Have you seen the smart Airstreams?

DutchmenSport wrote:
And this is exactly the reason why, same with your automobile. KISS (Keep it simple...) means YOU may have the ability to fix it yourself. Thus the servicing companies won't be getting business to do the work, if YOU or ME do it ourselves.

However, make the system so complicated, so computerized, so specialized that the "average" owner has no way to fix anything. They've done this with automobiles a long time ago. Let something go wrong with the main computer in your car and nothing works. You have to have the car towed to an "authorized" repair shop and then they can charge any rate they want. You are hog-tied for sure. At their mercy.

I still think it's a deliberate attempt to keep the average owner from being self-sufficient and it makes opportunity for more revenue for the manufacturers, repair shops, dealerships, etc., but NOT you or me!

On the other hand, we ALL have the option of getting rid of our sophisticated, mechanical marvels and just go back to a simple tent that's held up with a rope!

I think you may be partly correct, but OTOH you may be giving the auto companies too much credit. I think a lot of the complexity goes hand-in-hand with adding bells and whistles to create a "new" car/truck/SUV that Madison Avenue can convince us we can't live without. If no vehicles are produced that aren't at least a little different from last year, sales will drop. Electronics are the way forward to creating a new demand every year. So I don't think it's a grand conspiracy, the added complexity and need to take everything back to the dealer is just a added happy benefit (for the dealer) to the electronics.