PeteMoss I have a San Marco Leva 20/20 without a PID and it is fine, I ilike the fact that there is no tech in the machine, less to go wrong.
This does depend on the specific technologies….sometimes the old school way of doing things isn’t reliable, or the new way is better and no less reliable. There are examples of this through history.
Computers used to use valves, then transistors, then ICs, each step increased reliability, decreased power consumption and improved performance. Modern computers are the latest tech and in general, incredibly reliable.
Cars - in the olden days cars were easy to repair and very simple, but more modern cars are more reliable, perform better, get better fuel consumption…. Of course this can go too far e.g. Mercedes, BMW, where cars can be scrapped because their is so much tech to go wrong that it’s too expensive to fix as they get older and some of the tech is just there waiting to go wrong.
Coffee machines - it’s a bit like cars, some tech is good and improves things, there is some tech which perhaps can be problematic, or the implementation is bad. Specifically pressurestats vs temperature sensors and PIDs are getting to the point where the sensor is more reliable and works better. Sure there are temp sensors that are not reliable out there and used in many machines. ACS identified why this is and changed to one that is (due to it’s construction. At the moment the Evo, Vostok Vesuvius, still use an old mainboard, not cheap and old tech…BUT, it has proven to be fairly bulletproof. Overall machines need to advance, but with the right balance of tech. I do understand though that there are people out there who don’t want any “hi tech” in certain things…. I own 2 pinball tables each well over 50 or 60 years old with only solenoids, relays, lamps and a score motor in them.