Not your grandfather's braking system

Call me old fashioned, but when it was just mechanical, there'd be less that could go wrong.

Yes, I realize, less that could go right too (in terms of stability features in braking). But still...

Was this really the best time to announce this, given that every one it talking about how Toyata's uncontrollable acceleration problem is probably due to a software bug?

So you cant stop it from accelerating and now you can't even depend on the breaks? I'm guessing it probably has some redundancy built in...

I can't say I'd want this on a car; I like the direct feedback of a hydraulic brake system with no more than moderate power assist. I'm also undecided on ABS for myself, but I want most people to have it. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I like being in control of the car, not the other way around.

Unless the system contains enough redundancy, having more connected parts to control something creates more points of failure and its probability adds up.

A question for those engineers: Should safety really be sacrificed for efficiency's sake?

A look at the comp.risks archives for the history of Airbus's difficulties getting fly-by-wire right could be informative here.