aterpster, I got my instrument rating in 1982. My first instrument check included holding at an NDB in a nice cross wind, in actual IFR conditions. Yes, the sweat pumps were working.
EDIT: I also did a bit of instrument training down in the Rio Grande Valley. At the time, it wasn't radar covered, which made position reporting and navigational accuracy, and dead reckoning, pretty important ... one didn't want to end up in Mexico's airspace, for one thing!
Aerodymanics hasn't changed much since then, nor since you got your card, nor has physics, nor has time and distance, and for that matter, nor has the requirement for a crew to fly as a crew.
Would I rather shoot an ILS than an NDB? Hell yes, particularly when the weather is poor. Given a choice, would I like some auto trip, airspeed hold, and other aids to controlling descent on glide path? Sure, why not?
Would I rather fly a GPS approach than a TACAN or VOR/DME approach? Yes. And if one NAVAID is down, or broken, which happens, I want to be able to complete the flight it the weather hasn't gone to complete crap.
Today's modern air carrier aircraft, used by competent pilots, is a modern wonder compared to the past.
It certainly is.
As to circle-to-land getting you home, there were times I was happier getting home the next day.
But your paying passengers often are not.
I too, as a pilot in command, have sometimes had to land elsewhere than my intended destination when the weather was too bad to continue. (That consideration is relevant to this mishap, given the diversion of some other flights in roughly the same time window).
That said, there was a point earlier in this thread asking why that airport didn't have the ILS or LOC approaches servicing both runways, which is answerable only by the non-flying element of the industry ... though when I look at the terrain north and west of the airport, I suspect the approach would need to be designed with some care.
Also, I have stated my position on hand-flying skills on this forum many times.
Indeed you have, which takes us back to a crew that flies well, or competently as you put it, to get the performance out of their modern miracle of metal, glass, rubber, and plastic that achieves their mission.