Hi Rob,
I agree completely - experiences will shape desires in terms of features. Traction control with a rear wheel drive car in the NE of the USA is a huge plus. Even with winter tires, I could kick the rear out easily. That's not an accomplishment, just a reflection of the road conditions up here frequently being less than ideal. Similarly, my main battlecruiser has 4WD and electronics make that better too.
There are other features that fall into the 'nice to have' category, like Bluetooth integration for the phone so that you can call people if you're stuck in traffic. Not a huge benefit in the bush, but a frequent enough issue up here commuting through Boston and its suburbs.
Integrated navigation and traffic monitoring is a computationally-intensive application but a huge time saver, whether you're commuting or traveling long distances along potentially congested highways.
Some people like to placate their kids with on-board videos, etc. All mine get is books-on-tape.
As I mentioned, getting good gas mileage is pretty much dependent on an array of sophisticated sensors, actuators, and so on. They do have the potential over time to make engines a whole lot less complicated, however. For example, I expect there will be a time when cam shafts and all the mechanicals associated with them will disappear, to be replaced by electronically-actuated valves instead. Analogous to the replacement of carburetors, I suppose. Ditto for integration of starter / alternator into the engine block vs. add-on approach via belts today.
I see huge improvement potentials in engines that are currently not realized because the car industry is inherently afraid to make changes. Microprocessors would be a big part of that and they already help mechanics diagnose exactly what the issues are that they're going to be dealing with when they open the hood. Thus, for me, the issue is not one of micro vs. no micro, its whether politicians can force the car companies to open their kimono regarding proprietary protocols, error codes, and so on.
That's a much bigger issue up here right now, with car companies arguing that it's perfectly OK to charge $20k+ for a OEM diagnostics tool that no independent shop can justify while dealerships get them virtually free. Similarly, I would like to be able to have a choice re: what OS my car entertainment system is running, as well as where it gets its data from.