Re: Why?
"...from what I can see all that does is make repairing any faults very expensive"
Yup, and there have been no advances in emissions, power management, engine performance, reliability etc in the last 20 years. None at all. Right.
"In fact I know of a garage that has a thriving sideline of removing all the electronics from the engine going back to all manual..."
No you don't. Some garages will "chip" a car, this means either putting new parameters into the existing ECU or, more drastically, putting in a whole new after-market ECU. Nobody makes a living removing the electronics from modern engines.
"...and getting better emissions readings than those of the controlled engine"
Now you're roving into bullshit territory. Even if an engine (and in fact therefore the whole car) was re-engineered at a cost of many times the vehicle's value, there is simply no way that the engine performance could be improved. Reliability and maintainability perhaps (electronics are certainly more specialised than pure mechanical engines). But not emissions or performance. Or do you think manufacturers simply throw £100s or £1000s of computers at modern cars just for fun, when your mate in a local garage can do a better job without them?
"emission control is the basic reason for all the engine electronics in the first place"
Didn't you just say you can improve emissions by ripping out the electronics? And now you're saying the electronics are only there to improve emissions? I think you need to up your medication.
As to why we need this, try reading the article. It runs the infotainment. It has nothing to do with the EEC, ECU, or any of the other electronics running the car.
In the mean time, until you've read and understood the article, stop spouting rubbish.