I'm going to disagree with the notion that too much tech is what ruined the cook. The placement of the pit probe was the problem, the Guru did what it was supposed to do. If another therm was used in the same location and the temp controlled manually the end result would have been the same because the pit prob was located in a hot spot. The important thing is that the problem was identified and lesson learned, sucks that it was a costly lesson. I like to clip my pit probe right to the WSM's dome thermometer to give me a true dome temp.
While what you say is correct with the probe placement tech still contributed to the bad cook.
Going manual you just can't really screw up at all. If your vents are in a certain range you know your temp will be in a certain range. If your analog therm shows a temp you know it's in that general area (if you have a good one).
Not that tech is a terrible thing it does contribute to more screwed up cooks and there's no spinning it any other way. Bad probe placements, power failures, software failures, ATC's getting wet or failing for whatever reason.
I don't even rely on my Maverick much anymore.