Quite agree, dervish. I have no problem accepting that "pin procedure" has evolved greatly since I first perched tentatively on an MB Mk3P. As you say, technology moves on, designs change, rules and procedures adapt and change accordingly. The point is that in a disciplined environment that is forever trying to make you fondly remembered, you stick to the rules.
The worst thing is when the rules are changed or simply scrapped, not to protect life but money, and short term money at that. There we move away from the cockpit to the murky corridors of power, from JOs to VSOs. That is where Sean Cunningham's fatal accident was conceived, that is where the system designed to safeguard his life became the one that killed him. That is where the court should be directed.