It's only progress (it is) until the newer system "fails" catastrophically.
The argument is FBW, a topic I know you are fluent in. As in AA587, the system "allowed" for too much travel, and the PF wasn't in tune with his a/c. The flaw is and will always be interface. Here, the a/c was established in high cruise, something happened. The VS/R assembly parted the fuselage, unknown when. The transition from established cruise to a handful of weasels happened when the a/c "sensed" a parameter excursion, and undid the a/p a/t, etc. reverted to "ALT Law", and as much as said, "your a/c". Since tha a/c could not be hand flown at this point, (demonstrably, with two highly experienced airmen seated in the chairs), one must question the disconnects and the survivability however flown, either by automatics (which "quit"), or by the humans.