen I have had with ceramic has it thrown out immediately since induction has been available.

Don't have one, but used to have cheap counter top thing. I think only pan or similar I can't use is my ceramic dutch oven. Never browned anything in that one either, so it is pretty academical... Just need to check the pans you pick up and you will be fine in general.

I would expect most of remodels/upgrades to be induction though... At least that is the case in my social circle (another German)