I have no problem with digital systems. I have no problem with computers (I fly Airbus's !), and I agree that extra sophistication can be acheived with computers, or micro-controllers. I also agree that analogue systems need regular manual adjustment and calibration, which is a pain. (my first profession was as an electronics engineer, and believe me, I have spent plenty of time doing just that).
However, I do have a problem with a vital system shutting down because a mere clock or counter has reached a particular limit. All a generator, GCU, or hydraulic pump need is a simple logic circuit to determine if it is working within it's parameters, and warn the pilots if it is not. It can be monitored by a computer by all means, but a computer should not have executive control, unless there is a catastrophic situation developing.
I am a line pilot, and if we have just gone around at Innsbruck because we've lost both GCU's in our No 1 engine, and then the two GCU's in our No 2 engine quit in the climb out, and I later discover that all four GCU's quit; not because they overheated, not because they oversped, not because the voltage or frequency was wrong but because a bloody clock said so....That is really going to xxxx me off ! - assuming of course that a quadruple genny failure did not distract us so much in that valley that we flew into a mountain!
I like having FADECs to look after the engines and help me prevent exceedances, but I don't expect one to shut down simply because a register has become full.
System software designers must not lose sight of how their systems will be used, or the fact that such systems need to keep running unless a catastrophic or potentially catastrophic situation has arisen.
Clock/counter overflow is not catastrophic. Nor should the shut down potential of a clock/counter/register overflow need to be carefully checked for, because it should never be an issue in the first place.
Pilots don't have the luxury of being able to go through hundreds/thousands of lines of code at their desks all morning, coffee at their side, and eventually saying, "oh, here we go, I found the problem", they just need that genny or hydraulic pump to keep going.