Sure, sometimes there is no other way, and a little bit of software goes a long to manage complex processes. But I've actually written software, and I'm aware what a complex, Rube Goldberg quality it has to it. Its always an accident waiting to happen. Anything that complicated can always find an unanticipated situation where it doesn't work. Sure, you can design it so it works better, you can make it logical and structured, but you can't get around the fact that the more complicated something is, the more moving parts it has, the more likely it is to fail.

Purely mechanical engineering is pretty robust, since most of the failures turn up in design, testing, or early operations. By the time it evolves into its final form, all the glitches have been ironed out.

I believe we often employ digital technology not because it works better, but because it is cheaper to build--which is another way of saying it takes less skillful, highly paid craftsmen to put it together. And sometimes you get clues as to how clueless the young, inexperienced engineers are that put it together.

For example. Have you noticed how in electronic equipment the fittings are usually made of black plastic or metal, and the labels for them are usually embossed in tiny, black, raised lettering? When you add the fact most of these plugs and switches and fittings are in dark, hard to reach places, old half-blind farts like us can't read the text well enough to know what's what. Surely, it doesn't take any engineering genius to make the lettering a contrasting color to the chassis so people can read it? And if they can't figure this out, can you imagine how many bad decisions are incorporated into the innards of the gadget?

Replacement parts should be symmetrical: only go in the right way, or it shouldn't matter how they go in. If something is not reassembled correctly it should be obvious, even to the technically ignorant. The order in which components are removed and replaced should be either irrelevant, or obvious. If you can put it back together so it LOOKS right, it should WORK right. Nothing should require special tools. In fact, if you can strip and reassemble without tools, its even better.

Study the mechanical design of the Colt 1911A1 Auto Pistol if you you want to behold true engineering genius. Over a century old, cheap to build, easy to maintain, safe to operate, brutally effective, will work in dismal environmental conditions--and you can train illiterate teenagers how to use and maintain it.

Sure, with increased capability you are forced to increasing complexity. That goes without saying. But that only means the engineers need to be smarter.