Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the trend.

But one could argue that a computer is just a cheaper implementation of the yesteryears discrete electronics. Which was itself a cheaper implementation of old school mechanical gears, switches and timing wheels, etc.

A locked down computer, could have been mechanical for all the user cares.

Fixing a dishwasher a while my dad told me that back in the day, they operates with a timing wheel that switched between different stages, and they had a lot of wires.

Todays dishwashers are cheaper and have fewer mechanical control parts (if any).