Indeed. We started with mechanical cables, and then as the forces got heavier in larger planes, we switched to hydraulically-augmented force transmission, and when that got too heavy, we switched to electrical cables/wires.
But now even the electrical wires are so massive - in the aggregate - that they add several tonnes or more to the aircraft weight. That's several tonnes of fuel or payload we can't carry.
And wiring has other issues:
Wiring Matters: An overview of the aircraft wiring issue
Embraer is just attempting a "clean sheet" approach to the electronics and wire nests that have accreted in planes as stuff gets added on top of other stuff. Cut down on the "spaghetti" factor by combining operations and functions - after all, most computers are "idling" at 1% of CPU use, waiting for us humans to ask them to do something.
But - there is a security concern, if the cabin has access to the same system the pilots are using. So the FAA is raising the question of how to handle that, and asking the industry (us!) for comment.