I'm with you:
There is a trend to take the thinking out of everything, including how to successfully drive. My first car was a 1970 Gremlin with its slow manual steering and a 2/1 weight distribution. However, riding bicycles, climbing trees, listening to elders all proved reliable in the long run, and didn't require 1000's of dollars of complication that increase the probability of a system failure. Idiot-proofing produces idiots. As an engineer, there are many legitimate improvements since the horseless carriage. However, our greatest tool will always be the one between our ears