I agree with you completely about electronic shifting. To me it seems unnecessary and gilding the Lilly, as it were. (I'm not actually a big fan of the newest whiz-bang gadgets, despite my love of disc brakes.) as a matter of fact, the very day I was test-riding bikes and tried my first disc-equipped bike, I tried some electronic shifting bikes. After I got over pushing the lever so hard I nearly broke it, I wasn't at all impressed or intrigued. Ultegra works like magic, anyway. That was not the case with the disc bike! I came flying around the corner of the LBS parking lot, saw a huge manhole cover, and braked hard...and that was it. I literally stopped and stared at the bike in shock because I had never felt braking that was so powerful and smooth...and I was a convert. Disc brakes are a HUGE functional improvement, in my experience and opinion.

Anyway, yes, KISS. But this reminds me of conversations I've had with people about musical instruments, where they don't seem to fully understand how hideously complex a machine a piano is because they're used to it and it's existed forever. Hydraulic braking is a LOT simpler than a derrailer. It has about 4 moving parts, depending on how and what you count, and in terms of keeping it adjusted and running smoothly they are in many ways easier than rim brakes. (You don't ever really have to adjust hydraulics because they adjust themselves.) lots of people love fixies for their simplicity, but, you know, that's taking it all a bit too far.