i mostly think shuddering/squealing is a brake setup problem, exacerbated by the length of cable from the front cable hanger to the straddle cable, as it flexes with the fork... which is why i think fork mounted cable hangers can often solve it. BUT! i also think some brakes are waaay harder to tune than others.

i personally had super problems with some avid 6's. i tried every trick in the book and had much more mechanically savvy friends try to get them tuned right, without them ever working acceptably. so i ditched them for xt's. they work perfectly, are more powerful, and are easily setup.

so, maybe specialized ditched them and went with a no brainer brake to setup. i think v brakes are much easier to setup and tune than canti's. i wonder if the problem was the equipment as well as the setup at the shops.