Well, Mr von Hardenberg,
First, welcome to the Ford Edge Forum. You can meet the friendliest people here, and find out things that other owners are doing with their Edges. Great Forum!
Now, you must now that the situation with the shifter is NOT going to change. This NEW system is CHEAPER to prduce and get into the cars than the old sift boxes, linkages, cables , etc.
The FOMOCO will go with waht is TRENDY and LESS EXPENSIVE to increase their bottom line. That is just stating the truth. SYNC is not well explaned, and if you are just not Blue Tooth or computer knowledgeble, then all the NEW stuff can really get newbys into confusion with the electronics. The 2021 Edge has mostly electronic switches and displays. Especially with the new COMPUTERIZED display in the center of the dash. It's plenty big,and is NOT really compatable for us older and less computer savvy codgers. It's a sper system, but it takes some long , hard use of the system, and a alot of searching through the PDF Owner's Manual. Yes, there is NO paperback manuel in or included with the car. It is on the computer that sits there with you. This too was an economic move by Ford. The programming costs much less than a paper copy in every vehichle. I only wish they would spend more time on theri high pressure fuel pump issues, but that is another story!
Be happy with your 2017. I had a 21013, 2015, 2018, all of which had no issues, but I have a 2021 which is in the shop with a blown fuel pump!
Happy Holidays and well wishes;
OLDVETERAN