Sycamore,
I speak only as an avionics tech of 23 years - never been a pilot though have spent many hours staring out the window at 35,000 whilst waiting for the captain to play his scrabble hand!
Good insight to the rudder pedal issue, and yes I was thinking along the lines of future generations of MS Flight Sim pilots, who would perhaps find it natural to have the yaw control on a joystick, rather than those converting from a position of experience. We are students and have the luxury of dreaming a little!
The role of a pilot is being relegated to systems manager with each passing decade, and I fear seat-of-the-pants flying is becoming increasingly rare on civil aircraft. As the computers take over, the need for 'feel' is reduced since all the pilot needs to do is tell the aircraft which way to fly, and the aircraft obeys - taking account of the flight envelope, weather conditions, traffic, terrain, thrust available etc.
Ultimately there may not even be a joystick...