Before all of our automation we flew airplanes instead of monitoring systems. I have gone both directions and always feel the need to hand fly when going backwords in automation before going to older technology. The hands on flying skills fade away if not used on a regular basis. I have a feeling this was a big part of this crash. Nobody was paying attention to the basic airmanship required that day. I hope I am wrong but the report will probably explain why it all went wrong. This was a new technology airplane but basic flying skills are still required when what buttons you push don't accomplish what you want so you have to make it into a B727 again.